Communicator: Volume 44 Edition 3

A STUDENT VOICE

The Communicator Magazine March 2018

HOW DID I MISS

THE RED FLAGS - Anne Swinehart, a parent of one of the 265 victims of Larry Nassar. |

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About the Cover DESIGN BY MARY DEBONA

In the midst of women stepping forward and confronting their sexual abusers, the Larry Nassar trial has arguably been one of the most publicized instances. With 265 victims stepping forward, many family members and friends of victims were left asking themselves a similar question, along the lines of one that was asked by Anne Swinehart, a parent of one of the victims: “How did I miss the red flags?” This question leaves us questioning ourselves and suggests that we become more aware of things within our own and other’s lives that may be red flags, or signs of sexual abuse — something that is often looked over.

Back Cover DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY GRACE JENSEN

We combined a photo of the protest against the Muslim Ban in Detroit with the lettering from a protest sign at the rally for Ciaeem Slaton in Ann Arbor. Though these are two different protests with different purposes, they both follow our theme of stepping up and being present. These moments of resistance are not going unnoticed, in politics or in everyday life. Everyone can make a statement.

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The Communicator Magazine March 2018

It Starts and Ends with Rachael Denhollander

Rachael Denhollander was the first of the victims of Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse to come forward and speak about her experiences, which led to his conviction.

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A Year in Protest

A reflection of the past year in protests through photographs.

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A Take on Love

Community teachers Matt Johnson, Courtney Kiley, Marcy McCormick, and Chloe Root tell their love stories.

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Medals Over Morals No More

A gymnast speaks of her own personal experiences with Larry Nassar as well as her opinions on his trial.

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Learning to Persevere

A personal story from a child of same-sex parents and what she valued the most involving the relationship between her parents — and it’s not marriage.

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Re-Wired

How our phones are sneakily weaving their way into our lives for the worse, and a story of figuring out how to remove them.

Mission Statement: The Communicator is a student-run publication and an open forum established in 1974 and created by students at Community High School. The staff of The Communicator seeks to recognize individuals, events, and ideas that are relevant to the community. The Communicator journalists are committed to working in a manner that is professional, unbiased, and thorough in order to effectively serve our readers. We strive to report accurately and will correct any significant error. If you believe such an error has been made, please contact us. Letters of any length should be submitted via e-mail or mail. They become the sole property of The Communicator and can be edited for length, clarity, or accuracy. Letters cannot be returned and will be published at The Communicator’s discretion. The Communicator also reserves the right to reject advertising due to space limitations or decision of the Editorial Board that content of the advertisement conflicts with the mission of the publication. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the journalism staff and not of Community High School or the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

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Letter from the Editors Dear Readers, While putting together this edition, we have come to realize that our articles center around a common theme of caring and being present. The women who spoke out on the abuse from Larry Nassar took a risk, which resulted in change: for themselves, for their abuser, and for everyone who listened. Our own journalist, Abigail Gaies, took a risk in sharing her experiences from gymnastics in an opinion piece resonating with this power. By sharing these stories, we hope you realize that your own risks are worth taking to make the changes that you want in life.

Adviser

Print Editors-in-Chief

Mary DeBona Grace Jensen Isabel Ratner Megan Syer

Web Editors-in-Chief

Mira Simonton-Chao Gina Liu Managing Editors

Abbie Gaies Ava Millman Andie Tappenden

Even though it’s Valentine’s Day as we write this, and a couple of snow days pushed the distribution day of this edition back, we hope that you still enjoy reading about the love that exists within our school: Teachers share their stories about finding, realizing, and committing to love. Alongside our stories about love, we focus on a few other prominent issues that are affecting our world today.

Design Editor

We share photographs from the protests throughout the year, where voices echoed throughout the nation. We write about being with family and separating from distractions that keep us from living in the moment and appreciating it.

Alec Redding Cammi Tirico

We hope the theme of this edition resonates with you in a similar way that it did with us.

Your Editors,

Staff

Tracy Anderson

Ella Edelstein

Infographic Editor

Isaac McKenna Photo Editors

Copy Editor

Paige Duff

Social Media Editors

Atticus Dewey Claire Middleton

Business Manager KT Meono Art/Graphics Editors

Caitlin Mahoney WM. Henry Schirmer Sports Editor MARY DEBONA, GRACE JENSEN, ISABEL RATNER, AND MEGAN SYER

Shane Hoffmann Viv Brandt Shea O’Brien Content Editors

Mission Statement: The Communicator is a student-run publication and an open forum established in 1974 and created by students at Community High School. The staff of The Communicator seeks to recognize individuals, events, and ideas that are relevant to the community. The Communicator journalists are committed to working in a manner that is professional, unbiased, and thorough in order to effectively serve our readers. We strive to report accurately and will correct any significant error. If you believe such an error has been made, please contact us. Letters of any length should be submitted via e-mail or mail. They become the sole property of The Communicator and can be edited for length, clarity, or accuracy. Letters cannot be returned and will be published at The Communicator’s discretion. The Communicator also reserves the right to reject advertising due to space limitations or decision of the Editorial Board that content of the advertisement conflicts with the mission of the publication. Opinions expressed in this publication are

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Elena Bernier Sam Ciesielski Madie Gracey Zoe Lubetkin Shea O’Brien Emily Tschirhart Sacha Verlon Human Resource Managers

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NEWS

RUTH B. PERFORMS AT THE ARK FOR SECOND-TO-LAST SHOW OF TOUR

FEATURE

WHERE IS ERIC HARDIN NOW?

VOICE

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A & E

THE ENDURING BEAUTY OF EPHEMERAL LOVE AND SUNLIGHT

Seats filled as people entered The Ark on Tuesday, Feb. 2 to see singer songwriter Ruth B. (Ruth Berhe) and opener Hailey Knox for The Safe Haven Tour: Part III. This was the third and final part of the tour for her debut album, “Safe Haven,” which was released in 2017.

BY GRACE JENSEN AND MEGAN SYER When Eric Hardin heard his friend Abby was driving out to New York City to see some friends, he decided to sell his 1990 Mercury Sable to a tattoo artist at Lucky Monkey Tattoos for 250 bucks. With a total of 2000 dollars in cash, a skateboard, one plastic bag of clothing, and his beloved sneakers, Hardin took off bound for the city, having no plan whatsoever what to do when he got there.

The problem is it is categorized as a Schedule 1 drug by the federal government, marijuana is hard for doctors to gain access to, inhibiting the amount of research that can be done. Schedule 1 drugs are classified as highly addictive and have no medicinal purposes. They include heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and MDMA.

BY SACHA VERLON “Call Me by Your Name” is a story told in moments. The summer has an almost lethargic air to it, but the cinematography contradicts this: shots are cut off abruptly, mid-splash. Music ends mid-note. It does not linger unless absolutely necessary, so when it does, it sticks in the mind.

BY ZOE LUBETKIN

SPORTS

PIONEER VS SKYLINE — A BATTLE IN THE POOL

The meet began with a 200 medley relay. Both teams swimming at their maximum speed, Pioneer obtained first, third, and fifth place giving them ten points with Skyline close behind obtaining second, fourth, and sixth place giving them six points.

HUMANS OF COMMUNITY

IAN KELLER

SONG OF THE DAY

HOSTAGE

“One of the most important people to me is my friend who I’ve known since I was very young named Livy.

She’s always been there for me and she recently had to move to London. We’ve still kept in touch almost every single day. It’s really shown me that if I want to keep in touch with somebody, even if they aren’t physically near me, I can.”

“Hostage,” by Billie Eilish is a haunting ballad about obsession and loneliness, a slow second to last track on the album. Eilish exposes her darker side through juxtaposition—her fragile vocals hover over the melody as she shows how the love she once felt has turned to an addiction. |

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It Starts and Ends with Rachael Denhollander

After one brave survivor spoke up and shared her story, hundreds of other sexual abuse victims — all with similar stories — found the courage to do so as well.

BY ABIGAIL GAIES

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hen Rachael Denhollander was 15, she was sexually abused by her doctor. The first time it happened, her mother was in the room. As the appointments continued, so did the abuse.

Sixteen years later, she told her story of abuse to The Indianapolis Star. Under the pseudonym Jane Doe, a gymnast had accused her coach of abuse in an investigative report IndyStar did in March of 2016 that inspired Denhollander to speak up, too. She didn’t feel so alone in the struggle anymore.

Denhollander was the first to come out under her real name, inspiring more than 265 other young women to follow.

Her abuser, like that of the 265 others, was Larry Nassar, ex-Team USA Gymnastics physician and once well-respected doctor at MSU. He used his reputation to take advantage of his patients. And now, he has been sentenced to up to 360 years in prison for sexual abuse that occured over 20 years.

This large sentence accumulated over three trials: the first, in December of 2017, was related to child pornography charges where he received 60 years; the main, most publicized trial, for his sexual abuse allegations, got him 40–175 years; the third

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and final trial, resulting in another 40–125 years, specifically related to the sexual abuse allegations at Twistars USA Gymnastics Club in Lansing, Mich. He pleaded guilty to all of these charges.

The majority of his victims were gymnasts; some had even won gold medals representing the United States on national and Olympic teams; others swam, skated, and played softball, soccer, and volleyball; some were Michigan State students; all were girls under the age of 21.

In the main trial, over 200 survivors came forward in the courtroom to give victim impact statements detailing the “medical treatment” that they received from Nassar.

It was originally only going to be three days, but was extended to seven to accommodate every survivor that wanted to speak.

“It was scary, being up there,” said a former gymnast who gave a statement. “I didn’t feel bad at all, but it was just scary.

My lawyer specifically told me, ‘Do not look at him. Keep your eyes on me or the jury.

Just don’t look at him.” While this is the advice that many followed, some took their strength to the next level and spoke directly to Nassar, looking him in the eye as they

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confronted him, a few even demanding an apology.

Nassar’s earliest known victim is Kyle Stephens, not a gymnast but a family friend.

He “exposed himself to [her] for the first time in a dark boiler room” when she was six years old. For the next six years, she reported, it continued anywhere and everywhere Nassar could get her alone. In her victim impact speech, she said, “little girls don’t stay little forever. They grow into strong women that return to destroy your world.” This is one of the most repeated quotes from the trial.

Other victims of Nassar include Olympic gold medalists McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber, and Aly Raisman, each telling their own stories in the courtroom. Maroney told an anecdote in which she woke up from the effects of a sleeping pill he had given her for the flight to Tokyo to find herself alone with him in his hotel room getting a “treatment”; Wieber mentioned that she thought “training for the Olympics would be the hardest thing that [she] would ever had to do, but in fact, the hardest thing [she] would ever have to do is process that [she is] a victim of Larry Nassar”; and Raisman left the court-

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How much is a little girl worth? How much is a young woman worth? How much priority should be placed on communicating that the fullest weight of the law will be used to protect another innocent child from the soul-shattering devastation that sexual assualt brings?

room with the words “abusers, your time is up. The survivors are here, standing tall, and we are not going anywhere.”

Denhollander was the last one to give a statement. “How much is a little girl worth?” she asked the courtroom. “How much is a young woman worth? How much priority should be placed on communicating that the fullest weight of the law will be used to protect another innocent child from the soul-shattering devastation that sexual assault brings? … I am asking you to tell these little girls, tell the young women, tell the world watching, that they are worth everything.”

In her statement, she brought up an idea that many seem to share: “I was confident that because people at MSU and USA Gymnastics had to be aware of what Larry was doing and had not stopped him, there could surely be no question about the legitimacy of his treatment. This must be medical treatment. The problem must be me.”

One student at MSU was even told that “[she] did not understand the difference between sexual assault and a medical procedure.” Many other survivors mentioned feeling that they were the problem as well;

they felt that they had either gotten it wrong or were doing something to bring this upon themselves.

The extent of Nassar’s abuse could have been diminished significantly. Years before Denhollander even walked into Nassar’s office for the first time, at least four young women had brought his abuse to adults in the athletic departments at MSU. These reports, given in 1997, ‘98, ‘99, and 2000 to track coaches, gymnastics coaches, and athletic trainers and supervisors, apparently did not “count as notice because these teenagers didn’t report it to the right official,” Denhollander said. “The 14-year-old didn’t go to the right person.” Had one of these authoritative figures, “right person” or not, brought this to light at that point, Nassar would have been stopped long before the victim count reached three digits.

The scandal appears to be officially over, but the effects that this will have on the gymnastics and medical worlds are just being realized. The investigation has widened to include the greater institutions that failed to stop the abuse and protect young girls for so long, including the US Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Gymnastics,

and MSU. Each of these institutions have denied wrongdoing, USA Gymnastics even saying they reported the sexual abuse allegation to authorities when it learned about the abuse. Even so, the USOC required every member of USA Gymnastics’s Board of Directors to step down in light of their probable negligence. There will be an investigation by an “independent third party to examine how an abuse of this proportion could have gone undetected for so long,” the Olympic Committee has promised.

Thanks to Denhollander, whose words started the investigation into Nassar and were the last to be heard before his sentencing, we now have a national conversation involving influential athletic and academic institutions that had been expected to protect and mentor young women. In the months and years to come, the expectation is for big changes, they have to be, because the questions are big: How could this happen for so long? How could this happen at all? Why did it take so long for public exposure? What will be done to prevent this from happening again?

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Driving of the Future Thousands visit Detroit’s Cobo Center for the 2018 North American International Auto Show.

BY AVA MILLMAN AND WM. HENRY SCHIRMER

From wheels to wings, the 2018 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) showcased vehicles of a historic past, groundbreaking present, and an innovative future. On Jan. 13, the NAIAS set up their first display in Detroit’s Cobo Center, kicking off their 2018 tour with a bang. Thousands of people came together to explore the trends of the automobiles of the years 8

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to come. For over a century, the NAIAS has been attracting car connoisseurs and everyday car owners alike. However, in 2018 they expanded their display and dedicated an entire floor of the Cobo Center to their AutoMobili-D exhibit, providing a platform for the automotive innovators of tomorrow to show their products to the public.

The world’s leading car-makers unNews

veiled futuristic concept cars with streamlined designs and new age features, while startup companies presented their own ideas of the mobility of tomorrow. Vehicles included self-driving cars, skateboards, semi trucks, and even planes. With so many new innovations to experience, here is a quick glimpse into the new era of automotives.

MUSTANG BULLITT

Left: The main event of Ford’s NAIAS display was comprised of two side-byside Mustangs. One sleek, strong, and new, the other rusted out and chunky, creating a juxtaposition of past and future that stopped bypassers in their tracks. Plaques near the cars told the story of the historic Mustang Bullitt, driven by Steve McQueen in the 1968 film “Bullitt.” In honor of the car’s 50th anniversary, Ford engineers designed the new 2019 Mustang Bullitt to pay homage to the original vehicle’s understated charm, and new age power. The 2019 Mustang Bullitt can reach speed of 165 MPH — that is 8 MPH faster than the latest Mustang GT. With so many new innovations at the 2018 NAIAS, a quick glimpse of the past was a refreshing and creative move by Ford.

Q INSPIRATION Nissan revealed the concept of the Infiniti Q Inspiration to the public for the first time at the NAIAS in Detroit this year, stunning guests with its windshield sunroof hybrid and clean white leather interior. The Q Inspiration boasts several different driver assistance technologies, including autonomous driving technology accessible through the in-car computer systems. Several car makers teased guests with autonomous vehicles at the NAIAS, but the Infiniti Q Inspiration was definitely one of the most impressive self-driving sedans present.

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TOYOTA FT-4X The Toyota FT-4X, or “Future Toyota Four Wheel Drive” was one of the most practical concept cars at this year’s NAIAS, but in the spirit of innovation, Toyota held nothing back when accessorizing this adventurer’s dream vehicle. It comes complete with warming and cooling bins embedded in the dual direction hatchback, perfect for keeping drinks cold at a tailgate, or warming up gear after a long day of hiking.

Rotating air vents serve to dry, heat, and cool items like hats and gloves, and a removable boombox sits in the dashboard and doubles as the car’s multimedia audio system. With plenty of room for storage and dozens of amenities, this car is begging for an impromptu road trip.

