Vol. 34 Edition 2. December 2016

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Contents

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37 10

NEWS 8

Student Voice

The function of Community High School’s Forum Council.

18 Students Rally Against Donald Trump in the Diag On Friday, Nov. 18, a crowd gathered on the University of Michigan campus with signs and fists raised in the air.

20 Standing Together Ann Arbor resident travels to North Dakota to deliver collected donations to protesters opposing the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

22 From Printer to Patient A new 3D printed device at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital is saving lives one by one.

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FEATURES 24 International Success From scholastic medalist to international finalist, Kate Burns takes fifth in the women’s eight at World Rowing Junior Championships.

32 Who Gets Found Guilty If They’re Not Guilty?

Julie Baumer was accused of shaking her sister’s baby and served over four years in prison. She was not guilty.

EDITORIALS 54 Editorial From the Editors: Preserving the First Amendment A message about the new president-elect of the United States and his policies on the press.

56 American Mud Thoughts on the Election of Donald Trump as the Future President of the United States of America.

58 The Election was Rigged—and Not for Hillary How the electoral college is a threat to our (un)representative democracy.

Letter from the Staff

Dear Readers,

Every day on Communicator we start class listening to Tracy’s Spotify Premium account. Sometimes it’s 20 decreasingly enjoyable minutes of Run the World, other times it’s the Lumineers, Patty Griffin (a Tracy Anderson personal favorite) and Katy Perry. Whatever the genre, and whoever the artist, we jam out together and dance and laugh and we think about how thankful we are to be at Community, and more importantly, how thankful we are for the people around us.

Maybe that’s what makes this school year even more burdensome. Saying it’s been a hard few months would be one of the biggest understatements of the year. We have lost more students than any year we’ve been in the AAPS system, two of whom were our own Community classmates: Justin Tang and John Kuhnke. We are still grieving. We are still in shock.

And we are still not sure how to handle this, both as a publication and as human beings.

But what we so often forget as we search for something that makes sense amidst all this loss, and what we need to remind ourselves and those around us of, is that there truly is and never will be a proper way to handle pain and grief. Whether you knew any of the students that we have lost personally or not, there is no right way to be feeling right now, because the fact of the matter is that losing anybody, especially a young person, will never feel right. You do not “get over it,” you do not forget. Yet our lives continue despite our grief, and it can suddenly feel as though we are pressured to do just that.

As we reel from these losses, we’d like to take this opportunity to state that finding love and support in others and freely returning it to those around us is truly one of the best things we can be doing right now. We are thankful to be able to listen to Spotify Premium in Tracy’s room while we laugh with our friends, but we are even more thankful to be able to cry on those friends’ shoulders when we most need it. Those shoulders are there for us and they are there for all of you.

So as this difficult year comes to a close, ring in the new year by preserving memories of those who we have lost. But try to take 2017 as a new page. Not as one that lacks the lives of some of the people we miss most right now, but as one that involves the people who are still around for us to embrace.

With endless love and support, The Communicator

Print Editors-In-Chief Alexandra Hobrecht Josh Krauth-Harding Isabel Ratner Hannah Rubenstein Megan Syer

Adviser

Tracy Anderson

Staff

Taylor Baughmam Elena Bernier Vivienne Brandt Marika Chupp Samuel Ciesielski Nicole Coveyou Nicole Diaz-Pezua Anna Dinov Aleksandra Dornoff Ella Edelstein Brennan Eicher Ally Einhaus Isabel Espinosa Kyndall Flowers Oliver Fuchs Abigail Gaies Allison Garcia-Hernandez Madie Gracey Madeline Jelic Ethan Kahana Jennifer Krzeczkowski Zoe Lubetkin Kailyn McGuire Ava Millman Sam Millman Jacqueline Mortell Kasey Neff Omalara Osofisan Henry Schirmer Jacob Sorscher Andie Tappenden Camryn Tirico Nicole Tooley Eleni Tsadis Sacha Verlon Ethan Ziolek

Web Editors-In-Chief Kate Burns Joel Appel-Kraut

Managing Editors Francisco Fiori Gina Liu Maggie Mihaylova Suephie Saam

Photo Editor Grace Jensen

Social Media Editor Mary DeBona

Mentors

Bella Yerkes Claire Middleton Sophia Rosewarne

Fun Editor Emily Tschirhart

Art/Graphics Editor Caitlin Mahoney

Sports Editor Shane Hoffman

Web Content and Business Editor

Mira Simonton-Chao

About the Cover (designed by Josh Krauth-Harding)

We wanted to juxtapose the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty, representing a beacon from the “American Melting Pot” that welcomes immigrants to America, with the anti-immigrant sentiments that our President-elect has expressed regularly throughout this campaign season. We collected a number of his quotes and overlay a cutout of Lady Liberty to show how our country’s mindset has shifted from the enscription at the statue’s feet: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

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& DOWNLOAD THE APP! The Communicator @communicatorchs @chscommunicator december

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“He wanted to take over the world, and make it a really, really beautiful place.”

In loving memory of Justin Tang 4 4

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“He just wanted to make other people happy.”

In loving memory of John Kuhnke

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A TIME FOR ACTION Sabina Fall is passionate about her school. When Community decided to change Multi-Culti, Fall became a prominent student voice, attending staff meetings and speaking out at Forum Council meetings. She explains her connection the Multi-Culti change and speaks on the importance of student voice.

BY MAGGIE MIHAYLOVA

How did you feel when you saw that sudden, initial slide in the forum bulletin that listed out all the changes for Multi Culti?

I was at the staff meeting, and Marci said she was going to release the information in the forum bulletin. It wasn’t something I was shaken up about it because I knew it was coming, and I knew what was going on, but I don’t really like the way it was articulated. The way it was explained caused a lot of panic and anger from students who weren’t there for the staff meeting.