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TOYOTA CONCEPT-i

The Toyota Concept-i is more than just a sleek exterior accompanied by a bright minimalistic interior. It crosses the line of a car being just a vehicle; thanks to “Yui” — Toyota’s new artificial intelligence — drivers can build relationships with their cars. Yui can sense a driver’s feelings, tell when they are tired, provide advice, and carry out a conversation. As the driver talks to Yui and drives the Concept-i, Yui’s intelligence grows to fit their personal needs and preferences. The white and gold interior resembles something out of a science fiction film: it includes a holographic dashboard that projects gages on the windshield. Notifications also appear on the seats, dashboard, and windows so drivers can continuously be aware of their surroundings. The Concept-i does not only bond with the driver, with outside written notifications it can also seamlessly connect with the outside world. |

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Dan Gutenberg evades taller defenders from Monroe High School at Hollway Field.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DAN GUTENBERG

The Size of Varsity

4’11’’ Dan Gutenberg shares his experience on playing Varsity soccer.

BY BEN COOPER

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s the ball hit the back of the net, the realization set in for Dan Gutenberg. Gutenberg finally realized that he could compete with the other schools, and that his spot on the team was well-deserved.

Gutenberg enjoys playing sports, hanging out with friends, doing typical teenager things. The only difference is, Gutenberg still is yet to hit five feet.

Gutenberg has been short his whole life, and this doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. His family is not particular tall, either. This has yet to stop him, seeing that has been proving people wrong for his whole life. From the classroom to the soccer field, Gutenberg has been excelling his entire life.

Unlike other kids, Gutenberg didn’t have as much of a choice of which sport he would play. Basketball was out of the equation because of his height, and Gutenberg was too light to play football. His fate was set. Daniel Gutenberg was going to be a 12

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soccer player.

This fall, Gutenberg was a member of the Pioneer High School soccer team.

However, unlike what you might expect, he competed on varsity. He was one of only four freshmen at Pioneer who got the chance to play at the highest level of soccer offered at the high school, this while being well under ninety pounds.

“Being short has many disadvantages, expectedly, but also many advantages,” Gutenberg said. Gutenberg was worried going into all tryouts that he would be overlooked because of his size, but his coach looked past his height and recognized the great soccer player he truly is.

Gutenberg’s age and grade are often mistaken throughout his everyday life. He tries to embrace his small stature, because he is very recognizable, and it is something for him to be known for.

“If I could change my genes to make myself taller, I wouldn’t, because I enjoy it, and it is not the end of the world,” he said.

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As a forward on the team, Gutenberg tries to not get out-muscled by his defenders. He needs to keep his distance and take size out of the equation. He has succeeded at this, so much so in fact that Gutenberg even started one game for the Pioneers.

As his team was district runner-ups, Gutenberg thought this year was a success. Obviously, he would like to be district champs, but this was only his first season, and he thinks his team will develop, as will he.

Gutenberg has succeeded at the sport, though his competitors may be stronger or faster than him. He tries to use his size to his advantage, as a strength opposed to as a weakness. He realizes that many teams do not know how to approach him on the field, and his experience using that is what has made him so successful. Gutenberg knows he is going to keep growing and realizes he isn’t going to be this height forever, and wants to embrace it while he has the chance.

Hobbs Kessler climbs in Yosemite National Park on the Half Dome alongside his father, who is also arock climber. Kessler has been climbing since he was four-years-old. He is one of the top climbers in the nation.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SERENA KESSLER

Rock Climbing Nationals

Young people from across the country meet in Salt Lake City to compete in bouldering.

BY MILO CHALIN, ELI HAUSMAN, AND GENEVE THOMAS-PALMER

Salt Lake City is known as the home of Mormonism, cross country skiing, and arguably some of the most unusual rock formations in the world. Many rock climbers find their home on these rocks. And this weekend, young people from all across the country will leave their homes to meet in Salt Lake City and participate in a friendly, yet sometimes brutal competition. This competition is known as the Bouldering Nationals.

Bouldering is climbing outdoors, on boulders or ridges. The climb can be anywhere from five to 50 feet tall.

A typical competition day at Nationals consists of four “problems,” or climbing challenges. Each problem is indoors, and isolated by tarps so that the athlete is not able to see any of their competitors climb.

The walls are only about 14 feet tall, but brutally steep and constructed to invoke exertion in the climbers.

14-year-old Benjamin “Hobbs” Kessler hopes to place in the top ten of Bouldering

Nationals. “I really like competing,” Kessler said. “All my best friends are all over the country and I met competing and climbing, so I get to hang out with my best friends and I get to compete against them.”

Kessler has been a rock climber since he was four-years-old. Most kids at that age spend a good portion of their time at school developing the fine motor skills to cut straight lines and to draw shapes, not scaling walls with their parents.

His early start has certainly paid off in his rock climbing career. He is currently ninth in the country for the 13-15 year old age group in rope climbing. He has also competed in Nationals every year since he was nine, and has placed five times, three times in the top ten.

Kessler loves to compete, even though some of his best friends are often his toughest competition. He believes that makes it all the more enjoyable. “It doesn’t matter if you beat people you don’t care about,” Kessler said. “You wanna beat people that you

like or don’t like, you know, you wanna beat them because you don’t like them, or you wanna beat because you wanna mess with them, if you’re their friend.”

Kessler thinks that competing with his friends strengthens their relationships.

“I’m a lot closer to climbers,” Kessler said.

“Climbing is so major in both of our lives, whoever it is, so there’s a lot more to relate to.”

Rock climbing does not conform to our cultural normatives for sports. Grit. That’s what often comes to mind when the word “sport” is mentioned. The grit of a buff football player charging at another athlete like a bull might a cape. The grit of a hockey player as they get a bit ruffed up on the ice. There is a certain grit to rock climbing, the grit of raw fingers or scraped up knees.

But there is a gracefulness to climbing that we don’t see in most sports. The grace of a ballerina, or a tightrope walker. From grit and from grace we get the perfect hybrid: rock climbing. |

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Shithole Countries

A teacher’s twist on the president’s disputed descriptive words: proving the beauty within Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries through art, literature, architecture, and music — ­­ sans the political agenda.

BY EBBA GURNEY

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n Jan. 14, President Trump referred to Haiti, El Salvador, and all African countries as “shithole countries” in regards to immigration to the United States. He referenced Norway and Asian countries as more ideal countries to extract immigrants from, according to The Washington Post.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said.

These comments surfaced feelings of anger and sadness among many Americans, one of which was Carina Sietz, an English teacher at Skyline High School. She has been teaching English for 16 years, and is currently in her ninth year at Skyline.

After hearing the news of President Trump’s comments the previous weekend, and feeling very emotional herself, Sietz pushed aside her lesson plan for flash fiction and Shakespeare, and moved forward with a new one: The ‘Shithole’ Assignment.

“It’s one of those times where the immediacy of what was said, I felt had to be addressed so that students felt the freedom to talk about fears, or other emotions, anger, whatever it was that they were feeling, and 14

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have an outlet for it,” Sietz said.

She assigned her tenth and twelfth grade students to find a work of art, a poem, a sculpture, a book, an example of architecture, a scientist, a philanthropist, a dancer, or musician from Haiti, El Salvador, or any African country. After proving their knowledge of the findings, they were to present it to the class. Outside of Sietz’s classroom there would be a wall display of the examples her students came up with.

To avoid controversial political discussion, Sietz focused on the contributions and beauty of the countries, rather than talking about politics.

“I’m not talking about immigration policies or bills or laws, but rather the language that not just our president, but others have used that I think is pushing us back from where we were, particularly in regards to racism and sexism,” Sietz said. “Those are things that I feel are pertinent to our atmosphere as a classroom as well as all of the texts that we read.”

Sietz is hoping to gain an understanding among her students that a perception of a country’s worth isn’t always accurate and fair, especially in the United States right

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now.

“There is beauty to be found in every corner of the world, so we can’t judge by the face of a country,” Sietz said.

Sietz’s assignment sparked a similar project with Laura Davis’ French classes at Skyline.

“I had heard that Ms. Sietz was doing an assignment like this, I thought that it would be relevant with how many of the countries that are in Africa that are French-speaking countries,” Davis said. Davis used a similar non-political approach, exemplifying the beauty within the countries from a French persepective.

Students gave excellent feedback on what they learned.

“After this assignment, students know a lot more about these ‘shithole countries’ and really see how beautiful each one is,” said Justin Chang, a sophomore taking French with Davis and English with Sietz.

Sietz continued teaching her routine English assignments the following week, with a new wall of beautiful art, literature, science, and people of Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries featured a few steps away.

Hugh Cohen, University of Michigan professor, in his office decorated with advertisements of his favorite films.

Changing Course to Cinema

Starting in the Engineering College, Hugh Cohen helps found the University of Michigan film program.

BY CHARLES SOLOMON

H

ugh Cohen never imagined he could make films.

He did, however, love watching them, and had for years.

“And [this] love turned into an academic career,” Cohen said.

Cohen has lived in Michigan for his entire life. Growing up in the Detroit area, he attended undergraduate at Wayne State University. As a graduate student, he moved to the University of Michigan, where he quickly decided on a career as a teacher.

He became a teaching assistant for some time, but had to get a job soon after — running out of semesters as a TA. So where did this budding literature and film teacher go to work? The U of M Engineering College.

“I found a job in the engineering college...

Teaching in their humanities — at that time it was called the Engineering English [program],” Cohen said.

All this time, however, Cohen had been seeing films. As Cohen said, “In the 60s and 70s, the University of Michigan was a great place to see films...Two different films a night, and a place called the Cinema Guild and several other film societies.”

This constant film watching soon led to a job as the Faculty Advisor to the Cinema Guild Group.

“And so,” Cohen said, “I was there, and seeing films constantly, and I’m teaching in the humanities department, the engineer-

ing college, and I decided at that time why not, seeing I love films so much, why not develop a film course?”

The 70s and 80s was an ideal time for a film course. Before this, Cohen said, film was considered as comic books were at the University of Michigan: looked down upon. But this attitude was slowly changing.

Across the country, people were starting to appreciate films as an art form, and consider them on the same academic level as novels, as they expressed similar ideas.

This shift in attitudes came for many reasons, but Cohen attributes much of it to foreign films coming over from Europe, films like two he likes, “The Seventh Seal,” directed by Ingmar Bergman, and “The Bicycle Thief,” directed by Vittorio de Sica. “[These films were] dealing with different subjects, examining relationships in a way that American films weren’t, examining the countries and the life of people after the second World War in a way that American films weren’t,” Cohen said. And thanks in part to these provocative European films, the idea of film as an academic subject began to be taken seriously.

Cohen was not the only one at the university to have the idea. At the time, many teachers wanted to use film in their courses, but when they did, they were always forced to backtrack and teach students how to look at and evaluate films, so the students could

understand what they were looking at. “[So] we all joined together, and we went to the Dean at that time, and we told him we wanted a program in films,” Cohen said. He said yes, and so the Screen Arts and Cultures (SAC) program was born.

In the new film program, Cohen took charge of the intro course, the class teaching students about film language and history. He continued teaching this course for decades until others took it over, and he moved on to other courses in the last several years.

Over his long career, he has noticed some shifts in the films he loves. “They’ve become more varied,” he said.

Documentaries, which used to have very little audience, now have TV and a more receptive audience for an outlet. “Documentary has really grown as a major art form,” Cohen said.

As for changes in the students he teaches? Cohen has noticed that more and more students come into this department because they want to make films. These students want to go commercial, and to become writers and directors. They’re taking it not just as a humanities course, he said “but in preparation for a job afterwards, what they’re going to do for the rest of their lives.”

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Professor Simone Kropf recently made a discovery.

The Roots Ann Arbor of

BY JOSH MARTINS-CAULFIELD

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n her research on the relationship between the United States and Latin America during the 1930s, professor Simone Kropf stumbled upon some documents from the International Center at the University of Michigan detailing a list of refugees from Europe fleeing World War II who settled in Ann Arbor. Many of these refugees settled in the Burns Park neighborhood, specifically on Lincoln Ave, where Kropf is renting a house for a year before she moves back to home to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She found this list when she was looking into two groups closely associated with the International Center: the Foreign Student Committee of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Committee on Refugees, both of which are Quaker organizations.

“The link between these two committees was a person from the International Center named Robert Klinger,” Kropf explained. “[He] was a member of both committees.”

Klinger kept documents about the committees’ work, including a list of people that they were trying to help. “That caught my attention, because it’s so personal,” Kropf said. “They have the names, the age, the situation, the people. They reported each case.”

A certain couple from Vienna touched Kropf the most; Louis and Elise Reischer fled from war-torn Austria to New York in 1938, and moved to Ann Arbor in 1939.

They settled in a house on Lincoln Ave, just two houses away from Kropf ’s current home. They came to Ann Arbor, Kropf estimates, because of the extraordinary work the International Center had been doing to help refugees, something that moved her. “I was touched by this story because I think history is about big processes and big things, but also about very personal, very specific, very micro situations that are really intense,” Kropf said.

The men who made it possible for these refugees to find a home away from the war during these trying times were the aforementioned Robert Klinger, as well as the director of the International Center at that time, Arthur Dunham. Dunham was a Quaker and a member of the Ann Arbor Committee of Refugees. This meant that he was a pacifist, so when he refused to fight in the previous war (World War I), he was arrested and thrown in prison. According to Kropf, after his release in 1935, he moved back to Ann Arbor to become one of the saviors of European refugees.

All of this was happening in the late 1930s, when the U.S. was limiting the number of refugees allowed into the country, which culminated in the disaster that was the voyage of the St. Louis. The St. Louis was a passenger ship, which shipped nearly 1000 Jewish refugees from Hamburg, Germany, to Havana, Cuba. Once the ship reached Cuba, only 28 passengers were let into the country. Twenty-seven of them had valid entry passages, while one was escorted to a hospital in Havana after attempting suicide

because the thought of going back to Germany was too much to bear. The St. Louis, carrying the remaining 908 passengers, then sailed to Florida, where again the refugees were rejected. The ship sailed back to Europe, where most of the passengers had successfully escaped the holocaust, but according to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, “278 survived the Holocaust. 254 died: 84 who had been in Belgium; 84 who had found refuge in Holland, and 86 who had been admitted to France.”

Many historians look upon this decision to not let in hundreds of refugees only to see around 500 of them captured by the Nazis as one of the darkest days in terms of immigration policy in U.S. history. The United States never wanted to be involved in the war. It was not until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 that the United States finally entered the war, about two years after Nazi Germany invaded Poland. In fact, this type of isolationism has historical precedence in American history. George Washington established this position as the United States’ first foreign policy, after announcing at the start of his second term that he would not help France in their war against what seemed like the rest of Europe. In his farewell address, he said that the United States would and should remain an isolationist country, and that policy weathered the political storms that would come in the next century.

The United States remained isolated from foreign nations until World War I, after which it started to become a global superpower. Even so, the U.S. refused to enter the League of Nations, an international alliance of countries founded after World War I to keep the world at peace. Even though it was under pressure from prominent people like President Wilson (who campaigned across the country to promote the League of Nations so vigorously that he got sick and died), isolationism still flourished in the United States. However, at the time of World War II, the inklings of isolationism started to weaken in America’s foreign policy, but the inklings still led to President Roosevelt’s reluctance to let in refugees and join the war. After the war, America completely abandoned the isolationism it had held so dear, becoming involved in what seemed like every major conflict the world encountered. Today, however, President Donald Trump has started to bring this idea back to America’s foreign policy.

With one of his most famous slogans, “America First,” President Trump announced that he was trying to isolate America from the world again. One of his most adored ideas by supporters is to build a wall along the border of the United States and Mexico. In his speech where he announced he was going to run for president, he made his motives for thinking of the wall very clear. He said that the Mexicans were not “sending their best people” when they came across the border. “They’re

“I was touched by this story because I think history is about big processes and big things, but also about very personal, very specific, very micro situations that are really intense.”

bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime.

They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” he said.

President Trump’s foreign policy also takes a isolationist stance on refugees. In the midst of the turmoil going on in the Middle East, Trump announced a ban on all refugees from eight of the countries that most needed help. This ban was shot down in many courts across the country, but the Supreme Court allowed it to continue until the Court could reassess the policy in 2018.

Trump also declared a metaphorical war on sanctuary cities and states, places where the local government does not adhere to the federal regulations on immigration. According to Nicole Rodriguez of Newsweek, “the Trump Administration wants to arrest the mayors of sanctuary cities.”

Ann Arbor in the 1930s and 1940s, albeit not explicitly, was one of the first sanctuary cities in American history. According to The Economist, sanctuary cities are defined as “American cities, counties or states that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation by limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.” According to that same article, the first officially recognized sanctuary city was Los Angeles in 1979, 40 years after Ann Arbor helped refugees overcome the limits of lingering isolationism in the United States. Before awarding Ann Arbor with a medal and certificate of honor, however, one might caution that the records that Robert Klinger kept did not specify whether the refugees were documented or not, but even if they were, Ann Arbor was still a safe haven for refugees because of the kindness of human beings like Klinger and Dunham. These are the micro, personal situations that inspire historians.