You have been a prominent student voice within this process. How do you think other students have felt?

There’s been a lot of stressful moments along the way. There’s so many students who haven’t been involved in the decision, and therefore they have been making assumptions that aren’t necessarily based on facts. This has been causing a lot of chaos among other students. So I think there’s just been a lot of stress and frustration.

Is the frustration justified?

Well, I think that although many voices were not heard, most of the staff [and students] agree that Multi Culti needs to be changed. Since my freshman year, Forum Council has been talking about changing it, but it hasn’t really happened. I understand why people would be mad or frustrated because it’s a tradition for Community, and if I wasn’t there to hear it be broken down I would have freaked out. And I don’t necessarily think we have a solution yet, because there are so many voices and different opinions, so it’s hard to sort them all out.

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How do you think all these new ideas will be sorted in the next couple of years?

I feel like starting something entirely different might not really be the best solution. What I think would be good is not just a one day event, but instead guest speakers throughout the year, performers, music, lectures and workshops for teachers and students. I think that if we have those supplements along with the Multi Culti day that we all know of, it will be done in a more inclusive way. Then we’ll have more than just one story, not just bullet point facts and a slideshow, and we’ll have something that goes deeper and is more meaningful and personal.

As a student voice, how do you encourage other students to speak up and become more involved, not just in Multi Culti, but with other issues as well?

I think that if they’re not in Forum Council, talking to a representative is a good idea. But make sure that they are taking notes or account of what you’re saying, and follow up on it. If your forum rep isn’t doing that, they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do, and then maybe find a new rep! Ask them if you can attend meetings with them, write a letter, talk to the dean.

The deans and the teachers are available for every student to talk to. If you have an issue that you’re passionate about, gain all the information you can about it and be involved in the best way – don’t just scratch the surface.

Sabina is considering running for president next year because she wants to help increase student voice for those not in Forum Council. If you want to talk to her about ComFe, Multi Culti or any other issues, she is always open to communication.

10 QUESTIONS

Natalie Bullock

Where would you most like to live?

I really like Michigan so probably Michigan.

I really like Ann Arbor, I’d probably come back here to live if I went somewhere else for school. I would not want to live in California or Florida or anywhere warm, I’m too pale for that I get sunburned and it’s not fun for me. I prefer to live, probably upstate New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, anywhere like that. I don’t like to live in the city though, that’s not my thing, probably suburb area so, Ann Arbor.

Community High Senior shares stories of her love of bells and hate of snakes.

What is your most treasured possesion?

My bell collection. It’s a collection of bells from all over the world that people bring back to me from different countries. I have a bell from every continent except Asia and Antarctica. That includes Africa, I have one from Africa. It’s more than just six bells, it’s a bunch. I have a bunch from Europe and a bunch from the U.S. as well and South America and Africa and wherever. I don’t go to all the places, some of them I do some of them I don’t. Mostly people bring them back to me. I have over thirty or something. I started collecting Christmas 2005. I asked for Christmas one year I was like “I want a bell”. I got two that Christmas. One is a white bell and the other has a Santa head on it that says ‘Merry Christmas 2005’ so I know when I started collecting.

Last Christmas it was ten years so now a little older than that. That’s probably my most prized possession.

BY MARIKA CHUPP

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Feeling really whole, and feeling like you don’t have to want anything else except how you’re feeling in that moment.

What is your greatest fear?

I’m really scared of snakes. Like really scared. They’re really slimy and they squirm everywhere and I remember when I was in kindergarten I went to the Leslie Science Center with my kindergarten class and they let one loose on the floor and I think that’s probably why I don’t like them but I can’t even look at them without feeling cringey and I don’t like touching them, I have touched one before, I know what they feel like they don’t feel good they feel gross and they have teeth and I know that they can make you stop breathing and they’re big, and long, and scary.

Which living person do you most despise?

I don’t know, I know people I really do like.

Vladimir Putin or someone like that. If it was in the past I’d probably give you Hitler but I can’t do that. Putin or Kim Jong Un. Any dictator basically.

What is your current state of mind?

Focused, I’d say mostly, probably with a hint of stress. Probably more focused and excited because it’s senior year and you have a lot to think about. Mostly focused on school and work and friends and stuff.

Probably excited about what it is in the future.

On what occasion do you lie?

Probably white lies. When people say “Oh did you like it” and I say “Yeah!” But I didn’t.

Maybe to my parents... I don’t know maybe sometimes about the same thing, white lies. I really dont lie about most things.

Mostly white lies. “Oh do you like my shirt?” “yes!” (I don’t.)

What words or phrases do you most overuse?

Like, the word like. Probably the word sort of, “Sort of like this,” that kind of phrase.

Probably the word maybe, I don’t use yes and no a lot. Probably those three.

PHOTO: ALEC REDDING

What is your favorite occupation? Well right now for my job, I work in a kitchen, I do dishes and I take out trash and I package food. It’s definitely not my favorite occupation. I think teaching is really cool, I dont think I would be a teacher but I think that people who do teach are really really important.

What do you most value in a friend?

Someone who is going to be there for you when it’s not convenient, and are there for you even when it is convenient. If you are having a hard time and a friend really isn’t there and they don’t really care enough to ask how you are. What’s really important to me is when a friend is there in good times and bad times, always supporting you. You’re going to know if you’re friend is there or not, you don’t always see people but you know they’re there for you. But if they’re never ever there how do you know if they’re really your friend? When a friend becomes a stranger that’s when I think it’s not okay. That friend needs to take a step back and think about “do I really know this person?” The most important thing is loyalty, honesty and trustworthiness.

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NEWS

Student Voice The function of Community High School’s Forum Council.