These are the situations that keep Simone Kropf, and the rest of the country, grounded in history. |

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A YEAR IN

PROTEST

In 2017, after election results that defied the popular vote, people took to the streets to make their voices heard. One year later, we reflect on just a few of these demonstrations with photos of the people practicing their right to peacefully assemble.

BY GRACE JENSEN

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NO BAN, NO WALL DETROIT METRO

On Jan. 29 at the Detroit Metro Airport, thousands of people gathered in the freezing cold and snow to denounce the “Muslim Ban” and the proposed wall on our border with Mexico. Only a week after Donald Trump’s inauguration, he signed an executive order banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the United States for 90 days. This order quickly sparked similar protests all over the country.

Above: A protester holds a sign reading “Land of the free, home of the scared?”

She was one of many in the crowd wearing hijabs and sporting homemade signs critiquing the U.S. government’s actions.

Left: Karla Mendoza holds a sign reading “You are welcome here.” She chanted along with the crowd. “For me it’s a little bit more personal,” she said. “I’m an immigrant as well, and I know what it’s like to leave behind everything just to have a better life, just literally to survive. We’re not asking for anything, we just want to survive. And so for me, I just don’t understand how anyone could say, ‘Your life doesn’t matter to me.’”

Read more about this story: “We Just Want To Survive”: Protest Against Muslim Ban at Detroit Metro Airport by Grace Jensen on chscommunicator.com.

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RALLY FOR YOUSEF AJIN

On Jan. 30, 2017, Yousef Ajin, Ann Arbor father of four, was detained without a charge by immigration officers during a routine check-in. His hearing was Feb. 28 in the McNamara Federal Building in Detroit, where hundreds of community members rallied in support of the Ajins, including Ramona, a friend of the family. She expressed displeasure with Trump, who made it part of his campaign to restore “law and order” by deporting illegal immigrants.

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“All these people that voted for him are upset, but he said he was going to do it,” she said. Inside the courthouse, Ajin’s judge decided to grant him a waiver for legal resident status and a green card. He returned home to his family the next day.

Read more about this story: “Detained, but not Deported: A Family’s Final Chance to Remain Undivided” and “Ann Arbor Father of Four to Avoid Deportation” by Joel Appel-Kraut on chscommunicator.com.

On May 9, Ann Arbor community members rallied outside the Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse in Detroit for José Luis Sanchez-Ronquillo, a father of two and Mexican immigrant, who was detained and in danger of deportation. The judge did not issue a ruling on the case that day.

RALLY FOR JOSÉ LUIS

On April 28, another rally for José Luis was held at Bach Elementary, where his youngest son attends school, and this time, many of the protesters were kids. The rally consisted of a Bach band performance of “Lean on Me,” speeches by Mayor Christopher Taylor, several organizers, and one elementary schooler, and finally a march around the school. Despite the communi-

ty’s best efforts, Sanchez-Ronquillo was deported in August.

Read more about this story: “On Soccer, Street Fighter, And Citizenship: Ann Arbor Father Faces Deportation” and “José Luis Sanchez-Ronquillo vs. The United States Of America: Another Chance To Delay Deportation” by Kyndall Flowers on chscommunicator.com. |

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On Oct. 4 outside of Blake Transit Center in downtown Ann Arbor, a protest was held organized by Collective Against White Supremacy and the Neutral Zone. Community members protested the Ann Arbor Police Department’s treatment of youth of color, particularly 16-year-old Ciaeem Slaton, who was pinned to the ground and threatened by a taser by an AAPD officer on Sept. 26 for not having ID. Protesters gathered outside the bus station, marched through the streets despite pouring rain, and finished outside Ann Arbor City Council with speeches by the rally’s organizers and Slaton’s mother.

BLAKE TRANSIT PROTEST FOR CIAEEM SLATON Community High seniors Clarence Collins III, Basil Rutkowski, Terah Blakemore, and Fiona Lynch hold signs in solidarity with the teens hassled by Ann Arbor Police. The Neutral Zone held a sign-making workshop before the rally and a discussion after for local teens.

Read more about this story: “You Can’t Justify Injustice: Rally for Ciaeem Slaton” by Gina Liu on chscommunicator. com.

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BY ISAAC MCKENNA

On Jan. 20, 2018, one year after the inauguration of Donald Trump, over a million people all across the US took part in hundreds of marches. These marches, collectively called the second annual Women’s March, drew huge crowds protesting inequality and the Trump Administration.

Ann Arbor’s rally was held in the Diag on the University of Michigan campus. |

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Many participants brought clever or inspiring signs along with them. One of the main themes of the rally was immigration and the prejudices and hatred towards immigrants in the United States.

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The sun comes out from behind the clouds on the protest. The weather in Ann Arbor was mercifully warmer, and likely inspired more protesters to come out and to stay for longer.

A boy and his father hold signs supporting the rights of trans and LGBTQ+ people.

Although marriage is now legal nationwide for gay couples, most people in those communities are discriminated against.

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A protester wears a pride flag around their shoulders as CHS science teacher Liz Stern stands in the tightly packed crowd. LGBTQ+ rights have been a major focus of recent protests across the nation.

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The American flag flies high above the protest on the Diag. The University of Michigan has seen other recent protests against the planned speech by Richard Spencer, a political troll and white supremacist.

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A sign showing a girl wearing a hijab made of an American flag is held high during a speech.

Trump has spurred these protests by continuing his anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

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A sign protesting the bullying antics of the president is held above the large crowd. Trump has made his many controversial views aggressively known over Twitter, and has used the social media platform to degrade and attack people and things he disagrees with.

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The Artist as Himself

Thomas Rapai’s basement studio holds several canvas art pieces, as well as his Williamsburg oil paints.

Detroit artist Thomas Rapai develops his art style throughout his life, as well as his self-acceptance.

BY iO SOUCY

Detroit party stores, run down motels, and kitsch bird figurines are just a few painting series that artist Thomas Rapai has successfully executed over the course of several years. Based out of Ann Arbor, Mich., Rapai works with oil paints, getting inspiration from mainly Japanese and Chinese art styles. He focuses on delicate line work, and incorporates his own color pallet.

Thomas Rapai was born on Feb. 12, 1964 in Detroit, Mich. He grew up with two older brothers, an older sister, and one younger brother. Rapai attended Detroit Public Schools for the majority of his schooling, and then moved to Redford in his tenth grade year. Growing up, he didn’t know what he wanted to pursue in the future. He was interested in music and art, but neither his school nor his family had money to spend on instruments.

Considered a “problem child” at nine years old, Rapai’s mother had taken him to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) to keep him occupied and to possibly inspire him.

She had thought that it would intrigue him in ways he hadn’t seen before. “The Wedding Dance” by Pieter Bruegel especially captivated his attention.

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“You can see the drawing underneath the paint,” Rapai said. “It’s beautiful, and that’s really an influence on my paintings.” After that, he began going to the DIA every Saturday to take art classes.

In his late teens, Rapai grew bored of living in the suburbs and moved to Hamtramck. He began going to punk clubs, gay clubs, art-house movies, and of course, the DIA. He was determined to pick up inspiration and develop himself, as well as his art style. He attended Wayne State University for art, then transferred to the University of Michigan, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.

At 50-years-old, Rapai was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, causing temporary paralysis on various areas of the right side of his body.

“Sometimes it hurts to paint,” Rapai said.

“I still go ahead, but sometimes my muscles twitch, so it’s hard to get an accurate line.

Though I am right handed, I was painting with my left hand for a while. It’s just really hard work.” He has lived with it the majority of his life but since his diagnosis, Rapai’s conditions have gotten more intense. Even on his more painful days, he continues to

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push through and make jokes about his conditions. He has grown into accepting who he is as an artist, and working with what he is given. He believes that since he is so intertwined being an artist, nothing can stop him and his creativity.

Alongside his physical limitations, Rapai has delt with mental limitations as well.

Rapai had caught himself acting as a different person for a majority of his life. Since he was always different from the other kids growing up, he found himself not being who he actually was in his everyday life.

“I tried so long to be someone else, and it didn’t work out,” Rapai said. “It only gives you heartache and problems. You just have to accept yourself the best you can.” Rapai has learned first hand that being yourself will get you places, unlike pretending you are someone you’re not. Rapai has embraced his art style, his disabilities, and who he is as a person.

“You just need to go through life the best you can,” Rapai said. “It makes you neurotic after a while if you spend all of your time being someone else or trying to do something that isn’t you.”

Going to the DIA as often as he has, Rapai

has developed beliefs based on how the audience has interpreted different pieces of art. With his artistic and creative brain, he feels an intense disliking towards individuals who tend to not interpret the pieces themselves. He believes that the individual should look at the piece themselves and interpret the art however they’d like.

“I don’t think it should be spelled out,” Rapai said. “I think they should come to on their own cognition and learning, and then experiencing it.” Even when it comes to the history of an art piece, he thinks that you should always interpret the painting yourself first, then go and research what the artist’s intent was and what inspired the artist to paint what they did.

Interpreting a piece is just one part of painting the final picture. A rather large part of painting is the cost. Rapai explained how being an artist is neither cheap nor for the faint of heart. Rapai gets money from the art he sells in galleries in Detroit, which he then puts into buying supplies for his future projects. “You take [your art] to the gallery, they put out little cards, they sell your work, and whatever you sell, they get half of the profit,” Rapai said. If getting only half of the profit isn’t hard enough to work with, more than half of the earned profit goes straight into making another painting.

He calls it a “never ending cycle.”

Despite the negative connotations and costs, he is currently living as a successful artist with his two cats Toku and Kaiju on the west side of Ann Arbor. His current focus with art is sketching and painting kitsch bird figurines.

“It is the personification of nature,” Rapai said. “The birds have these human characteristics that they wouldn’t have in the wild.

They’re a little bit creepy.” His studio- located in his basement houses large canvases with birds of all shapes and colors.

From Germany to Los Angeles, Rapai has traveled to galleries in all areas showcasing his work with pride. He is a natural born artist and is proud of what he creates and sells.

“It’s only the act of doing that’s important about it,” Rapai said. “It’s the residue that we tend to only look at. When the artist is painting or doing art in general, they are putting down that moment. They can come back later and erase that moment, take that moment out, or out another moment on top of it while it morphs into this object.”

“I can’t do anything else. I’m serious; I am a painter and I am an artist. I go crazy if I don’t make work. It’s really important to me.”

The Paul Kotula Project in Ferndale, Mich. features Rapai’s art every few weeks, showcasing his kitch bird figurines, as well as his Detroit party store series. Paul Kotula Project started in 2006, and is currently showing 18 artists. The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 11 pm during an exhibition, or by appointment. Call to make an appointment or ask about hours at (248)544-3020, or visitpaulkotula.com. For further interest or serious inquires about Rapai’s art, please visit thomasrapai.com for contact information.

Rapai spends several hours at a time in his studio with his two cats, drinking wine and listening to music on his 2007 Apple laptop.

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The Love of Music Emily Tschirhart, Community High senior, explains the importance of music in all aspects of her life.

BY CAMMI TIRICO

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mily Tschirhart stood on stage with blood rushing down the side of her face. Unfazed, she completed her solo and walked off stage. Tschirhart’s solo in a fifth grade production of “The Ugly Duckling Musical” was the first time she showed her love and passion: music.

“I sing like I breathe,” Tschirhart said. “It is such a beautiful thing when you let it.”

Fast forward seven years later, Tschirhart clearly sees how music has impacted her life. Coming off her recent success at Pioneer Theater Guild’s Future Stars, a musical competition between students from all Ann Arbor high schools, her love for music is evident than ever.

Growing up with panic attacks, Tschirhart was petrified of performing. Early on, Tschirhart would constantly beg her parents to not make her sing to others. Tschirhart has now worked through the stage anxiety and — for the second year in a row — performed in front of a full auditorium of 1,700 people.

Through practice, patience, and performing, Tschirhart has become more confident in herself and her music. Stemming from that confidence is a greater understanding of communication and navigating difficult situations.

“I have never been great at communicating with people until recently,” Tschirhart said. “[This year] I could communicate with MT’s [Musical Theater majors], my coaches, [the director] Quinn, other performers, and all the people that were helping out.”

Webster Dictionary deffines music as ‘the vocal art to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.’ But, to Tschirhart, music is much more. “[Music] is literally like a friend to me,” Tschirhart said. “It listens, but it also has an infinite wisdom about it… I love it so much, and for me to be able to give that to someone else as a gift is such a beautiful thing.”

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Emily Tschirhart preforms at “Battle of the Bands,” a Neutral Zone event, with her band Rosewood. Rosewood won “Battle of the Bands” for the second year in a row and will be preforming at Live on Washington in the summer — the first place prize.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEC REDDING

The amount of love and compassion Tschirhart puts into her music is evident.

Performing in three of the four preliminary shows and qualifying for finals in two songs is an incredible feat in the least; moreover, Tschirhart made it in the Judges’ Top 5 in both of the songs that made it to finals, “When You Believe,” by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, a duet Tschirhart sang with Skyline junior, Lily Rosenberg, and “Freedom” by Beyoncé.

“Yeah, I’m happy that I made it to finals

twice, but I am happier that people enjoyed it,” Tschirhart said. “It is nice knowing that people appreciate what I can bring.”

Tschirhart is not exactly sure what the future holds for her, but she is certain music will be a part of it: “I just love singing,” Tschirhart said. “It is my favorite thing in the whole world. I don’t even know how to describe it. Some people like video games, some people like sports, some people like driving, some people even like getting high; I like singing.”

I sing like I breathe. Some people like video games, some people like sports, some people like driving, some people even like getting high; I like singing.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF NICK PROVENZOLA

The Dancer in Disguise Nick Provenzola loves what he does — and he doesn’t care what people think of him.

BY MAX KLARMAN

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hen first seen by his peers, Nick Provenzola seems like an average freshman; he eats his packed lunch alone on the third floor ledge while watching videos on his phone. However, there is more to him than people might think. If someone starts chatting with him, he will put his technology away and he will be happy to talk.

One thing you might not expect is that he is an accomplished dancer.

This might be a surprise for people who don’t know him. Through elementary school, Provenzola rarely talked about his dancing talent. “I just didn’t think it was important for everybody to know,” Provenzola said. “It was just quiet. I told some people.”

Provenzola has been dancing since he was three years old. Since his mom is a dance teacher, she might have played a part in him choosing to dance. Provenzola started learning ballet, and he continued for about four years. At about seven or eight, he lost interest in ballet and decided to take up tap dancing, which he preferred. But Provenzola regrets not having stuck with ballet. “If I could go back in time, I probably wouldn’t have dropped ballet, because it would be so much better for me right now,” Provenzola

explains. “In ballet, you have to very precise with your arms and everything. You’re not just getting judged on your feet. You’ve got to be perfect.”

He is serious about his dancing, and practices many hours per week. On Tuesday and Thursday, Provenzola takes an hour of both tap and hip hop. On Saturday, he takes an hour of tap and ballet. Over the weekend, Provenzola does four hours of tap depending on how close a performance is.

That adds up to six to ten hours of classes each week.

Dancing didn’t come naturally for Provenzola. “I had to work hard to get as good as I am,” Provenzola said. “[For] some people it just comes naturally. They could crack moves easily. Stage presence — that wasn’t a problem. I already had that, but trying to the learn the steps and stay with it. It was hard, but I got with it.”

Not only is Provenzola a great dancer, but he also knows how to keep going in a dance routine when he messes up. His experience dancing has taught him how to move on from mistakes by smiling. “The trick if you mess up on stage or forget a step of something, just keep smiling, because they don’t really look at your feet too much; they’re

more looking at your upper body. So you’ve got to keep smiling and act like nothing happened. And hopefully, you’ll remember all the steps, and you’ll be able to continue on with the dance,” Provenzola said.

The last show that Provenzola was in was The Nutcracker, which was performed by the Randazzo Dance Company and took place on December 2-3, 2017. This is Provenzola’s fourth time being in The Nutcracker. Provenzola played both the butler and the snowman. “The butler was my favorite part. I got to do some acting and dancing with a partner,” Provenzola explained. “But the snowman costume is terrible; they really need to get a new one. It’s very uncomfortable. It’s three hoop rings with cloth over it. And the head keeps falling off. It’s uncomfortably warm”.