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BY WM. HENRY SCHIRMER

oom 111 of Community “[The president’s role] is trying to be “My vision is to not only to show what High School was filled as Fo- some sort of medium of communica- people are thinking, but to actually turn rum Council waited to hear tion between the general student body these ideas into something that [is] tanthe results of the recent stu- and whoever needs to hear what they gible and real and makes the school betdent election. This was democracy in ac- have to say,” Freiband said. According ter.” tion. The candidates stated their views to him, the president’s role has two main Jensen, a junior and in her third year as for Community High School and then parts: keeping the organization and flow a Forum Council member, quickly emthe students voted on who braced her job as the stuthey believed would best dent government vice presrepresent them. ident.

“I want make sure that people know we have a The votes were tallied and “The vice president’s role the results were written on is to make sure that what student government in order to make sure the Forum the board. With a vote of Council gets done student voices are heard.”

51 for Danny Freiband, 48 is communicated,” Jensen for Hannah Rubenstein and said. She believes that her Katy Stegemann and 29 for role is mostly behind the Maggie Mihaylova, Freiband scenes. Many vice preswas elected as president. Grace Jensen of the Forum Council meetings, and be- idents have interpreted the role in difreceived more votes than Phoebe En- ing the main form of communication ferent ways, but as Jensen said, it’s what gel and was elected vice president. The between the students and the adminis- they make of it that’s important. room was silent; the results were closer tration. Freiband is making sure every“Communication,” Jensen said. than anyone could have imagined. Now one gets to speak about ideas and is- “That’s my key word that I keep saying, that the election was over the real work sues concerning our school. He wants to because that’s what we need to improve could get started. make sure the student voice is heard. on. What I want is for every student to

ABOVE: Representatives from many of the forums listening to Freiband talk about the goals of the meeting.

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ABOVE: Steve Coron, the advisor of Forum Council, speaks in front of the room. The topic was what was going to replace Multi Culti.

voice ideas.” She wants to make sure the students are heard.

“I think that we need to get the word out about what is going on,” said junior and Kulka Forum Council representative, Andi Krawcke. She agrees with Jensen’s key focus of communication. She wants to make sure everyone knows exactly what is going on in our student government.

The system works so students are able to bring up the ideas as well as issues with our school. To do this students need to communicate by talking to their Forum Council representatives or through several other ways laid out by Freiband.

“I’m bringing information from my forum to the council,” said freshman and Mosher Forum Council representative, Julia Sonen. “At the same time, I’m presenting the information of what Forum Council decides back to my forum.”

This is the main role of the representatives and why it’s important for every forum to elect at least one. It’s also important to talk with your representatives about any issues or ideas you may have.

“I try and communicate my forums feelings for any topic that we are covering,” Krawcke said. As issues arise, it’s the job of the representatives to gather information on their forums opinions.

These opinions are what are used to help formulate solutions.

So far this year much has been discussed in Forum Council and many is-

sues have been resolved. One issue involves the transgender bathroom posters. “A transgender student came to me and said they weren’t feeling comfortable and welcome in the bathroom of the gender they identify with,” Jensen said. As Forum Council should work, this issue was mentioned and dealt with.

The solution was the posters stating that everyone has the right to feel safe in the bathroom. These were hung in both the men and women restrooms of Community High School.

“I’ve started putting all the [ideas] people have, whether it’s [through] the idea box or through the Wednesdays at lunch or even just in person,” Freiband said. “I put them all in one place and I’m having [Dean] Marci go through them one by one.” Not all issues can be fixed as easily as this. Many problems, such as the recent decisions on Multi Culti, take longer to fix. Additional time was needed in order to really come to a solution.

“It shouldn’t take a month and half to discuss Multi Culti,” Freiband said. One of his goals for Forum Council is to streamline the decision making process.

He hopes that it will eventually be efficient enough that they are able to make it past big issues and get to the more creative ideas. Freiband believes that this school is creative and he wants to be able to see this.

To become more efficient, Forum Council needs to work together. “A lot

of times Forum Council consists of people arguing,” said Krawcke. “I think that if we could come together we could actually get things done.” Krawcke believes it is important Forum Council comes- together as a whole in order to get projects completed.

For Jensen, her main goal is to make sure everyone is heard. Forum Council needs people to come and bring their ideas. Without ideas it would not function properly “This year I’m very impressed by what we are doing. We’ve had so much better attendance,” Jensen said.

“I really hope that can continue. Everyone needs to be there so they can contribute.” Without ideas and contributions the student body would not have a voice. It’s important that students have a say in what is being done at their school.

An important question to ask is whether Forum Council really has a say in what happens in our school.

“Right now, it has a voice, but I think it could be amplified,” Jensen explained.

Forum Council does have some say in what happens at Community. Dean Marci is listening to what Forum Council has to say. However, there isn’t anything for her to hear unless the student body states their opinions. “I want make sure that people know we have a student government in order to make sure the student voices are heard.”

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THEN The Day Before Thanksgiving Break at Community High

TOP LEFT: 1976 TOP MIDDLE: 1988 TOP RIGHT: 2007, Judith DeWoskin stands next to her “golden Buddha buddy” MIDDLE LEFT: 1989, Roberto Clemente students are invited to Multi-Ethnic Day and dance for students.

MIDDLE RIGHT: 1999, students assemble on the back lawn.

BOTTOM LEFT: 1980’s Multi-Ethnic Thanksgiving Feast.

BOTTOM RIGHT: 1995, Tai-Chi group practices for their performance.

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NOW TOP LEFT: DeWoskin forum shares stories about grandparents.

TOP RIGHT: Strassel, McGraw and Mankad Foum have a taste testing competition with their family’s food they brought in.