If Provenzola could see any dancer — dead or alive — perform, he would choose Michael Jackson. “I looked up to Michael Jackson when I was a little kid,” Provenzola recalled.

While Provenzola doesn’t know what he wants to do in his future, he wants to keep dancing a part of his life for as long as he can.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY GRACE JENSEN

A Freshman Takes on Mock Trial Community High freshman Ben Cooper shares his insights of his first semester of mock trial.

BY DAN GUTENBERG

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hile looking around at posters for after school clubs, Ben Cooper, CHS freshman, spotted the mock trial flyer with a key detail.

The poster read, “No experience needed.”

This was influential on Cooper’s decision to join the club, because he was stressing about being uninformed on the subject for the various different clubs. Currently, Cooper is more than satisfied with his choice.

Cooper joined the school’s mock trial team at the beginning of his first semester, and already has plenty of positive feedback on his ongoing experience. Although the majority of freshman who join mock trial are alternates or take on other smaller roles, Cooper has recognized the privilege it is to experience mock trial, while most other high schools are absent of programs like this.

Meeting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for a total of eight hours weekly is just part of the commitment Cooper takes on as a freshman. But the professional experience he is receiving is too priceless to pass up.

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As an alternate, Cooper’s typical practice ranges from just discussing trials to meeting real lawyers. Cooper enjoys the runthroughs of the trial, even though he is not portraying a role.

Taught by U.S. history and government teacher Chloe Root, mock trial has been thriving for years. While the after-school club is led by Root, she manages to bring in many professional volunteers. There is a constant flow of retired or current lawyers coming in and out of mock trial assisting in any way they can. By providing their professional guidance, knowledge, and opinions, the volunteers never fail to help.

Root is ecstatic about the freshman class she received this year. From ambitious students ready to jump in on competing teams to kids that are humble but just as bright, the mock trial team is intellectually expanding. The contrast of students helps the team in so many ways. Root mentioned how she had more than a few alternates that were totally capable of being on competing teams, but were a bit unsure, like Cooper himself.

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Additionally, Cooper mentioned he would recommend mock trial to all incoming freshmen because the opportunity is so valuable and joining the club is also a great thing to have as an extracurricular, and is something to put down on applications for college or internships.

“Obviously it’s something you can put on your college applications, and that’s one of the reasons,” Cooper said when asked why he is in the club. “But I thought it would be really fun to learn about it, and you can take it as a class if you want, which I’ll probably do in the future.”

Cooper plans to continue with mock trial throughout the rest of his high school experience, because he understands that the following years will allow him to take on bigger roles. He is excited to play the role of a lawyer and compete in the real competitions: regionals, states, and nationals.

Cooper is ready to become more than just an alternate, and is ready to compete in an actual mock trial.

A Nostalgia-Fueled Delusion or Cold Hard Facts?

A look at whether the shape of mac and cheese really changes its flavor.

BY AJAY WALKER

Support beams Additional cheese ridges Cylinder

Few places for cheese

Dish for cheese Pocket for cheese

Fun shape

Dome Shape

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ac and cheese is the cornerstone of childhood food favorites, and for many, is still a meal they come back to for some easy-made comfort.

But one thing still bothers the brains of many cheese lovers: what shape of pasta is the tastiest?

This question has been asked by people on Twitter, Facebook, food bloggers, and Community High School students alike with what seems to be a clear winner: cartoony shapes.

Whether it’s Spongebob Squarepants, Scooby Doo, or spiderwebs, the decision is practically unanimous. But the answer to why lies in the overall ranking with the

Pictured above: Spongebob

classic elbow pasta at the bottom, shells in the middle, and cartoon shapes reigning supreme.

With this, we can break down the data and make some conclusions, and perhaps finally clear up this nostalgia-fueled confusion.

a dish to hold cheese; and cartoon shapes win out, with superior surface area and pockets for the cheese.

“I think if it’s a [character shape] there’s more areas to cover,” said Covyou.

“To get the cheese on? Yeah, I was about to say that,” Ziolek replied.

STRUCTURE The mini architecture of macaroni and cheese seems to be a crucial part of this.

Elbow pasta just doesn’t hold its shape through the boiling process, and while shells have slightly more structural integrity — using the dome that has been present in man-made structures back into prehistory — the winner is still cartoon shapes once again; with what amounts to support beams winding through the interior of the pasta, it is able to hold its form under the high heat.

Community senior Ethan Ziolek weighs in, saying, “People say [shape doesn’t affect taste] but it definitely does. Things are shaped differently, so they taste different.”

“It’s a different experience,” adds Nicole Coveyou, another Community senior.

CHILDLIKE WONDER The final factor comes down to good old-fashioned nostalgia; eating your pasta in silly shapes makes you feel like a kid again, and that’s the greatest comfort of them all. Regardless of the flavor, texture, or smell, cartoon shapes will always win out as the most comforting.

“If I’m in a childish mood, if I’m feeling like I’m eight years old, it can be fun.

If I’m eating mac and cheese that’s got childish shapes then I need to have a box of apple juice next to me to wash it down,” reports Logan Gorman, a high school junior at Community High.

Ziolek agreed, stating, “If you’re a child and you don’t like [character] mac and cheese, you’re not a child.”

With this decisive evidence, go to Kroger and get yourself some ten-for-ten Annie’s Mac and Cheese in the bunny shapes and enjoy.

CHEESE TO PASTA RATIO Cheese is an integral part of any mac, and getting this ratio right is crucial: as much cheese as possible. Again, elbow is at the bottom, with very few places for cheese to stick, as it’s nothing but a cylinder; shells do a bit better, as they have grooves and

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A Take

The Communicator Magazine

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on Love

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BY NEIL BEVERIDGE, ALEC REDDING, AND SUEPHIE SAAM

Courtney Kiley

FOS TEACHER AT CHS

“I am in love with my husband and I think he’s the only person aside from Liz I’ve ever really been in love with. I fell in love with him the first second I saw him. It was the first day of college and we went on a field trip to the arb. He was standing on the sidewalk and he was eclipsing the sun so all these rays were coming out from behind him and I said to my friend whos standing next to me I said ‘I don’t know who that guy is, but I’m going to marry him.’ And I did because that’s what I do.

Okay, so there was kind of a problem because my other friend had a huge crush on him and I was dating somebody else. So I had to wait a whole year for her to get rejected by him until I could move in. He always wore this tactical fishing vest over a button down shirt. I just thought he’s ready for anything, I have to marry him.

One day I asked him to come and study at the park, so we studied together. We had a co-op party and we danced together and he held my hand and I was like ‘If you’re holding my hand because you had a beer, I’m going to kill you.’

I stalked him for like a whole year before we dated, so I would like wait for him by the bikeracks of our dorm because we lived in the same dorm and I found out that he went to Pioneer High School. My family drove by his family’s house on Sixth Street because I do my research before I fully commit.

When we first told each other that we loved each other, he was in my dorm room and John Lennon was playing on the radio. I was like ‘Do you know who this is?’ and he said no.

I picked up his shoes and I threw them out of my room and was like ‘You have to go.’ So he left and he was really sad and I didn’t know. He left and cried. [After he left] he saw a big willow branch of a tree and a small willow branch of a tree and then saw two ducks floating together. He said that’s when he realized he was in love with me. He came back crying, and he said ‘I can’t believe you kicked me out, I love you.’ and then I told him I loved him too.

Our engagement story [was] on a Friday evening we drove out of town and we stopped. He had mowed a mile long path through a prairie and at the end of the path there was a big clearing on a top of a hill.

He trucked a bed and a nightstand out there. He had gin and tonics and flowers and a whole headboard. We slept outside and that’s how he proposed.”

Marcy McCormick FOS TEACHER AT CHS

“I am in love with my sweetheart, the greatest love of my life, my partner. We’ve been together since we were both 18. We met in college at U of M. We’ve been together a long time. I would say my favorite memory is from when we were younger we traveled to Europe together. We traveled all over and we did the whole backpacking thing. She is Spanish, so she has family in Spain, and actually, she has a lot of family in France too. We traveled all throughout France and we went to Switzerland. We took a train up into the mountains to one of the highest peaks in Switzerland, The Swiss Alps called Jungfrau.

We hiked the glacier and that was pretty amazing.

You know, when we met, it clicked for both of us. Don’t settle. It was kind of a hard road getting to a realization of who I wanted in my life and who completed me, and so when we met it just made so much sense. I was so willing to fight for our love.”

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Feature

Chloe Root SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER AT CHS

“I’ve been seeing this girl named Brooke for a year and a half now. She’s a rock climber which is kind of wild. She’s gotten me to do a bunch of things that I otherwise wouldn’t be willing to do like going up high for example. She’s a really interesting and thoughtful person who is fun to discuss things with. We like to talk about nerdy stuff a lot together.

We met at the Arb the first time we met. It was funny, we planned to have food so I picked up sandwiches from Ahmos.

Nothing fancy. We walked around the Arboretum and talked the whole time. I think we ended up walking to around nine just talking and talking about all kinds of stuff. We sat and ate food under the pine trees in the arb which was nice.

She went to Peru really soon after that so we kind of got to know each other texting long distance mostly. I don’t know if there was a single moment [I knew I loved her]. I was so excited to see her when she got back. I was just anticipating it so much because I was so excited about this new person in my life but I wasn’t really sure if our communication was going to be the same kind of thing in person. So when I saw her again that was a moment [I knew I loved her], maybe not the moment because we had only known each other for three weeks but that was sort of when I was like ‘oh this is a possibility.’

Hold the same standards for your partner as you would for yourself and vice versa. Don’t let yourself do things you wouldn’t expect from somebody else and don’t expect somebody else to do something you wouldn’t.”

Matt Johnson ENGLISH TEACHER AT CHS

“Well I mean I think that there are two different distinct loves in my life. That would be my wife of five years and and then my daughter, which is an entirely different experience altogether. With that one in particular, its a whole other thing. Not that I don’t love my wife more than myself, but it’s you have something that you love so much in such a fierce way that you know it means more than everything else in your world combined.

That’s both terrifying and really amazing. It kind of goes back and forth. Like right now, this morning [my daughter] correctly used the word ‘either’ and then a past tense word correctly and I was glowing. I was like ‘Oh my god, she did it.’ But now there’s this flu going around and I’m so much more paranoid about this flu than I’ve ever been about a flu in my entire life.

What if she got it? What if she got really sick? It’s a whole other level of worry that also comes with that love. I think Maya Angelou was one of the people that said something along the lines of ‘The best thing to do in this world is have the bravery to love someone completely.’ It really takes bravery. I guess those are the two types of love I have, I’m very lucky in that way.

[Me and my wife’s] relationship is built upon mutual respect, admiration, and trust. When I first really realized what kind of love we have was when we spent a year travelling around South America together. We were together every second, every day, for an entire year. We were literally never apart and we didn’t fight at all. It was just because we had such trust, such admiration and such enjoyment of each other. Love works best when it’s built upon in mutual respect and it’s balanced. I think that when it’s imbalanced it just can’t help but have jealousies and worries. When you really respect each other you really are trying to look out for each other. The good moments are the ones where we listen to each other and respect each other.” |

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY SACHA VERLON

Dressing for The Job You Want

Or even better, dress for the life you want.

W

BY SACHA VERLON

hen Grace York, a senior at Community High School, was sitting in Matt Johnson’s room during lunch last Monday, Dec. 11, she did not look like a student. Rather, she looked like a professional: bold and rather intimidating, yet remaining modest and put together. Heck, she might even be your boss.

The key to such a level of class is in wearing timeless pieces. Throw on a mock-neck, some trousers, suede boots, and to top it all off, a camel overcoat that can instantly make someone look fresh without looking too flashy.

It isn’t necessary to go to expensive stores to get quality pieces like these, either. The black mock-neck York is wearing in these photos is the same one she wears when she dances at her dance studio. And that gorgeous overcoat? Her grandmother gave it to her. The grey-on-grey plaid pants and the pointed heel-boots were thrift shop finds.

Although the outfit may look expensive, it barely breaks the piggy bank.

For York, fashion serves as a mode of expression. And in that sense, why not express something different and creative every day?

“Dress like it’s your last outfit of your life. You never know. I think about that a lot.

That’s why I tend to wear things that are kind of weird.”

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BY ZOE LUBETKIN AND ANDIE TAPPENDEN

the lookbook a few of the freshest looks seen around Community

Above, from left: Roxie Richner with a pair of hexagonal – not hoop, she’s quick to point out – earrings.

Aviva Satz-Kojis in a pair of jeans she embroidered herself.

LEFT: Mira Simonton-Chao in an outfit that costs less than $15, if you don’t count the shoes.

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Above left: Chloe Di Blassio drinking tea she made in Anne’s room while donning a pajama shirt she found in a thrift store. Above left and right: Ethan Ziolek wearing sneakers his basketball-loving grandma got him from a Nike outlet in Howell, MI.

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MARCUS BROWN Marcus Brown comes off as effortlessly fresh. He doesn’t typically focus on how much he spends on his clothes unless he’s trying to resell them. He prefers comfort over fashion, and wouldn’t be surprised if he was wearing mismatched socks. He doesn’t own a wallet, and prefers to keep his cards held together by a clip. “The best part about wearing clothes is that you can wear something you don’t know anything about, but it’s the fact that you feel it.”

“Everyone has a style, but ‘style’ is different. Style is being able to come across as a certain word, to be able to exemplify a feeling.”

Steal Their Look If you can find someone to swap shoes with, you and a friend will both be better off.

Brown traded for these Jordan 1 OG royal blue sneakers. The faded black Sharpie writing placed at every angle of his shoes are Frank Ocean Lyrics. Brown relates to Ocean and sees him as one of his icons. “It’s a cult, not a clique,” is Ocean talking about his group of followers on Twitter. Brown loves reading annotated Ocean lyrics: “You dive into it like it’s a book,” he said.

‘The Grateful Dead’ shirt Online Ceramics

$40

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAITLIN MAHONEY AND LEAH DAME

Navy pants Dickies

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BY LEAH DAME

ARI BARAJAS Second-hand clothes are growing popular in everyday outfits.

According to The Association of Resale Professionals, the usage of thrift stores has reportedly been growing by seven percent each year for the past two years. Ari Barajas says she’s “cheap” when it comes to clothes. Her mix of ‘90s and modern styles was sparked by the sitcom “Friends.” She admired the clothes of characters Monica and Rachel in the show’s early seasons. Despite some of her peers criticizing her preference in clothes, Barajas sticks to her quirky and laid back style.

“Mostly when you wear something, you want it to say something about yourself. It can make someone feel incredibly confident in themselves, and even when you don’t really care about what you look like, it says something about you.”

Find out where these CHS students get their own styles.

Forest green turtleneck shirt Salvation Army

$3

Ripped Jeans Pacsun

$80

Black leather belt Salvation Army

$6

Oversized flannel Salvation Army

$3

White Converse Journeys

$55

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1 2

SIGHTS & SOUNDS of

SoCal

BY CLAIRE MIDDLETON

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3 4 1. PRESSED JUICERY The Pressed Juicery is a chain located on the West and East coasts of the United States. They offer a wide range of green juices, fruit juices, and soft serve ice cream made from fruits and vegetables.

The Pressed Juicery has several locations all across Southern California.

2. VENICE BEACH SKATEPARK Venice Beach is one of the most eccentric places to visit in Southern California. The skatepark is always a must-see tourist attraction. On a Friday night during sunset, it would be likely to see the railings packed with people watching the skaters.

3. THE RAW REMEDY JUICE BAR The Raw Remedy Organic Juice Bar is a locally-owned cafe located in Palm Springs. It has hip smoothie and açaí bowls, wheatgrass shots, and plenty of other health-conscious food options.

They allow you to make any of their smoothies into what they call a “bowl,” and they top it with fresh fruit, granola, edible flowers, and honey. This cafe is a must-visit when walking the streets of downtown Palm Springs.

4. PALM SPRINGS MUSEUM TRAIL The Palm Springs Museum Trail is located behind the Palm Springs local art museum, and is a fairly easy hike with moderate elevation.

The best part of the hike is you can make it as long or short as you want. The view is beautiful at every point.

5. DOWNTOWN PALM SPRINGS Downtown Palm Springs is an eccentric town located in the Coachella Valley East of Los Angeles. The downtown stretch has amazing restaurants such as Kaiser Grill, Wangs in the Desert, and LULU. There are souvenir, clothing, and shoe shops.