MIDDLE LEFT: Janelle Johnson Forum creates a tree of thanks.

MIDDLE RIGHT: Sean Tichenor and Casey Roy of Janelle Johnson forum chow down.

BOTTOM LEFT: Levin Forum starts their feast after sharing stories of their family’s dishes.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Zeke Casteel and Robert Morton in the final round of the tri-forum dance trivia competition.

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Soul Food Friday Community’s Black Student Union serves scrumptious meals to students and staff.

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BY KYNDALL FLOWERS AND SHANE HOFFMANN

he Black Student Union had been preparing for Soul Food Friday for weeks. From curating the menu to choosing the best old school R&B hits to play during the main event, Soul Food Friday was not an affair put on by the light-hearted.

The Black Student Union worked hard to provide Community High School students with a lunch fit for a black family reunion, and provide they did. On Friday, Nov. 18th, Luther Vandross crooned through a Beats Pill as BSU members anticipated to treat their peers to their wide selection of eats. Students began to file in after fourth block, as the aroma of fried, baked and tasty trays of food filled the floor. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, greens, beans and three different types of sweet potato dishes decorated the tables, all ready to be sold to the growing line of hungry students waiting on the third floor for food.

Soul food is often the go-to food for gatherings in the Black community. It 12

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can commonly be found after church services and barbecues. The University Of Michigan’s Black Student Union even has it at their mass meetings.

Soul food is known to bring people together so it was only natural that Community’s BSU share it with the masses. Teaira Majors, a senior popular for her generous servings of mac and cheese, says her favorite part of Soul Food Friday is the reaction it garners from Community students. She loves “the expressions on their face, and watching it go by fast, because it’s really good.”

Students and staff who enjoyed food can thank the BSU members who

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ABOVE: Hevin White, a BSU member, serves hungry students during Soul Food Friday

stayed up all night cooking.

Avani Carter made cupcakes and pound cake with her mother. Olivia Freeman, a senior and BSU member, made greens and sweet potatoes. When The Communicator asked Freeman if she was happy with the results of Soul Food Friday, considering all of the work she put in the night before, she responded with a passionate “Yes!” While Soul Food Friday was lots of fun, The BSU actually planned it as a fundraiser. Historically, Soul Food Friday has been a lucrative event for the Union.

With the money raised from the event, the BSU might buy merchandise or take a field trip. “We are just going to raise as much as we can, and from there we will determine what we can do. Going to Cincinnati is one idea that we have talked about,” Tawiah Yalley said, a senior and the BSU’s vice president. Cincinnati is home to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a museum based on the Underground Railroad and

NEWS

the black experience post-slavery.

Yalley has been a leader in Community’s BSU since the beginning of the school year. Throughout the transition from last year to this one, he’s observed positive changes. “I’ve really become most involved this year. I think one thing that’s changed a lot, is that we’re getting more people to join. Even people that aren’t in the black community are joining and helping out,” Yalley said.

Quincy Jenkins, a sophomore and a new member of the Union praised the BSU’s teamwork. “I wasn’t a member last year, but this year it’s been pretty

good. Everyone contributes ideas and gets the ball rolling.”

It was also Sophia Scarnecchia’s, a freshman’s, first Soul Food Friday. “I’m very impressed by the amount of diversity we embrace here at the school,” she said. “It really shows while doing Soul Food Friday.”

Hopefully, the BSU will provide Community with another opportunity to express its diversity with a Soul Food Friday in the near future. Janelle Johnson, a teacher who helped students organize this year’s first Soul Food Friday, made the mac and cheese and bought the fried

chicken said its definitely happening again. The question on students’ minds however, is when? And how often?

“I would be very okay if this happened weekly. I know it’s not possible, but I would love that. If this happened every month I would enjoy it so much,” said Sam Uribe, a junior whose favorite dish was the mac and cheese. While Soul Food Friday probably won’t be a monthly occurrence, the Black Student Union will definitely return to fulfill everyone’s fried, candied, and cheese-baked needs.

If you have any requests for next time, feel free to name them.

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NEWS

Community High Gives Back

Sebastian Wreford of Food Gatherers visits Community High to collect donations raised by students and staff totaling over 36,000 dollars just before Thanksgiving.

BY NICOLE TOOLEY

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fter a morning of food, stories and games came to an end, Community students made their way across the street to St. Andrew’s Church to present the money they had collected for Food Gatherers. With just a few thousand in donations the first year it started in 2009 it has since then grown to what will be close to 37,000 dollars this year in donations and they are still accepting online donations. With matching up to 50,000 dollars from very generous donors Harold and Kay Peplau this fundraiser will provide more than 24,000 meals to those struggling with food insecurity.

Sebastian Wreford, manager of food donor relations at Food Gatherers, was at the church on the Nov. 22 to collect the money from each of the forums. “I was astounded as last year as the year before, I was astounded at the amazing efficacy of your fundraising drive,” Wreford said.

Anne Thomas, a forum leader at Community, could not believe how much money was raised as a school. The Thomas forum raised the most money 14

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out of all the forums, coming close to 3,400 dollars.

“I am proud of my students for raising the money but I am proud of all the students,” Thomas said. “I was amazed at how well and how many forums were in the thousands.”

The fundraiser continues to grow each and every year. It has turned into a very special and important day for the students, teachers and community. “It’s one of my favorite days of the year,” Rick Strutz said, one of the owners of Zingerman’s and part of the board of directors at Food Gatherers.

Individual efforts, forum competition and matching grants have all allowed this fundraiser to grow at an incredible pace.

“I think the competition between forums really motivates students,” Thomas said. “Our last few years have been outstanding I just can’t get over how much we have raised. I know tug of war is such an important thing but I feel like this Food Gatherers has become the other big competition, and what a great thing to compete about.”