6. MANHATTAN BEACH PIER Manhattan Beach is a charming beach town located between Hermosa Beach and Marina Del Ray. There are tons of local shops that line the main street looking down towards the Pacific Ocean.

The pier breaks off of The Strand, a famous SoCal bike and walking path that lines the ocean. The pier is filled with tourists and locals looking for a beautiful view of the beach and ocean.

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“I Really Hate My Girlfriend” and Other Love Concerns Love advice from people who are not qualified to give love advice.

BY A COLLECTION OF COMMUNICATOR STAFF MEMEBERS ILLUSTRATIONS BY WM. HENRY SCHIRMER

Questions and concerns were submitted by Community High students. We hope that these answers in some way help with your relationship problems. However, we are not trained professionals and everything we say should be taken with a grain of salt.

How do I make someone love me?

Here is my three-step process to getting someone to love you: First, shower them with gifts. The more you spend on them, the more likely they are to notice you. I recommend things like jewelry, cars, houses, puppies (unless they are a cat person), and vacations.

Second, follow them around with a speaker blasting a playlist of all their favorite songs. It will be like the soundtrack of their life, and the journey to your ultimate romance. If you stay on their tail nonstop for several days, they are guaranteed to notice you. They may even come running into your arms, leading to a life-long relationship. However, love is not an exact science, and this may result in a restraining order.

Once you have gained their attention, you must confess your love to them. This can be intimidating, but just know that after following them around, you’ve most likely gotten to know each other and ready to go to the next level in your relationship. I hope this helped and good luck!

How do I know if my crush likes me?

Just ask them — shoot a winky-face text. It’ll be scary, but once you get it over with, you can stop worrying about the potential answer. Either they will reciprocate, or they might just avoid you for the rest of your life. Either way, just rip that Band-Aid off! Just ask if they like you when you feel the time is right. Don’t worry about the aftermath as you are asking.

Is consent sexy?

Yes. Consent is not only sexy, but also absolutely necessary.

I want to ask this girl I’m really good friends with out on a date, but I don’t want to ruin our friendship. What should I do?

First, you probably feel like you are going to die inside. That’s normal. Anxiety is normal. Second, you should ask them out. Third, they might reject you and it may be awkward at first, but time will go by, and you are going to have to just deal with it.

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I really hate my girlfriend.

Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. If you have reservations about your relationship, I recommend that you sit down with your girlfriend and discuss your issues. If you still feel that way, then you may want to consider moving on. Strong relationships take time and understanding, so maybe if you give her some time, it will work itself out. However, if you truly hate her, you need to remove yourself from this situation. Find out where all this hate is coming from.

In no way should this hate be released onto your girlfriend. In addition, look at her side. Here is someone who truly loves you and is looking out for your best interest, and if you don’t feel the same, you need to stop leading her on.

I’ve been with this girl for a while, and I kinda want to be exclusive but I think she sees other guys and I don’t know how to ask her. Plz help.

You’ve just gotta go for it. Be upfront and ask her. You might just be imagining that she’s seeing other guys, but the only way to find the truth is by asking her. Don’t look through her phone. That hurts more than it helps. I would ask her in person, not over text. When you feel it’s right to ask if she wants something more serious, get down on that knee and pop the question.

What do you do if the person you love is in a different state?

Long distance relationships can be hard. If you truly care for a person though, it’s definitely possible. When you love someone, they’re often all you can think about. You’ll want to talk to them all day long, and with current technology, that’s possible. You can text them, Snapchat them, and call them throughout the day. Every night, you can FaceTime or Skype with them to see their face and hear their voice. If you put in enough effort, you’ll be able to make it work. After you’ve been dating for a little while, you can take trips and visit each other. And if it works out, when you’re older you can move to the same place and live together. If your love is that strong, then the struggle is worth it.

Two Minute Me

We asked nine people to draw themselves in only two minutes. Here are the results.

BY CAMILLE KONRAD AND BELLA YERKES

Zane Jones

Kyin Griffith

Grace York

Carter Schmidt

Jane Heckendorn

MacKenzie Quigly

CJ Fulcher

Bella Yerkes

Ben Chosid

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A PICTURE IS WORTH

1000 WORDS

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BY GRACE JENSEN

A

nna Mellett has loved photography since taking Steve’s photo class freshman year, so when she saw a bright red male cardinal on the birdfeeder in her backyard, she knew she had to take a photo. The birdfeeder draws many types of birds that Mellett might not see otherwise,

like woodpeckers and finches. Cardinals are her favorite for their distinctive color.

“I love to take pictures of nature because I think it captures what we sometimes miss out in the world,” she said. “I feel so calm when I’m in nature and it reminds me that sometimes we miss the little things we see every day. I love how I can capture nature in the way I see it.” |

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265 young women were victims of Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse tactics.

I was not one of them, but as a gymnast, this scandal still directly affects me.

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Opinion

Medals Over Morals No More

BY ABIGAIL GAIES

I am one of the lucky ones. I was not sexually abused by my doctor. I did get a playful slap on the butt and a hand on my shoulder, my knee, my arm, followed by an uneasy feeling and confused looks I shared with my mom. But what I have now is guilt, sorrow, and anger.

“Go see Dr. Larry Nassar,” my coach told me. “He’s one of — if not the — best.

He knows gymnastics, he’ll know how to fix you.” So I did. I went to see Dr. Nassar at Michigan State University because he had treated Olympians — some of my gymnastics role models — and just getting on his schedule was an achievement.

By now, most people know who Larry Nassar is: the ex-Team USA Gymnastics physician who was recently sentenced to a total of up to 360 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 265 young girls over 20 years. While I was not sexually abused, some of my teammates were not so lucky.

In March of 2016, I visited Dr. Nassar for a knee injury I had for five years. We went to his office, I sat on the table, and he started asking me some basic questions: How long has your knee been bothering you? Was there a specific incident that triggered it? Does it hurt all the time or just at practice? These are all normal questions to be asked at a doctor’s appointment; what was not normal was the hand he placed on my knee. It was placed there as soon as I sat down, while I was just talking to him, not simply placed during the physical exam in a “let me feel it to see if anything feels out of place” way. It felt more like “I need to be touching you.”

I did not think too much of this at the time. I remember looking at my mom; we exchanged a nervous look but then wiped it from our minds.

As I was leaving, he slapped my butt.

I was 14, I did not realize what had happened, but it felt weird and unnatural.

After I left Nassar’s office, my mom and I were relieved as well as a little giddy because he had not told me my gymnastics career was over. When we went to lunch, we talked about how nice it was that he understood women’s gymnastics so well, how laid-back and friendly he seemed, and how strange it was that he was so comfortable around a teenage girl, easily chalking it up to his years around gymnastics. But when the scandal broke six months later, it all made sense.

In September of 2016, Rachael Denhollander told The Indianapolis Star a story of Nassar sexually abusing her, and no one believed her. That is, until hundreds of

others came forward with similar experiences. Nassar had gained their trust, manipulated them, and used them for his personal pleasure without concern as to how it would affect them. People said he was a master physician, and they were right about that, and about one other thing: he was a master at hiding in plain sight behind the thin veil of reported medical treatments.

But how could this happen? And how did it stay hidden for 20 years?

The answer is in large part due to the environment many gyms across the country have created. High level gymnastics is intense; the best coaches put their time and energy into their gymnasts because they know what we are capable of, and get frustrated when we fall short. There is no time for complacency, and our coaches are always trying to light a fire under us, pushing us further than we think is possible.

My head coach, who I know truly cares about and believes in me, is a two-time Olympian from Bulgaria, so it does not seem to surprise anyone that his style of motivation and coaching can be a bit harsh: “You’ll never be as good as her,” “you’re wasting my time,” and “that was garbage” are phrases that are often heard in the gym. There was even a two-week period when my coach did not talk to me at all, not one word, because he was so disappointed with my performance in practice — even when I thought I was doing well. In situations like this, gymnasts want a way to physically escape. For my teammates and me, it is “going to the bathroom” for a chance to sit in the locker room, to take a deep breath, and regroup.

For many others, apparently it was going to see Nassar.

The environment at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas — the now-closed gym where the national gymnastics team trained — was reportedly so toxic that going to visit Nassar for “treatments” became many gymnasts’ safe haven. In their victim impact statements read in court, survivors talked about how he would provide them with snacks, treats, and gifts, giving them a perceived safe space away from the intensely negative verbal and emotional treatment they received in the gym.

Gymnasts from Twistars USA Gymnastics Club in Lansing, Mich. — where Nassar was given a private room in the back by his lifelong friend John Geddert — can no doubt relate to the gymnasts at the Karolyi Ranch. Geddert, the now-retired Twistars owner and head coach, was just like the coaches at the Ranch in the

negative training environment he created.

His methods were apparently so horrible that he was suspended by USA Gymnastics on Jan. 22 because of accusations of his abusive behavior. Friends have told me that he has been known to throw water bottles, shove gymnasts into the apparatus, and force them to continue practicing even when they had gotten injured. Similar to the gymnasts at the Karolyi Ranch, some at Twistars have said they would go to Nassar to escape their screaming coach.

Why do people let Geddert and others get away with this awful behavior? It’s simple: Success. Geddert is one of the most successful coaches in the gymnastics world, having coached Jordyn Wieber and the Fierce Five to their fame in the 2012 London Olympics.

Despite their gold medal achievements from that year, the biographies of those five gymnasts will be tainted by their inclusion in this scandal. I am angry that for most Americans, when they think about gymnastics, this scandal is what that they will think of. Specifically, they will remember the hundreds of young women as victims — overlooking the hard work, determination, perseverance, strength, beauty, and grace that are hallmarks of a gymnast’s personality.

As each survivor stood up and revealed her story, it clearly empowered others to speak up as well. In fact, the trial lasted days longer than originally planned because more people requested time to confront their monster face-to-face. As I watched the impact statements, I was shocked to see so many familiar faces.

I find out weekly that more and more of my friends were abused by Nassar. I feel guilty that I was lucky and did not have to live through the horrific experiences they did. My mom feels guilty that she brought me to this monster, that in doing what everyone had said was the best thing for me, she was putting me directly in harm’s way.

I was so close. She also shares that sense of guilt for the relief she feels knowing it was pure luck and timing that protected me, when some of her friends and their daughters were not as lucky.

While so many have called Judge Rosemarie Aquilina a hero for her support of the survivors as they confronted Nassar in her courtroom, all she really did was sit on the bench, uphold the law, and tell another adult how despicable he is. I am extremely thankful to her for helping each of the survivors find the strength to do what they did, but calling her a hero is a bit of a stretch. It is my hope that anyone in her |

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position would have given him the same sentence, found him just as repulsive.

To me, the true heroes are the hundreds of young women who stood up and shared their stories when what they had been told to do for so long was sit down and stay quiet. The victims were shut down time and time again because no one wanted to “rock the boat.” No one wanted to see just how monstrous this man was, or do anything to compromise the national and international success USA Gymnastics was having.

“If you bring this to higher authorities, it will start a huge scandal that you would not want to be a part of,” one victim was told by someone from USA Gymnastics.

They chose to see these gymnasts as just that — gymnasts that should not worry about anything except winning for their team or country. They saw them as weak little girls that would not want to stand up for themselves because it would be too much for them to deal with. The culture they had kept these young women in was such that they were just little girls only focused on winning.

That is one of the things I am struggling with: how to change the culture. It is one thing to continue to empower the survivors to speak up, to break the silence and deny the perpetrator his power. But the culture needs to change from the top down. The punishment should be on the coach who crosses the line or the doctor who abuses his position, not on the young woman working her butt off everyday to achieve her dreams. Silencing her is not the answer; shaming her is not the answer.

There seems to be a mentality in the sports world where performance is valued higher than protection. “Medals over morals,” I recently heard. People do not look under the surface because the team is winning! Be careful not to do anything to change that! What they fail to consider is that what is happening may not be straightforward, simple winning: The cost for these athletes may be emotional, physical, or even sexual abuse. It is not okay to ignore the safety and wellbeing of

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gymnasts for the sake of winning, because winning at all costs is actually losing in the long run.

If I could talk directly to each of the women who have come forward, I would say thank you. Thank you for standing tall.

I would tell her to never forget to speak up for herself. To remind herself that she matters, that her story matters. We all matter. Change can, should, and will happen everywhere if we listen, validate, and help each other. Thanks to the survivors speaking up, no more girls will ever become victims of Larry Nassar, and the topic of protecting the thousands of young female athletes is now in the forefront.

But will it happen again with a different monster?

The answer is more complicated than a simple yes or a no. If changes are not made to the system, yes, it will happen again. It is unlikely we will change the intense, often negative, environment that is created in the gym. What we can — and must — change is the expectation that speaking up will cause problems, problems people do not want to get their hands dirty with. We have to make that change to prevent this from ever happening again. It will not be easy and it will not be quick, but I am sure it will happen.

“How could you keep your daughter in a sport like this?” read a text my mom received after the survivors spoke at the trial.

We talked about this for awhile, because to people not directly involved with gymnastics, it may look like a toxic sport that ends in various types of abuse and injury.

I suppose it is not surprising given that it is currently all that is being talked about.

But this sport has taught me things far greater than athletic routines: it has taught me that when you fall, you must get back up again; that given time, something that once seemed impossible can become possible; that when the world seems upside down, you have to flip yourself over to look at it differently; that there is multiple solutions to the same problem — if you cannot walk on your feet, you can walk on

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Opinion

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To me, the true heroes are the hundreds of young women who stood up and shared their stories when what they had been told to do for so long was sit down and stay quiet.

your hands; that pain is only temporary and does not define who you are; and that being brave when you feel weak is often the only option.

Just like my mom has been asked how she can continue letting me do this, I have been asked why I would want to. Why did those abused by him not simply quit? Not surprisingly, the answer is complex, but while I cannot speak for others, for me it comes down to a passion for this sport; a commitment to myself and my teammates to stick it out for the long run; and a determination to achieve my dreams and reach my potential. Just as no one can take that away from me, Nassar could not take it away from the survivors.

Learning to Persevere For my moms, who have given me everything.

BY LOEY JONES-PERPICH

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s a little kid, I liked to imagine what it would be like to be at my parents’ wedding. I imagined being their flower girl, watching them walk down the aisle at their ceremony, and dancing at their reception.

My parents got married two years before I was born, on September 2, 2000, at Lake Park in Milwaukee, Wis. My parents are not glamorous people — at the wedding they held a luncheon and a small outdoor ceremony while overlooking Lake Michigan. It wasn’t a legal wedding, but Wisconsin was a halfway point between loved ones all over the country.

In my mind, my moms have been married for a little more than 17 years. According to the state of Michigan, they’ve been married for less than four. This drastic difference is due to a 1995 statutory ban on same-sex marriage that kept my parents and all other same-sex couples from getting a legal Michigan marriage license.

Despite lack of an official license, they went on and had that wedding, moved to Ann Arbor, and raised two kids together. They taught my brother and me how to play euchre, how to hug properly, how to persevere, how to be crazy, and how to love. They taught us that no matter what, we could be whoever we wanted.

Throughout my whole life, many people have asked me some form of the question, “But don’t you want to have a dad?”

It’s something I’ve never really thought about. Most people that I knew while I was growing up were curious, but tended to be accepting. It never confused me or made me feel weird that I had two moms instead of a mom and a dad. I had two parents, and they loved each other.

As I got older and asked more questions, I started to be aware that my moms were, in fact, not legally married, despite

the fact that I always saw them as such.

They were partners, not wives. And though the dynamic in my house seemed like my moms were married, it hurt me more than I would admit that they weren’t. I wanted my parents to be legally married, just like everyone else.

Growing up, I always had a wild and vivid imagination. Throughout elementary and middle school, I had this fantasy that I would walk into the classroom and my teacher would give me a big hug and tell me that finally, my moms could get married. My classmates would throw confetti and I would happy cry and everyone I knew would celebrate.

The day I actually found out my moms could get married was March 21, 2014.

My grandma was in town from Milwaukee, and we were sitting on our dark green couch watching the evening news when the reporter announced that a judge had just lifted Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage. We all gasped and looked at each other in shock — we couldn’t believe it.

That moment was much more my family’s style — eating dinner in front of the TV is one of the places we like to be when we get good news.

The next morning, I put on my light green dress and got ready to go to the Washtenaw County Courthouse. My grandma was the only other person in my family who got dressed up. When we were all finally ready to leave, we piled into the car and headed downtown.

I have never seen so many people in one room. There were judges in long robes, rainbow-clad supporters, nicely dressed lesbian and gay couples of all ages, kids, friends, and family members waiting to see their loved ones get married. There were flowers and cakes and bottles of champagne.

Numbers were given out to all of the waiting couples — my parents were somewhere in the 30s. We stayed in the Courthouse all day long, eating wedding cake,drinking coffee, and talking to family friends — all of whom had shown up to see my parents get married.

When it was finally our turn, our little group of family and friends assembled in the loud, crowded courthouse basement.

A kind judge officiated the tiny ceremony. And on that day, in the hot courthouse basement, with three other weddings simultaneously happening around us, my moms got legally married.

The ruling to legalize same-sex marriage was reversed later that day, but all of the weddings that had been performed were recognized as legal.

The legal marriage of my parents hardly changed anything in our day-to-day lives. We continued to live the exact same way that we had been living before. But it changed things for me. The fact that my moms were married made me, as their daughter, feel more comfortable in our world with so many anti-gay people. It eliminated any doubts I might have had in the fact that my family was no different than anyone else’s.

I am eternally grateful for that day — the wedding, the “reception” we had at Panera afterwards, but most of all, the official recognition and validation of my moms — who are perfect for each other — as married. That day, I got to be at my parents’ wedding.

My moms always taught me that I can be whoever and whatever I want to be.

Thanks to them, I am Loey Jones-Perpich.

A euchre player, great hugger, theatre maniac, sister, and the only daughter of two truly fantastic women. |

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Aziz Ansari, “Grace,” and the Lessons They’ve Taught Us

A modern story of sex, power, and miscommunication.

BY MIRA SIMONTON-CHAO

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tories of sexual harassment, assault, and abuse have been splashed across the home pages of some of the biggest names in news and journalism for months. The #MeToo movement, arguably the biggest contributor to the rising national debate of sexual harassment and assault, has paved the way for an on rush of stories and experiences. While the movement is extremely necessary — its motives of exposing the power abuses of men, especially in Hollywood, to the world long needed — it has also busted open a much wider door inclusive of not only sexual assault, but also of general sexual coercion — a much more complex topic in itself.

The most recent of victims to the rising movement, much beyond the #MeToo movement’s roots, has been Aziz Ansari — a stand up comedian, actor, and creator of the TV series “Master of None.” After going on date with a woman in September of 2017, Ansari is accused by his date, “Grace” (her name changed to protect her anonymity) of sexual coercion and a borderline non-consensual sexual experience.

The story was broken by the publication Babe.net only a few days ago but has been discussed, argued, dismissed, and argued all over again by the public and journalists as well. From The Atlantic’s scalding opinion piece, which all but insults “Grace,” to The Guardian’s piece discussing, and ridiculing, the decency of an exposé as such as this, America is in the middle of a new age of sexual awakening.

Aziz Ansari made a mistake. But it is a mistake that likely thousands of other men across world make every single day. Why? Because when you’re in the moment, it gets kind of hard to differentiate the “let’s have sex” stare from the “you are a disgrace to mankind” stare — sometimes it’s even hard to differentiate those looks when you’re not in the middle of oral sex on your kitchen counter. But let me be clear, I am in no way defending Ansari, or even 52

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other males or females — yes, we do it too — who behave in the same manner. I am simply trying to illustrate that if Ansari was any other guy, this would not be a big deal.

My boyfriend has made these mistakes, misinterpreted my signals and the general situation, and maybe you have too. Yes, there are people who couldn’t care less that they are perpetuating sexual misconduct, but the fact is, the majority of people are not intentionally trying to make their sexual partners feel uncomfortable — they’re probably just stupid, sexually-frustrated, and annoying! These exact words have passed through my head every time these stupid series of mistakes have occured in my own life, and maybe, they have for you too. But every time that it’s happened, I have been able to talk the situation out after hand. And obviously not all people are like this, capable of learning from their mistakes and even accepting them, but if you are not willing to even give them the benefit of the doubt, you will never find out.

Mistakes are there for us to learn from; they do not define us, and they do not define our partners. If you close yourself off from even the possibility, you are just as bad as the perpetrator who refused to accept their mistakes. Human beings can be incomprehensibly stupid and because of that stupidity, should be given one singular chance to explain themselves. After that, sorry, but they really are just canceled — you’re better than that.

If one is not even willing to discuss their mistakes, much less acknowledge them, that shows an immense amount of egocentricity in my opinion. Relationships, whether they are sexual, long-term, sporadic, or anything else, should always be respectful and communicative no matter of their extent. And while yes, Ansari coming on to his date “Grace” just about as hard as the freaking tornado in Wizard of the Oz, is not particularly respectful, it must be taken into account that, once again, men, wom| Opinion

en, and people of all sexual orientations, are really freaking stupid.

“Grace” was not respectful either. She broadcasted her sexual encounter with Ansari to the entire world. Months after the events of that evening, she felt the need to “exposé” Ansari in the public light. Grace was obviously very uncomfortable, which I sympathize with, but the fact is that matters such as these are relatively intimate and Ansari deserved at the very least a follow up conversation — especially considering it had been months since that night.

Sexual coercion is an act of sexual persuasion. And while yes, sexual assault and abuse can include coercion, it can also occur in otherwise perfectly ordinary relationships. They are different, while simultaneously the same.

Celebrities are no different than us — they too make mistakes. Sexual coercion is a problem in our society, but it is a problem that needs to be dealt with carefully and certainly not with “exposés” that miss the larger point of the issues at hand. Sexual coercion is deserving of so much more than a half-assed partially opinionated investigative exposé. It is an issue that touches not only the lives of celebrities who can’t read physical signals, but women all over the world. While what Ansari did was wrong, his mistakes were reported in such a manner that the importance of their topic was almost completely lost.

Men and women both need to learn from these events. We as a whole need to not only acknowledge their relevance, but also learn from them. We need to address the difficulties of communication; to teach both men and women how to articulate their discomfort; and to teach empathy and understanding. This cannot become a blame game, but a serious discussion of the general culture of sex in America; a discussion with participation, sincereness, and understanding from both sides.

Data-Based Divination Astrologers deserve your respect, this is why.

BY PAIGE DUFF

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strologers are no strangers to skepticism. Whether it’s questioning the validity of their field of study or the gullibility of their clients, the profession is undermined in media and scientific circles alike. Angel Eyedealism — an internationally-renowned astrologer based in New York City — ties astrologers’ bad reputations to misconception.

“Astrology gets lumped in with psychic stuff, mediums,” Eyedealism said. “It’s not the same thing.”

Many find the idea that the universe could be impacting our lives far-fetched.

However, looking to the moon puts this cynicism to rest.

Studies exist showing lunar cycles affecting everything from melatonin levels in birds to reproductive tendencies in fish, not to mention human fertility, emotional state, and sleep patterns. If the moon can affect living creatures this way, it’s reasonable to assume other celestial fixtures could as well. But how could someone possibly predict these effects?

Eyedealism uses science. Two branches, to be exact: geometry and astronomy.

By analyzing factors like geometric planetary relationships, astronomical hab-

its, and a client’s time, date, and place of birth, Eyedealism’s readings are anything but unfounded.

“I break down data,” Eyedealism said.

“You can see the patterns and trends. there’s something to work with there.”

Eyedealism meets clients from all walks of life, offering a variety of services that aim to provide what she says they often seek: analysis of the workings within.

“It’s a comforting, healing service,” Eyedealism said. Astrological readings can also help clients looking to understand self-destructive behaviors, or habits they wish to change. Sometimes, the readings can reveal things clients never knew about themselves.

“Everybody’s got a brick wall in their chart, where they hit their head again and again,” Eyedealism said. “We’ve got patterns we don’t seem to notice; an outside person who is looking at their chart can sense those patterns and trends. Astrology can be very elucidating.”

Elucidating, and often accurate. While much research has been done to refute the legitimacy of astrology, there have been studies indicating accuracy within astrologers’ analyses. One such study — pub-

lished in the 1986-1987 National Council for Geocosmic Research Journal — asked 24 women participants to self-identify with a sample of given personality traits. Some of these traits had been given by a select group of astrologers, who had analyzed the participants’ birth charts. The results showed the majority of women self-identified with the personality traits determined by the astrologers, corroborating the astrologers findings. Studies like these go to prove the validity of astrologer’s work, and aren’t often brought up in the scrutiny of the career choice.

Whether it’s a personality synopsis of your zodiac sign, a birth chart reading, or a simple daily horoscope, astrologers’ expertise can take many different forms.

However it’s important that — regardless the form — it is still regarded as expertise.

These methods aren’t baseless, and they certainly aren’t inconsequential. Astrological practice is based in knowledge, intense study, and deep analysis. Those practitioners should be afforded the respect their hard work deserves.

So go ahead: read your horoscope.

Chances are, the person behind the prediction knows what they’re talking about. |

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College Misconceptions

College misconceptions have run wild across America for years, which in turn, has lead millions of young adults to make decisions detrimental to their well being.

BY ATTICUS DEWEY

Deciding which college to go to can be tough. Which is why I hope to clear common misconceptions about deciding whether to go to college, what college to go to, and how to get there. So to help you make sense of this article I have divided it up into three sections: Don’t Drop Out of College to Become Bill Gates, Don’t Make College Decisions Based on College Ranking, and Don’t Drown Yourself in Student Loans.

DON’T DROP OUT OF COLLEGE TO BECOME BILL GATES According to a Forbes article, if you want to earn a decent living in the 21st century, you must go to college. But with 65.9 percent of high school students opting to go straight into the “real world” without a college degree, the number of college graduates has been declining since 2009.

When asked what they intend to do after dropping out of college, 65.2 percent of dropouts say that they want to follow in the footsteps of Bill Gates. They think Gates is simply one man who had a great idea.

However, the reason Gates was able to succeed without a college degree is because he is a freakishly hard worker who had advantages that almost no one else does.

Even before Gates went to college, his parents enrolled him in an expensive private high school that happened to have access to a state-of-the-art computer that hardly any other kid would have access to. Before he dropped out, Gates already had thousands of hours of programming experience, had become an expert, founded Microsoft with his partner, and made the first software that ran on personal computers.

Therefore, Gates didn’t have much risk by dropping out. Even if he did fail, he would have had the opportunity to go back to his Ivy League education on his parents’ dime.

Bill Gates’ success story is not one that many people will be able to replicate. The hard truth of the matter is almost no one is that accomplished, gifted, and just plain lucky. When you focus only on the famous success stories but ignore the lesser-known failures, you are committing a logical error known as “survivor bias,” which can lead

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to false conclusions in several different ways.

For every tech billionaire that the media obsesses about, there are countless more unfortunate people whose stories you will never hear. Even if you were able to hear them, a lot would likely be explanations of their regrets of not deciding to stay in college. College dropouts are 71 percent more likely to be unemployed, and people with a college education earn more money at every point in their careers.

Students nowadays must get a degree to do well in our economy. Throughout the generations, getting a middle-class job without a degree has become significantly harder. Since 1985, the United States has lost over 372,000 manufacturing jobs per year, but we’ve gained jobs in skilled fields. Over the past 20 years, software jobs have increased by over 500 percent, and internet jobs have increased by over 600 percent in the past decade.

However, those jobs require a college education. In the nine years since the Great Recession, less than one percent

of jobs created have gone to those with a high school diploma or less. That’s why Bill Gates himself says that more Americans need to go to college.

“America is facing a shortage of college graduates,” said Bill Gates in a 2015 publication of Gates Notes. “By 2025, two-thirds of jobs in the United States will require an education beyond high school.

However, at the current rate, the country is expected to face a shortfall of over 11 million skilled workers over the next 10 years.”

dollars than most Americans make in a year. Even though the cost of colleges is skyrocketing, we still pick schools from an arbitrary list that rewards colleges for wasting money.

had monthly payments that were so low, they didn’t even cover the interest.

You could be in a situation where you’re paying hundreds of dollars a month but the amount you owe is still growing. One in four borrowers are behind on their student DON’T DROWN YOURSELF IN STUloans and over eight million are in default.

DENT LOANS The worst part is, unlike other types of Finally, one of the biggest misconcepdebt, if you default on a federal student tions about college is the facts behind stuloan, the government can garnish up to 15 dent loans. The truth is, student loans are percent of your wages, tax refunds, and crippling the finances of millions of people social security benefits. In addition, if your and there’s no end in sight. Student loans parents cosigned the loan, their income DON’T MAKE YOUR COLLEGE DEare a necessity — and lots of people have can also be garnished.

CISION BASED ON RANKINGS the opportunity to go to college because of Sallie Mae spent decades lobbying ConIf you are thinking about attending colthem — but that’s why it is so disturbing gress to roll back consumer protection. It lege and are looking at the rankings of how what they are doing to people. all paid off in 2005, when Sallie Mae won good schools are, stop immediately. U.S. According to Federal Student Aid in their crowning achievement, because now News and World Report rankings may be 2017, an office in the department of ed— unlike almost all other kinds of debt — popular, but they reward schools that lie, ucation, over 42 million Americans have it is virtually impossible to declare bankcheat, and manipulate the system. student loan debt totaling to 1.3 trillion ruptcy on student loans. It’s insane: you According to Stephanie Owings-Eddollars. Student loan debt has become the sign a piece of paper when you’re 18 and wards, a reporter for the Journal of Colmost severe kind of debt. Before 1972, you could be stuck with it for life. lege Teaching and Learning, In 2010 the government when U.S. News created these finally cut off middlemen rankings in 1983, they were a like Sallie Mae, but it wasn’t popularity contest. U.S. News enough. A generation of would just ask college presAmericans has had to financial“By 2025, two-thirds of jobs in the United idents what their thoughts ly cripple themselves in debt, were on each other’s schools, States will require an education beyond a just to get the basic education which inevitably opened U.S. necessary to survive in today’s high school diploma.”

News up to criticism from the economy. public.

It’s hard to admit that we Starting in 1988, U.S. have created an economy that News reworked their ranking requires a college degree in system into a complicated formula. This students could get federally-backed loans order to participate, then compels people pseudo-scientific formula has become into pay for school, but there weren’t enough to take massive loans that bleed them dry credibly powerful; now, when a school slips loans to go to every single American rejust to get that degree. But there are a few in the rankings, it can affect the number of questing a loan. Then, Richard Nixon things you can do to reduce the burden. applications it receives, the research fundcreated the Student Loan Marketing Asso“One of the best things you can do to ing, or even the alumni donations. Because ciation, known as Sallie Mae. This system help yourself is to shop around, look at of this, schools are under intense pressure freed up financial institutions to issue more different colleges,” said Heather Jones, an to keep their ranking up. This, unlike a loans, which meant more students could go attorney who specializes in student loans. free-market, doesn’t force schools to be bet- to college.

“Also, don’t forget about community colter but instead to seem better, and for some The program worked well for 25 years, leges. They have low tuition and you can schools that even results in lying. until the government moved to privatize oftentimes transfer your credits to a big One problem that is even worse than Sallie Mae in the 1990s. A compromise be- name school after a few years.” schools lying about their rankings is schools tween President Clinton and CongressioA degree from an in-state public school gaming them. Northeastern sent out nal Republicans cut Sallie Mae loose. Sallie is often times better than a degree from an 200,000 personalized letters encouraging Mae made a fortune off of government out-of-state private school due to the edustudents to apply, even though they only fees; and with their newfound wealth, Salcation being better than many people assohad room for 2,800 of them. This allowed lie Mae poured their money into projects ciate with public colleges, and it’s a fraction them to pick and choose the best students that were designed to increase those profits. of the cost. that would best fit U.S. News formula.

Fearing competition, Sallie Mae started “However, if you still need money, avoid To attract the “right types” of students, marketing like crazy. They paid colleges taking out too much and avoid private stuschools will spend massive amounts of to drop government loans and sign up for dent loans,” Jones continues. “One thing money building luxury dorms with fancy their program, while sponsoring cruises everybody needs to do is fill out the Free amenities that have nothing to do with edfor financial aid officers. Sallie Mae even Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFucation. placed undercover reps in university call SA). FAFSA lets you know which scholarOut of all the criteria that U.S. News centers, where they tricked students into ships and grants you’re available for, and uses to rank the “best colleges,” the cost of thinking they were talking to college loan the great thing about grants is that you tuition is not one of them. Since 1963, the officers. don’t have to pay them back. Finally, we all price of attending a private four-year colSoon students were stuck with one of the need to be advocates to simplify and imlege has almost tripled. Today, the average worst kinds of debt. Often, they were enprove the system. Students need bankruptcost of just one year at a private college is couraged to take out more loans than they cy protection as much as anybody!” $39,000. That’s around 10 thousand more could even afford, and many borrowers

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Overtested

Should students take the ACT, the SAT, both, or neither?