Students and families can continue to

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contribute online but also extend their efforts by raising awareness about food insecurity in our community. “I hope and I trust that the students of Community are doing what they can to spread awareness of hunger issues and food insecurity issues in our community,” Wreford said.

The knowledge gained and spread from participating in this fundraiser can persist year round. This is if students can continue to help get the word out that, “One in seven people in the community is still struggling to find enough healthy food,” Wreford said. “People are hungry 365 days of the year so there is always something to do to help them out.”

Food Gatherers is also in continual need of volunteers and all kinds of support. “I think a lot of people have misconceptions about who the end user is of Food Gatherers items,” Strutz said.

“They are a lot like you and me and in these times right now a lot of people that I used to know that give are now accepting.”

NEWS

Laith Al-Saadi Performs at Fundraiser Kick Off

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BY ANNA DINOV, MARY DEBONA AND MADIE GRACEY

n Fri., Nov. 11, former contestant on ‘The Voice’ and Community High School graduate, Laith Al-Saadi performed at Briarwood Mall to kick off The Salvation Army Christmas Red Kettle Bell fundraiser. Proceeding Laith’s performance, a representative from The Salvation Army came to the stage to speak about the goal of The Salvation Army and the importance of “the season of giving.” Working not only in the holiday season, but 365 days a year, The Salvation Army strives to improve the lives of people in need.

“This is the time for us to join together to make a difference in our community,” the Salvation Army representative urged.

The Salvation Army challenges everyone to go out and make a difference this holiday season. Whether that means donating money, toys, clothes or even just going around and making others aware that there are always people in need our community.

“That’s what we’re about, that’s what we’ve always been about, that’s why we’re here and that’s why we’re not going anywhere because we at The Salvation Army believe that we can make a difference in the lives of people.”

The audience applauded as the Salvation Army representative left the stage and Al-Saadi walked up onto the stage.

Al-Saadi played a couple of songs off of his most recent album, which he had released in 2013, “Real”: “Gone” and “Last Time You’ll See Me Cry.” He finished the show with “Turn the Page,” a

cover of a song originally sung by fellow Ann Arbor raised musician, Bob Seger. After the show, fans waited in line to purchase copies of “Real” and have them signed by Al-Saadi.

Within the past year, Al-Saadi has appeared on the television show ‘The Voice,’ as well as performed at a number of venues in the Ann Arbor and Detroit area. Al-Saadi’s career began while he attended Community High School and was involved in the school’s jazz program led

by Mike Grace. During his high school years, he also belonged to “Blue Vinyl,” a band he and a few other friends had formed, which opened for many famous artists including Chicago blues musician Buddy Guy. Al-Saadi recalled his experiences performing four to five nights a week while he was in high school, “It really taught me that I could go out and really make a living on playing music,” he said. “And I thought that was awesome because leaving high school, I actually felt confident that I could make it.”

“Community had a huge impact on me,” Al-Saadi said. “I sometimes wonder if I would have finished high school and certainly in my college years if it weren’t for an environment like Community.” Al-Saadi believes that Community played a key role in his graduation from the University of Michigan, where he studied Jazz Guitar and Bass. While Al-Saadi attended U of M, he continued to perform and play alongside various Detroit-based musicians.

Aside from being a singer and musician, Al-Saadi writes his own songs. “In-

spiration comes from different places all the time,” Al-Saadi said. “I just try to be open to all forms of inspiration when they strike. I could be driving home from a gig at night and the windshield wipers would be on for a while and I’d just go with the beat from that.”

Over the course of his music career, Al-Saadi has gotten inspiration from many well known artists, but the reason he started playing music is because of The Beatles, his favorite band growing up. Al-Saadi taught himself to harmonize and play the guitar by listening to songs by The Beatles and looking at their song lists.

Singing on The Voice was an interesting experience for Al-Saadi. He was not accustomed to the constant attention from the cameras. “I don’t really get nervous much these days,” Al-Saadi said. “It was funny because after performing for as long as I have, that did make me feel nervous because it was a very foreign environment.”

However, Al-Saadi believes that he made a good decision in participating on ‘The Voice.’ “It was definitely a positive experience,” he said, “it has done great for me career-wise and I’m very happy that I did it.”

“We are always gonna have differences, we are always going to have things that could divide us, but at this time, the season of giving, we have reasons to join together to change the lives of people that are in need.”

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NEWS

History In Bones

PHOTO: ISABEL ESPINOSA

University of Michigan Museum of Natural History Opens it’s Bristle Mammoth Exhibit

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BY ISABEL ESPINOSA AND WM. HENRY SCHIRMER

n Sept. 30, 2015, on a farm just outside of Chelsea, MI, Jim Bristle and his neighbor found something unexpected when digging a hole for a water pump. They were frantically trying to finish, in order to keep the dirt lining the walls of the hole from collapsing in on itself. They were each working in backhoes on opposite sides of the hole when they noticed something out of the ordinary. There were bones sticking out of the walls.

Amy Harris, Director of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History got the call about the bones the day they were first found, but she wasn’t in that day. Instead, the call got re-routed to the director of the Museum of Paleontology, Daniel Fisher. On Oct. 1, 2015, Dr. Fisher went out to the Bristle’s farm to look at the find. The next day, Dr. Fisher and his team began their one day of excavation.

During the excavation it was discov16

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ered that Bristle and his neighbor had discovered mammoth bones believed to have lived 10,000-15,000 years ago.

The question of how long ago the mammoth lived is very important and is the reason Dr. Fisher will be going back to excavate at the site again.

“He wants to try to get more evidence to support the carbon date for the bones, which was earlier than other mammoth finds in Michigan,” Harris said. “If Dr. Fisher is able to find more evidence for the early date, that would show that humans were here in Michigan earlier than previously thought.”