BY ISABEL ESPINOSA

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tudents in the United States have been taking different forms of standardized tests for nearly a decade.

Standardized tests were primarily introduced to U.S. schools as a way to test student’s knowledge before they went to college. These tests have morphed into ways for school boards to assess how students will perform under different academic environments.

The most famous of these standardized tests, especially among high school students, are the SAT and the ACT. Founded in 1926 by the College Board, the SAT originally lasted 90 minutes and consisted of 315 questions testing knowledge of vocabulary, basic math, and analogies. As more students took it, the test grew and within four years transformed into an exam resembling the modern-day test, lasting around three hours with two separate English sections. In 2005, the College Board got rid of the analogy test and added an optional essay portion.

The ACT, founded in 1959 by an education professor at the University of Iowa, was created to rival the SAT and included a section that guided students towards a field of study by asking about their cur56

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rent interests. In addition to the math and reading sections, the ACT also included a section testing students on their knowledge of different scientific principles.

The biggest difference between the SAT and the ACT is the scoring: the SAT ranges from 400-1600 for the whole test, while the ACT ranges from 0-36 for each portion of the test. Both tests are roughly three hours long (around four hours long with the optional essay portion).

For students, these tests can lead to great amounts of stress and anxiety. Many students believe that their test scores determine their future. Throughout the school system, students are told by their elders that higher scores mean getting into better schools.

Personally, I don’t usually get super stressed out by standardized tests. Deep down, I realize that one score from a test in nerve-wracking conditions is not an accurate representation of my worth in the future. Despite this, whenever I go to check my scores, I always worry that maybe I don’t care enough, and if I studied just a little bit more, I would have a better opportunity to get into the colleges I want to attend. |

Opinion

It doesn’t help that all of the “standardized” tests measure different abilities of your knowledge: the SAT is longer; the ACT has shorter times per section; the SAT is testing more logistical concepts, while the ACT tests accumulative knowledge of the concepts. Both tests are used for colleges and merit-based scholarships.

Ultimately, it’s up to the student to decide whether they want to take the SAT, ACT, or both.

I decided to take both, to see which one suited me better, as the testing environment is fairly different. What I found surprised me: when I broke down my scores to the same point range, my SAT scores were significantly higher than my ACT scores.

Why, if these tests are supposed to be standardized, were my scores on tests so drastically different?

If test scores can be different each time you take them, how can they be considered a substantial representation of what a student knows? Even though standardized tests have changed since they were first created, there is still a long way to go before students feel like their scores are an accurate representation of their knowledge.

Feeling Stressed? Go Outside.

A look into how the outdoors can help alleviate stress.

BY ELENA BERNIER

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bout a decade ago, Marc Berman, doctoral student at the University of Michigan, ran a study where he sent volunteers on a 50-minute walk through either the Nichols Arboretum or through the city streets of Ann Arbor. Afterwards, he gave his volunteers a cognitive assessment.

Those who walked through the Arb performed about 20 percent better than their counterparts in memory and attention.

They also reported to be in a better mood.

These walks took place year round, from warm days in June to freezing ones in January. But the results stayed the same. In addition, he found that the positive effects were five times more extreme in those diagnosed with clinical depression.

An increase in mood when spending more time in nature can be traced back to

our prehistoric roots. The theory is that we respond well to things that are good for us. Back in the day, trees made us happy because they offered shade, protection, and commonly had fruits and nuts. Although we no longer depend on trees for these aspects of survival, it is ingrained in our instincts to be happier when we are around trees. This increase in mood can lower anxiety levels and increase productivity.

But it’s not only the visual aspect of nature that contributes to being less stressed out. Scents can also lower these stress levels. The smell of pine trees has been shown to lower depression and anxiety. In addition, many flowers — like jasmine, lilacs, and roses — have been proven to increase relaxation and decrease stress.

There seems to be an endless amount

of studies showing the positive effects of being in nature. According to a study conducted at the University of Essex, the color green makes exercise easier. Exercise is also a proven stress relief. Another study showed that kids with ADHD reported fewer symptoms when they spent time in green outdoor spaces, compared to those who spend time indoors, even though they were doing the same activities.

All of these studies push the same message. Everyone should be spending more time outdoors. As a technology-centered society, some may turn to their phones as a stress-reliever. But in reality, they should be turning to the outdoors, the stress reliever that has been around since the very beginning.

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RE-WIRED. The Trap of Social Media and Smartphones: How I Fell In and How I’m Finding My Way Out

BY ISABEL RzATNER GRAPHIC BY WM. HENRY SCHIRMER

My phone use is a ticking persistent thought in my mind. I have taken breaks, come back, told myself I didn’t need it at all, and stopped using certain sites.

I grapple. And, I am grateful for that.

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t mostly stems from my brother, who, in high school, when all of his friends could not wait to get their new iPhones, was perfectly content with a simple phone with few functions. My younger, naive self struggled to understand at first. How could anyone have a phone if it was not one that could do everything? Throughout middle and high school, my brother would make comments to me around the house about my phone use — and he still does: how often I would check my phone, the need to have my phone wherever I went, my mindless use of Instagram or Snapchat. I often responded ignorantly, telling him it was not his business to tell me what to do.

Deep down though, I know he was right all along.

Through keen observation of my personal satisfaction with each individual moment of my life, I have come to realize that being attached to my phone and its many functions — including the space for social media — only makes me feel more alone and distanced from what I am living through. This is clearly contrary to its purpose and guarantee of “connecting” us.

I am addicted to my phone, and it was only recently when I really became more aware of this, as I noticed the way I carry my phone around my house to each room I enter, keep it face up on each desk I sit at, or feel the need to bring it simply to go to the bathroom. These observations simply make me feel naive to what technology has done to me. I am disgusted with myself.

DISGUSTED A few weeks ago, I received an email with the link to the long-awaited professional photos from a musical I had just been a part of. I immediately got onto my computer and spent a long time scrolling through the website, looking at each photo and taking myself back to each of the moments captured. Pretty soon after though, I felt an impulse familiar to many of us. I had to compile my favorite photos for an Instagram post. It was the only way for the moment to truly be complete. I went through the photos and selected my top six. Once I had put them in the order I wanted, I began writing an elaborate caption describing how meaningful the show had been for me. I wrote of how proud I was of our group, the work we had done, and what the show had taught me. After I was sure I had adequately captured the experience, and had everything perfectly put together, I clicked “post.” Seconds later, I stopped to think, and deleted the post. I couldn’t believe myself.

A REALIZATION For years, I have mindlessly posted pictures of my experiences on Instagram, not

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realizing that I was searching for some sort of gratification for my own memories. I thought to myself this afternoon, alone in my study next to my computer, and eventually became so distraught with my actions that I got a sheet of paper and wrote the following across the page: WHY DO I NEED TO EXTERNALIZE. POST. SHARE. ISN’T MY EXPERIENCE ENOUGH FOR ME. ITS SO STUPID. WHY WAS MY FIRST INSTINCT TO POST THE INTO THE WOODS PHOTOS. I did not understand, and I am still wrapped up in this confusion. Why couldn't these photos from a beloved experience — or even just being a part of the show — be enough for me? Why was the post so important? Had an Instagram post become my way of fully experiencing something?

The answer was yes.

Social media is a mechanism designed for instant fulfillment and pleasure. This immediate gratification is crafted in the form of a retweet, or a “sooooo pretty” on your most recent Instagram selfie. In an ideal world, we could derive our confidence from within ourselves. Obviously, that is not always easy, but it is strange to think that social satisfaction is now coming through these means. People are slowly becoming reliant on these forms of “praise,” when ultimately, they are the most insincere. A compliment should be a compliment — someone looking into your eyes and telling you that you are beautiful, not reading those words on a screen from someone who would likely never say it to your face. I fear for a world where these intimate moments are no longer appreciated and instead replaced with meaningless Instagram comment threads.

THE RE-WIRING BEGINS Social media has also taken the most simple moments in our lives and psychologically wired our brains to make us think we must post about them. Think about your Instagram feed on the last day of summer before the new school year. Or the final day of 2017. As your finger mindlessly moves up and down the screen, your feed is filled with “obligatory” posts that we are now telling ourselves are necessary.

We are telling ourselves that the summer cannot fully be encapsulated, or enjoyed, until a few of our favorite moments have been posted, and we sum up what the summer meant to us. To show our full love and appreciation for our best friend on their birthday, we have to give them an Instagram post. These acts dominate even on holidays like Thanksgiving — think of all of the family photos you see with a caption

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expressing someone’s unwavering gratitude for all that they have. Think of a photo of the Colorado ski slopes, captioned “Goodbye Colorado.”

We feel the need to “pay tribute” to each moment, when in reality it is completely unnecessary. Can you imagine living through a moment without thinking about how you will post it? What if you focused on the finiteness of that moment and appreciated it, rather than worrying about how you would share it with others?

We mindlessly do these things while not thinking about why we do them, and that is the trap. Amidst these instances when we think we are “capturing” an experience, we are really just missing out on everything beyond the screen.

In a recent New York Times interview with social psychologist Dr. Adam Alter, he explained what exactly these devices are making us miss out on.

“We’ve become obsessed with how many ‘likes’ our Instagram photos are getting instead of where we are walking and whom we are talking to,” Alter said in the Q&A. He goes on to describe the damage of this. “If you’re on the phone for three hours daily, that’s time you’re not spending on face-to-face interactions with people.

Smartphones give everything you need to enjoy the moment you’re in, but they don’t require much initiative.”

Alter is spot on. Our phones are making us less connected, contrary to what they are apparently designed to do. We are simply missing out on what is happening around us.

Scrolling through Twitter is now a way to waste time. This passing of time can be seen everywhere: while riding the bus, standing in line at the grocery store, waiting for your doctor’s appointment, or even walking down the street. Everyone is glued to their phones. Like Alter described, the lack of initiative required when looking at your phone solves our discomfort in these moments. It is easier to look at your phone than talk to the people around you. The indirect interaction is more comfortable.

The idea that I am becoming uncomfortable with simply being around people, and revert to my phone to comfort me, is what I knew was starting to ruin me, and I know it is ruining others. Instead of talking to the people around us, looking at the sky or the trees, the way the world is moving, or even reading a book, we are attached to screens. In these moments, we are losing human interaction with the world and with other humans.

I think back to so many concerts I have attended, where I stood behind people who spent most of the performance taking and retaking videos for their Snapchat until they were sure they had the perfect one.

They essentially missed out on the concert.

NEVER-ENDING Through awareness, I have also come to realize that apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter are simply designed to be addictive. The purpose of Snapchat streaks is to keep users on their phones for as long as possible. A 340-day streak means that you have been on your phone for that many days straight. I see people measuring friendships through streaks, and even hear of people giving their passwords to friends when they know they will be without their phones for a period of time — just to assure their streaks will not be lost. It is that important.

This is just one example of the way these apps are messing with our brains. Alter elaborated on this in the Q&A. “I’m addicted to email. I can’t stop checking it. I can’t go to bed at night if I haven’t cleared my inbox. I’ll keep my phone next to my bed, much as I try not to. The technology is designed to hook us that way. Email is bottomless. Social media platforms are endless. Twitter? The feed never really ends. You could sit there 24 hours a day and you’ll never get to the end. And so you come back for more and more.”

Our devices have made us addicted to the idea of completion, and this brings us a new kind of satisfaction: a cleared inbox; having no unseen snaps; knowing that we have seen each photo on our Instagram feed, that we haven’t missed anything. This is all a part of the design, and again, it is a trap. Like Alter said, the feed never really ends. The feeling of “missing” something or not responding to a text as soon as we receive it has created an anxiousness within us. We feel more relieved when we have responded to everything; we have to stay updated. These devices are controlling us — to continue scrolling, to keep on refreshing, to never take our eyes off of our screens.

Once I began to be more aware of these impulses, I got scared. There is a strong lack of awareness among social media and phone-users of what is being done to them. So much of what I have described is mindless, despite teachers yelling at kids to put their phones away, despite people hearing the statistics.

BEGINNING AWARENESS When I think about how important my phone is to me, how important a post is, I look back on my life and realize how little it has contributed. I cannot think of extraordinary moments in my life where I had my phone in my hand. In fact, the most transcendent were those where my phone was not even close to me. I think of when I stepped foot atop the snowy summit of the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska after

‘‘

an arduous hike I still vividly remember. I could taste the air. I could feel the strength in the women walking beside me resonating in my body. These are long-lasting feelings. They are tangible. I still keep them with me. They are the moments I spend on stage, feeling the most present, as I am fully immersed in the human beings surrounding me, breathing with them, looking into their eyes.

This right here, my recognition of the power of technology-free moments, can let us distance ourselves from our screens.

I believe that everyone should contemplate what they are defining as the greatest moments of their lives. If these involve screens, consider what they added to the moment, as well as what they took away from it. By doing so, we can begin to seek out the most fulfilling aspects of our lives — that do not involve screens — and practice them heavily. For me, I have found these to be things like music, writing, being outside, and spending time with the people I love. I am still on this journey of finding these things, and replacing insignificant screen time with fulfilling life experiences.

I challenge all of you to begin to practice this awareness, and see how far you can push yourself. See how it feels to break a Snapchat streak, to combat what your impulses continuously tell you. Are you still just as close to the person with whom you shared it? See how long you can go without checking your phone, or posting on Instagram. See what it feels like to go to the bathroom without your phone, to keep it in your bag all of class. Check out your battery usage and how much of it was spent on social media. Or, simply look at how much of your phone battery you use up a day. Furthermore, question your phone use and ask yourself the difficult questions: How many of the experiences in my life have found their way onto Instagram or molded into a tweet? How often do I have my phone on me? What would my life be like without my phone and all it holds?

It is not until we can begin to ask ourselves these questions — and contemplate the answers — that we can begin to become more aware and maybe make our own changes. My brother asked them early on, and for that I admire him and only wish I had done the same. I am now beginning to contemplate the answers to these questions and think about what social media and my phone itself are adding to my life.

For anyone to even begin to make a change, we must start small. Don’t ignore the subject of phone addiction in conversations with your friends. Ask yourself the difficult questions, the ones you have pushed away for so long. We need to start answering them before it is too late.

I’m addicted to email. I can’t stop checking it. I can’t go to bed at night if I haven’t cleared my inbox.

I’ll keep my phone next to my bed, much as I try not to. The technology is designed to hook us that way. Email is bottomless.

Social media platforms are endless. Twitter? The feed never really ends. You could sit there 24 hours a day and you’ll never get to the end. And so you come back for more and more.

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65

OUT

LOUD Three songs to hear now.

BY SAMUEL CIESIELSKI

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A&E

“L$D” A$AP ROCKY & DEXTER NAVY A$AP Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, released his third and final single L$D on May 21, 2015, preceding the release of his second studio album AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP. Florida record producer Jim Jonsin eases you in with a soft guitar riff and Rocky’s hazy voice over a smooth synth in the first and only verse. As a choir of Rocky’s voice begins the chorus, you are hit by a percussion sample from Lou Donaldson’s Ode to Billy Joe and a dancing electric piano solo in the background. Jonsin’s raspy, distant voice makes an appearance for the bridge before Rocky returns for a second bridge and one more chorus.

The L$D music video, directed by London-born filmmaker and photographer Dexter Navy, was created to mimic an LSD trip.

In 2016, it was nominated for Best Music Video at the Grammy Awards and Best Editing at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.

Rocky discusses the video in a 2015 interview with VICE’s music channel Noisey.

“This whole video was inspired by Enter The Void,” said Rocky.

“Dexter Navy put me onto the movie years back. It’s crazy. Either you had a good trip or you had a bad trip. Enjoy it; it’s an experience. I’m musically giving you LSD: visually, sonically, [and] artistically. That’s very rare.”

The video’s subjects are Rocky himself and Japanese fashion designer Yoon Ahn. Ahn co-founded the design company Ambush with her husband Verbal. Since their start as an experimental jewelry line, Ambush has expanded into a fashion brand featuring collabs with Louis Vuitton, UNDERCOVER, and Off-white.

“That chick is Yoon,” said Rocky. “ I think she’s beautiful, so I wanted her for this part. It’s using love as a metaphor for a drug…

I’m not really good at romance, so that’s my way of spreading my love.”

Designed to mimic an LSD trip, the two wander around the urban streets of Tokyo, where an abundance of pulsing lights from street lamps and billboards create a nebulous ambiance. They find themselves in rooms brimming with ornate decorations reflecting heavily saturated colors that fill the space.