The University of Michigan has two museums dedicated to prehistoric fossils. The museum open to the public is the Museum of Natural History. The research museum not open to the public is the Museum of Paleontology. The director of the research museum is Dr. Daniel Fisher, who is an expert on Mastodons and Mammoths.

University of Michigan student and

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museum intern, Allie Scholten heard about the discovery of the mammoth fossils fairly soon after they were found.

Being on campus and being with the museum, Scholten heard of the news almost as soon as they were digging at the field.

“It’s really because of [Dr. Fisher] and his work with the museum and the University that the exhibit is happening,” Scholten said. “It’s not something that happens everyday.”

Getting the exhibit to be held at the University museum was not very difficult for Harris.

“Dr. Fisher came and asked me if I would consider doing it here and I said, ‘Yes! We would love to work with you on that,’” Harris said.

Before planning the exhibit, Dr. Fisher wanted to make sure that the public museum was willing to hold the exhibit. Dr. Fisher then talked to Mr. Bristle about whether he would consider donating the fossil finds. Instead of keeping the fos-

NEWS sils to himself, Mr. Bristle chose to donate them to the University of Michigan in order to show the public about the new mammoth fossils that had been discovered.

The main focus of the exhibit is the mammoth skull and tusk fossils. This massive skull is on display on a stand supporting most of the weight. It is set up inside a large display case, on one of the walls. There are many descriptive tags explaining why this discovery was so huge. Along with the skull and tusks are a few of the ribs, vertebrae, a section of the jaw, parts of the beast’s pelvis and three boulders found with the bones.

These boulders are thought to have been left behind by early humans.

“The skull has been as it were, sliced open, the way you would cut open a poached egg,” Dr. Fisher said. “You take that top off of it and scoop out what was inside.” He believes that the skull had been cut open, by humans, in order to remove the brain. “Why would [a] brain be of interest? Well, there is a lot of nutrition in the brain so brain [can be an] important [nutritional option] for pregnant woman and young children.” According to Dr. Fisher, this is something that ancient humans knew and would go after mammoth in order to harvest this brain tissue.

University of Michigan Neurologist and Sleep Disorders Physician Ron Chervin came to the event with his two teenagers hoping to learn more about

what the area surrounding Ann Arbor was like thousands of years ago.

“I think there are a lot of parts from this [dig] that are still missing that they hope they might find and I think it would be really interesting to also get more evidence on what the possible human interaction with this mammoth [was],” Chervin said.

“This particular find is interesting because it has evidence of human involvement,” Harris said. “There are several lines of evidence that it was butchered and stored as meat, kind of [like] a prehistoric refrigerator in a pond and so that’s really interesting.” Dr. Fisher continued to explain how there were other predators around who wanted to eat the carcass of the mammoth as much as the people did. He figured that by storing the meat in a pond they put the meat out of reach of other predators.

Dr. Fisher discussed what else was found with the fossils at his lecture on Friday, Nov. 4. “[Mr. Bristle] was digging just behind the skull and there was another thunk,” Dr. Fisher said. “We pulled it up and checked it out. It was a boulder about the size of a medicine ball that weighed 88 and a half pounds. That is a big boulder and it does not belong geologically with the fine grain pond sediments that which the bones were buried.”

Geologically, the site where the bones were found was an ancient pond. There was no stream, so there was nothing that

could have brought a boulder that size into the pond other than prehistoric humans.

“We [have] seen boulders like this with other bone sites,” Dr. Fisher said. “[Boulders that couldn’t otherwise be there] are one thing that is associated with human interaction with these animals.”

This particular exhibit and fossil find has gotten people in the Ann Arbor community excited, more than most other temporary exhibits. Harris believes that it is because it was discovered locally.

“It was found just 15 miles away and it’s such a cool animal: a big, huge elephant relative,” Harris said.

“I think that because mammoths and mastodons and elephants in general are so cool, people are naturally curious to learn about them and they care about them,” Harris said. “It’s a really good way to get people interested in science.

[The museum] feels like we’re helping to contribute to science literacy and the Mammoth is one piece.”

The Bristle Mammoth exhibit will be on display on the fourth floor of the Museum of Natural History until Jan. 15, 2018. It will then be taken down and will be put in the new location in the Biological Sciences Building, which will open to the public in 2019. As of now, there are no plans to display the mammoth fossils anywhere besides Ann Arbor.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DARYL MARSHKE

LEFT PAGE: The main focus of the exhibit was the massive Bristle Mammoth skull and tusks. Theyare on display on the fourth floor of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor, MI. ABOVE: Paleontologist Daniel Fisher works in the classroom in the Museum of Paleontology to identify the mammoth bones.

LEFT: The 150-pound skull and tusks of the Bristle Mammoth being hoisted out of the earth by a crane on a farm outside of Chelsea, MI. University of Michigan staff watch as the skull is lowered onto the back of a truck.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DARYL MARSHKE

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17

Students Rally Against Donald Trump in the Diag

PHOTOS: SACHA VERLON

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BY SACHA VERLON AND ZOE LUBETKIN

n Friday, Nov. 18, a crowd gathered in the center of the Diag on the University of Michigan campus with signs and fists raised in the air. In front of the crowd, a group of speakers promoted activism against the new president-elect Donald Trump, as well as delivered chants against Trump and discussed the how the country can prepare and fight against his policies.

This anti-Trump rally was put together by the Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS. This organization is run by University of Michigan students, and was founded by Liam Knight. It focuses on the current political landscape and takes action on current political issues. Instead of relying on outside organizations such as the University of Michigan, the SDS uses their own resources and members to organize events.

“We work with a focus on independent organization that is trying not to rely so much on outside sources, such as the school administration, and shifting the power over to the students,” said Emily Levi, a member of SDS and a speaker at the rally. The night of Election Day was a night of mourning for many Americans, as the reality of a Trump presidency dawned on them. The results hit members of the SDS hard as well; some members recounted how they started crying once the outcome registered.

“I was absolutely devastated, honestly,” Levi said. “As I said during my speech, I cried, because I knew there were so many people that were going to be hit hard by the results of this election and the next four years. And that’s kind of when I decided that I would help work as part of an organization such as SDS to change it.”

Members of SDS decided that they needed to take action. The members of SDS gathered soon after Election Day to discuss what they could do to support those who will be affected by the results of this election.

Knight suggested planning a rally in the Diag to show support to those

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ABOVE: Rally attenders hold signs up directed against president-elect Donald Trump.

NEWS who need it. happens, even if you stand out in the events have shocked and alarmed the Another goal of the rally was to in- middle of somewhere and voice your public. These acts are not limited to a form people on how to fight Trump’s opposition to things, you will be heard.” few large cities. Just a few weeks ago, on policies. Hadi Katbi, a member of SDS, Sonny Newman, a member of SDS Friday, Nov. 11, a woman just outside of believes that those against Trump need and a Community High alumni, clarifies the University of Michigan campus was to use more unified tactics to influence why anti-Trump rallies are so important threatened to be set on fire if she didn’t Trump’s policies, rather than simply at the country’s current state. take off her hijab, which is a headscarf shouting anti-Trump slogans.

“When you hear about these rallies, worn primarily by Muslims.

“Doable concrete goals are necessary... you hear about more and more people This hate act close to home was esobviously in these pecially shocking due first two weeks it’s to Ann Arbor’s repimportant to create utation as such an “We get the point: the majority of Americans unity against Trump, accepting and nonbut after these first discriminatory place. are against Trump. But in the end, that’s not two weeks, I think Many individuals going to accomplish anything. We need conit’s important to have think of Ann Arbor concrete action, rathas being predomicrete action, and we need goals to tie into the er than just chanting nantly liberal. Howaction.” ‘not my president,” ever, Ann Arbor is Katbi says. “We get not as Democratic as the point: the majorpeople think. Accordity of Americans are ing to NPR, 26.4 peragainst Trump. But in the end, that’s not who are by your side fighting for you, cent of all citizens in Washtenaw County going to accomplish anything. We need and who are your allies, essentially, who who voted cast their ballots for Donald concrete action, and we need goals to tie are going through the same struggles Trump. Ann Arbor does not make up into the action.” that you’re going through,” Newman the whole county, but this number is still This rally is only one of many. Across said. “And I’m really hoping that these worth noting. Newman speculates that the nation, anti-Trump rallies and pro- rallies - even if people don’t go to them, the assumption that Ann Arbor is comtests are occurring. Protests have been even if they’re like ‘oh, they’ll be certain pletely Democratic is not as accurate as known to take place outside of Trump people here that I’m not comfortable many previously thought. buildings in large cities like New York, with,’ even if people aren’t attending “I think with this presidency we’re goChicago and Las Vegas. Ann Arbor has them - they’ll know that there are people ing to find that there are a lot more peohosted a few rallies as well. According to who are with them, and who stand with ple harboring hate in their hearts and the Michigan Daily, a vigil was held on them, and believe that they have a right this presidency is going to make them the night after Election Day with over to exist.” think that it’s okay to express that hate,” 1000 students and community members Katbi agrees. “I think it’s important to Newman said. “When you have a chief in attendance. Levi believes that these form unity against Trump,” he said. citizen of the United States, a president rallies are imperative to initiate change.

The call for unity against Trump is es- who is telling people it’s okay to be hate“I am fully in support of them,” Levi pecially urgent when one considers the ful, then everybody is obviously going to said. “I have seen them happen both hate acts that have transpired since the think that it’s okay to be hateful and it’s here, right on campus in the same loca- election. Trump’s victory may have been just not.” tion, and all over, and that’s how change surprising for some, but these recent

ABOVE (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT): Hadi Katbi, Emily Levi, and Sonny Newman of Students for a Democratic Society. Katbi, Levi, and Newman spoke at the rally and are active members of SDS.

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19

NEWS

Standing Together Ann Arbor resident travels to North Dakota to deliver collected donations to protesters opposing the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

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BY ELENA BERNIER AND OMALARA OSOFISAN

n Sept. 28, Lauren Sargent and Terri Wilkerson, both Ann Arbor residents, loaded up a rental van full of supplies needed to survive a winter on the Great Plains and drove down to the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota.

The donated items worth thousands of dollars, and $1,800 of supplies Sargent and Wilkerson bought themselves, were being donated to the people camping out to help the Standing Rock Sioux tribe stop the North Dakota Access Pipeline. This 1,170-mile, $3.7 billion pipeline would transport more than 470,000 barrels of oil daily across North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. It would run beneath all privately owned land up to the Missouri River, the tribe’s main water source, crossing the river within half a mile of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. The pipeline would put the tribe’s drinking water in danger, with the risk of leaking, which is almost inevitable. “Even though this a struggle over their drinking water for the 20

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Standing Rock reservation, they very much consider this as something that’s necessary for what they, and every indigenous culture that I know of has a way of saying the same thing, which is ‘for all my relations.’

That means all people, that means all animals, that means all plants, that means the Earth herself, that means the ancestors, and future generations,” Sargent said.

Over 300 other Native American nations from Canada to Hawaii have joined together to protest the pipeline, as well as thousands of people not of Native American descent. In addition to putting their drinking water at risk, the construction of the pipeline would

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(ABOVE) Protesters marching to a sacred burial site that was disturbed by bulldozers constructing the Dakota Acces Pipeline.

also disturb burial and other sacred sites.