Following the first bridge of the song, the video cuts away to Rocky rapping the first verse to Excuse Me, a track off of AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP, into a cracked mirror in a white, ornate room.

“That was spontaneous,” said Rocky. I thought of that when we went up to that room. I was just like ‘Dex, look at these mirrors. I want the one with the crack. I’m gonna look into it. I’m gonna just start rapping Excuse Me. Record me.’ He was like ‘Bet. We gotta flicker the lights,’ and all this other stuff. There was a party going on. A real live party. It was crazy. There were so many people there and we were just busy being creative.”

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“LOVE IS ONLY A FEELING” JOEY BADA$$

“THERE YOU GO” SABA

Love Is Only a Feeling is a 2017 single by Jo-Vaughn Scott, better known as “Joey Bada$$.” Bada$$ is from Brooklyn where he co-founded the Pro Era american hip-hop collective. He began receiving recognition after the release of his first mixtape, 1999, in 2012. He released another mixtape the following year and has released two studio albums since then, the most recent of which, All-Amerikkkan Badass, was released in April of this year.

The track was produced by Boston producer Statik Selektah.

Selektah has worked with other notable northeast artists, including Eminem, Mac Miller, and Action Bronson.

On the track, Basa$$ samples the chic guitar riff from HOMESHAKE’s original Love Is Only a Feeling. HOMESHAKE is the musical project by indie artist Peter Sagar who, when asked about Bada$$’s remake, claims he was “paid handsomely”. Bada$$ throws two verses of pure prose about a girl who he is happily in love with over the sample. His east coast influence is apparent in his lyrical dexterity. Much of the lyricism present in 1990s hip-hop is lost in today’s more popular music, however, Bada$$’s natural use of poetic devices truly demonstrates why Joey Bada$$ is an artist to keep a close eye on in the coming years.

Tahj Chandler (Saba) is a hip-hop artist and record producer from Chicago. As a child, he excelled musically and academically.

He entered high school at age 12 and graduated at 16. He began playing piano at age seven. Much of Saba’s influence came from his family, who were especially involved in the Chicago hip-hop scene.

In particular, Saba’s father, a Chicago R&B artist, would involve Saba in much of his studio work. Saba’s cousin, John Walt, made the other half of their rap duo “Pivot Gang,” referring to the famous Friends episode. The name is their way of saying to take life one step at a time. However, in February 2017, Walt was shot and killed. There You Go is Saba’s first solo release since the incident.

The track, co-produced by Oakland producer Daoud, eases you into the trundling piano chords and bustling drumline with a soft trumpet solo. Saba himself throws two extensive verses over that background, each one ringing with lyrical genius, primarily addressing his musical and personal growth since he began making music. Listen to There You Go When you are feeling excitable, or as background music when you’re engaged in work.

“Look, I love her curves but what’s more preferred Is the way she articulates words Can’t help observe and stare When she in the mirror Masking the massacre while she fixing her hair”

“Loser I maneuver like commuters The water prolly bluer in the sewer They want you to drink it like a brewer: You just blew ya chance like you were Bueller” Hopefully Saba’s return to music puts some vibes in a busy day.

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CHANCE

more than the rapper

A West Chatham native grows up to give back to the community that grew him.

BY RISHI NEMORIN

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any of his fans see Chancelor Bennett as one of the most influential rappers in the hip-hop industry — rather than a 23-year-old father from West Chatham, Chicago. Bennett, or “Chance the Rapper,” amassed his following after dropping his first mixtape, “10 Day” in the spring of 2012. The inspiration behind this raw and lyrical EP came from a suspension he got from high school during his senior year. Chance was caught on school grounds with possession of marijuana and suspended. Instead of sitting at home and wasting away during his 10 day suspension, Chance recorded 14 different tracks, all about his life in Chatham. Iconic songs from this EP include “Family ft. Vic Mensa” and “Brain Cells.”

Fast forward five years, and Chance has taken over the music industry. Since “10 Day,” Chance has dropped four albums, all with a variety of producers and featured artists. What captivates his audiences and makes him such a likeable celebrity are his lyrical choices in the songs that he writes.

The rap industry is filled with artists that 68

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Chancelor Bennett, or “Chance the Rapper,” performing at a live show in August of 2017.

Chance also puts on free concerts at public school in Chicago for the students.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

express homophobia, misogyny, and racism in the music they produce and sell.

Chance is different from these artists. Even though his first two albums, “10 Day” and “Acid Rap,” were written with drug use as a source of inspiration, he doesn’t encourage his listeners to use.

In his later albums, “The Coloring Book” and “Merry Christmas Lil’ Mama,” Chance is well-known and these albums do well on the charts. This success, combined with his loveable personality and efforts to support his hometown of Chicago make him one of the most influential artists of our time.

One of the first programs that he started in Chicago is in conjunction with The Empowerment Plan, called the Warmest Winter 2016. This multifaceted program gives homeless people jobs to become full time seamstresses making coats — EMPWR coats — that are self-heating and can be doubled as sleeping bags. This initiative tremendously helps the Chicago community grow in a positive direction. The EMPWR coats have also made their way to the | A&E

Detroit area, benefiting a community that has a homeless population over 2,000 as of January 2018.

Chance has also started his own nonprofit called SocialWorks. Partnered with his close friends Justin Cunningham and Essence Smith, Chance is making an impact on the public school system in the Chicago area. SocialWorks has raised over two million dollars to support music education by providing textbooks and a space for kids to express themselves musically.

Chance’s work throughout these various foundations impacts today’s youth into integrating more positivity into their music.

These foundations also help encourage these up and coming artists to make a productive difference in the communities they are apart. Chancelor Bennett is a one-of-akind artist, using his platform in the music industry and influence on young listeners to create a better and brighter future for the next generation.

Music By Alec Redding

Albums You Should Know: “Blkswn” By Smino Rolling Stone rated Blkswn as the 18th best rap album of 2017. The album was heavily influenced by Chicago artists such as Ravyn Lenae and Noname, and producers Phoelix & Monte Booker.

TRACK LIST 1. Wild Irish Roses 2. Maraca 3. Glass Flows 4. Flea Flicka 5. Spitshine 6. Netflix & Dusse 7. Anita 8. Lobby Kall 9. Edgar Allan Poe’d up 10. Father Son Holy Smoke 11. B Role 12. Blkoscars 13. blkswn 14. Long Run 15. Innamission 16. Silk Pillows 17. Ricky Millions 18. Amphetamine

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t. Louis rapper, Smino, released his debut album, ‘Blkswn,’ on March 24, 2017. A majority of the album was produced by Monte Booker and the album featured a variety of artists including Ravyn Lenae, Bari, Akenya, Noname and more.

‘Innamission’ and ‘Netflix & Dusse’ showcased Smino’s ability to make a song bop with his catchy hooks. On Innamission, he precedes the second hook with a small break to build up the tension and once the beat returns it drives the hook and creates an amazing groove. Innamission was a great example of how Monte Booker did an astonishing job as the main producer. His beats really catered to Smino’s style and the strong collaboration hints at their camaraderie. This was the first song I heard off the album and I instantly loved it and craved

more.

The album also features many singers that complement his sound. One of my favorite tracks on the album is ‘Glass Flows’ featuring Ravyn Lenae. Lenae’s vocals complement Smino’s tone perfectly. They converse with mellow and soothing vocal exchanges to create a unique and enjoyable track.

Every time I listen to the album, I become more impressed by his dynamic vocals.

On ‘Anita’ he showcases his vocal range by singing tenor parts with a strong falsetto. Throughout the song, he also bends his words to create unique slant rhymes. “Turn up the vala-yume, this feel like hallelu-jah, cue the choir too. I’m off the holy oil, fried like El Pollo. I got a chicken coop. Dip out, interior barbecue, I’m fly why she want the cockatoo.”

The eleventh track on the album, ‘B Role’ contrasts ‘Anita’ with a gloomier and muddier feel. Halfway through the track he goes into sixth gear and spits fast bars.

Overall, I was impressed by the album due to the very unique sound that Smino delivers. His style is clearly influenced by a multitude of genres and I believe this helped him create an interesting album. In the future, I would like to see him focus more on the message of his lyrics and the overall concept of the album. Regardless, this was a great debut album, and I can’t wait to listen to more of his music.

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What Friendship Looks Like We asked four pairs of friends how they met and what friendship means to them.

This is how they responded.

BY LOEY JONES-PERPICH AND RUBY TAYLOR

ALIZA AND AJ AJ: We were friends at the end of last year, when we went to — did you hate me?

Aliza: No! I didn’t hate you, but I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say we were friends.

AJ: Well, then it looks like we’ve only been friends for three or four months. We were in Dance Body, and Aliza came up to me and said, “My name is Aliza and I’m also a freshman.”

“OUR FRIENDSHIP IS HAVING SOMEONE TO TALK TO AND TO HANG OUT WITH IN CLASS. TO GO TO THE BATHROOM WITH FOR 20 MINUTES DURING CLASS, AND THEN GET YELLED AT.”

“HE LOOKS LIKE PAPA SMURF IN HIS BEANIE. HE CAN PERFECTLY IMITATE THE SAM HOUSE DANCE.”

Vanessa: We’ve been best friends ever since the beginning of the year.

Ben: We met in math class.

Vanessa: A friend is someone that you can blab at, someone who will blab back at you.

And you know nobody won’t care.

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VANESSA AND BEN

Nathan: We’ve been friends since elementary school. Fourth grade?

Will: When he moved from Boston, he was in, what was it, my second or third grade class?

Nathan: Yeah, it was second grade. Our second grade class is when we first met.

Friendship, I’d say, is being there when your friend is in need and sticking up for them when they’re going through stuff.

NATHAN AND WILL

“IT SEEMS LIKE WILL’S KIND OF DIFFERENT EVERY DAY, YOU’RE ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE A NEW EXPERIENCE WITH WILL.” “I FIND HIM VERY ATTRACTIVE. HE’S JUST ALWAYS THERE FOR ME.”

HANNAH AND TAI

“TO ME, FRIENDSHIP MEANS PEOPLE OR A PERSON WHO YOU CAN RELY ON FOR ANYTHING. SOMEONE WHO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING, WHO YOU LOVE SPENDING TIME WITH.” Tai: We have Spanish together.

Hannah: She always has a really funny joke about anything and everything.

Tai: I can tell Hannah anything, and I know she’ll give me good advice.

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Our Turn: On Love and Heartbreak

BY MAZEY PERRY

“Love is something you think about when you wake up, and before you go to bed. It just makes you super happy all the time, whether it’s a friend or a significant other. It’s just a good feeling to be filled with. My emotions really changed as I fell in love, and I just thought my life got better. I became a happier and better person. Heartbreak just sucks to be honest. It’s super cheesy but your heart hurts.

Which is a weird feeling, but then you fall back in love and it just gets better.”

CAMILLE KONRAD

“I love spending time with her. It’s just so fun to spend time with her and talk to her.

You just forget about all the bad things in the world. On our second date, we were going back to her house I was saying goodbye to her and we had the kiss goodbye and I realized how much I enjoyed the moment and that’s when I knew I was in love. I’ve had experiences where things are going well and it ended suddenly. It sucks especially in the moment. Over time I’ve realized it doesn’t matter as much, but in the moment it really

ED LEWIS

“I think when you’re in love you don’t appreciate it until you’re not anymore, and you understand how shitty that feels. I think being in love feels like you’re wanted, and feeling in love feels like someone cares about you. It’s unlike something a friend or family member can give you, it’s very different. Being heartbroken feels like dying. It’s what I would think a physical illness can feel like. I think being heartbroken makes you think about if being in love is even worth it. It just hurts so bad. I know I’m supposed to say yes, that being in love is worth the heartache but what having my heart broken has put me through the past few months. There’s nothing that could validate the feeling of feeling unlovable.”

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I just couldn’t stop thinking about her and when things don’t go well you feel guilty and like you aren’t doing the right thing. I also feel like it’s hard to tell if you’ve been in love at such a young age and there’s so much more to learn from it. All the times that I wasn’t feeling it, she wasn’t either so we were both always on the same page. I’ve never been in the position where she wasn’t feeling it but I still was.

EVAN ASH

In the moment it’s hard to describe, in retrospeck you realize how it really felt.

Only when it’s gone do you get a clear understanding. At the time it just felt like my chest was lifted up and full of an energy every part of your life is better. I was chilling on a parking structure with her and she was saying some funny things, and I was really kinda digging it and that’s when I was like ‘wow I could die today and just be the happiest person in the world.’ One of the interesting things about heartbreak is that neurologically it triggers the same neurons as physical pain so it actually feels like there’s something going on. It’s terrible, not a good

LINDEN KRONBERG I get butterflies. Love is complicated. It feels really good, but it’s confusing at times because I feel myself very dependent on him.

Sometimes people refer to love kind of like a drug, and I understand that now because when you’re with that person, everything is great and then you have to find out how to still be a person when you’re by yourself, which is easier said than done. I feel more at ease and like where I’m supposed to be. I knew [I was in love] because it came easily when I said it. I wasn’t hesitant to say I’m in love, that’s how I feel and I’m saying it. I say what I’m thinking and when I said it I just knew because it was so easy and everything felt like it fit into the right spots. When I was with a guy my sophomore year we weren’t in love so when it ended, I was upset, but I wasn’t even close to loving him. We were just hanging out and I think I was upset more because of how he ended it.

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When were Community High Students Happiest ?

BY ANGELINA SMITH AND ELINOR DUCK ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLA EDELSTEIN

Carter Schmidt

Nico Bachman “Probably freshman year towards the end, when you know you’ve really just started highschool and you’ve made new friends that you know you’re going to have next year and you aren’t scared to go high school anymore, because you’re getting a hang of what it is like.”

CJ Fulcher (with Mazey Perry)

“The time I’ve been with Mazey.”

Emma Winegarden “When my sister was born, because I was so excited to be a big sister and I made my mom get me a baby doll and actually a fake breast pump so I could pretend to take care of my sister.”

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“Probably when I was a baby. No worries, I mean it’s just like milk and blankets and that was it. I mean, I didn’t have to worry about a thing other than like my mom–when I was being fed and when I was gonna sleep which was like all the time. You didn’t even have to worry about going to the bathroom. You just did it whenever you wanted to. You didn’t even have to leave your bed — you just go.”

Kaleb Doughten-Priuska “A time I was happiest was probably winning future stars. It was a great time, and it was really nice having all that hard work pay off. I always love sharing my work with the public, and the public seemed to like it.”

When was the last time you got injured?

It wasn’t bad, but over winter break I was cutting potatoes for one of our Christmas day meals and I cut my pinky finger on my left hand and I cut through part of the flesh and nail and it was really gross and bled a

What was the last college you visited?

What was the last song you listened to?

This is weird cause this is not representative of my music taste, but it was Bank Account by 21 Savage. I’m not really a big fan of rap, but I guess I was feeling that today.

What was the last movie you watched?

I watched the beginning of “Stranger Things” over break, but I’m really bad at consistently watching TV shows, so I stopped. I was watching it with my little sister and she got ahead of me; she watched like four episodes without me and I was really pissed and went to sleep.

I guess technically U of M. I think I went on a campus tour over the summer, but I’m also taking a U of M class this semester. I got into U of M. Other than that one, I think the most recent college tour I went on was Smith College, which is in Northampton, Massachusetts and it’s all women’s college.

ellen reed

one

last thing

BY ED LEWIS

What was the last job you had?

I work at Fuller Pool over the summer. I really like it, I’m a lifeguard, it’s really fun.

On the hand sometimes I like to brag about being paid to sit in the sun all summer and get a tan and whatever. But I think I’ve learned a lot from it and this is past summer was my second year working there and I think I’ve learned about how to interact with my coworkers, you know who I have to get along with on a daily basis, but also with strangers that I need to be friendly to even if I’m having a really bad day. It helped me learn how to just put my troubles aside and greet every patrion happily.

What was the last sports event you watched?

Where was the last place you went on vacation?

It wasn’t really a vacation, but over the summer I went on a road trip with my mom and we drove all the way from here to Boston and back. We were visiting colleges, but it was really fun to just be with her, see parts of the city, and drive through parts of the country that I’ve never been in yet. We spent time in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, we spent two days in New York and it was just really overwhelming, but really awesome and it made me realize that I want to go back there and spend time in those places.

It was probably whatever the last Michigan football game of the season I watched on TV.

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March 2018

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The Communicator Magazine

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