The protesters plan to stay throughout the winter until the pipeline has been stopped.

“We shared our campsite with a homeless couple from Pittsburgh who had literally lost their home, and yet felt like this was such an important movement that they had to be there to be part of it,” Sargent said. People, like the ones she mentioned, that have flocked here, have come from all sorts of different situations and have all been united under the movement to stop this pipeline.

The camps, located both near and on the Standing Rock Reservation, follow a strict set of rules put in place by the leaders of the camps: no drugs, alcohol, and violence. If someone violates any of these they are thrown out. Sargent stresses the issue of the media spinning these peaceful protests as violent.

“If you hear that, you can be sure it’s either one: a bald faced lie, or it’s the result of an agents provocateur,” Sargent said.

“They are not protesters, they are protectors, that’s very different mindset.”

NEWS

(ABOVE) Sargent and Wilkerson took their donations to this donation tent run by a woman and her son.

(ABOVE) Tents and teepees set up at the Red Warrior camp by those staying there during the movement.

An agents provocateur is someone who is sent in by the opposing party to infiltrate a protest, and disrupt and discredit it using violence. This is an occurrence not so uncommon as some may think. The actions of agents provocateurs are not like the actions of those who are partaking in this movement for a good reason. “The fact that they’re escalating these tactics means that they’re on the defensive,” Sargent said. “This is guns and tanks against feathers and drums.”

Water is Life, the phrase of the movement, is an important theme at the camps. The Standing Rock Sioux are protecting their water and their way of life. They are also fulfilling an ancient Sioux prophecy which states that in the seventh generation the seven council fires of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Sioux will reconvene for the “saving of the world.” In the year 2016, it is the seventh generation, and the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota nations have reconvened at the Standing Rock reservation to stop the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

This ‘reconvening’ has served as a way for Native people to reconnect and celebrate their roots. Sargent describes seeing a man butchering a buffalo before dinner, just like they would have done hundreds of years ago. The days in the camps unfold respecting the native traditions. There is always a prayer at sunrise, sunset and before meals, as well as prayers, drum circles and songs throughout the day. “It’s not only non-violent,

(ABOVE) Greenpeace and the Indigenous Environmental Network both have solar charging stations at the camps.

it’s also spiritual and deeply felt,” Sargent said.

High schoolers from the Standing Rock Reservation have also gotten involved, marching from their high school on a Friday afternoon, past the camps and to the front lines of protest. Peacefully, they showed their support and pride for the tribe.

With this movement being heard throughout the world, many organization have stepped in to help. The organizations on the ground supporting this movement are Greenpeace, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Veterans for Peace, National Lawyers Guild, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

These organizations have put up conveniences like shower tents and solar powered cell phone charging stations.

The Standing Rock tribe has also supplied amenities like handwashing stations, porta potties and firewood for the winter. But with the tribe’s resources stretched thin, these organizations and donations from individuals, like the ones Sargent and Wilkerson brought, are very welcome.

The free dinner, served to people staying at the camps, relies on the steady influx of donations. When Sargent and Wilkinson arrived, one of the first things they did was drive to the donations tent to unload the things that they had collected. Most of which was essentials needed for winter like warm sleeping bags, winter coats, snowpants, hats, blankets and items of that nature. They

also brought butter, coffee and Michigan maple syrup which was immediately brought to the kitchen.

With thousands of people coming and going at the camps, the layout of the vans, tents and tepees in the camps are constantly changing, and is continuously disconcerting. One thing that Sargent stresses the camps are lacking is walkie-talkies. These four camps are located in a very remote location with no cell phone service, so communication is very difficult.

Many native people have brought their horses with them. For now, they bring their horses to the river close to the camp, once winter arrives the river will freeze over. If they decide to keep their horses at the camps over the winter, Sargent wants to get heated water troughs, with solar panels on the sides to create heat, for the winter. These cost around $500.

These protestors are here for the long run. They are already planning the construction of more permanent buildings for the winter, like a dome-like structure for meetings on the camp that’s on the Standing Rock Reservation. Even faced with arrest they don’t seem to be backing down anytime soon. The Standing Rock Sioux and everyone else who has stood with them, are not just protecting the tribe’s drinking water, they are protecting everyone who get’s their water from the Missouri River. This isn’t just a Native issue, it’s an issue of human rights.

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21

NEWS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: RICHARD OHYE AND U-M

From Printer to Patient A new 3D printed device at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital is saving lives one by one.

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BY ABBIE GAIES

aiba Gionfriddo was six weeks old when he turned blue from lack of oxygen while at a restaurant with his family. Garrett Peterson spent the first 18 months of his life at the hospital, harnessed to ventilators and fed through an IV. What both Gionfriddo and Peterson had in common was the most severe form of a disease called tracheobronchomalacia (TBM).

Prior to 2012, babies with severe TBM had low life expectancies; there was no cure. This type of TBM is a rare, often terminal disease that causes the trachea and bronchi to be weak and results in periodic collapse of the airways, which prevents normal breathing. Only about 1 in 2,200 babies (.03 percent of live births) are born with TBM, and most children grow out of it by the time they reach two or three. However, Gionfriddo and Peterson were part of the 10 percent of TBM cases that are severe.

Dr. Glenn Green, M.D., Associate 22

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Professor of Pediatric Otolaryngology at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital (Mott), and Dr. Scott Hollister, Ph.D, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and Associate Professor of Surgery at U-M, collaborated to develop and 3D print a splint for tracheas that when implanted would hold up the trachea and allow someone with TBM to breathe. Dr. Richard Ohye, M.D., Head of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery at Mott, is the surgeon who implants the devices.

“When they had the opportunity to put it in a child, that’s when they called me to actually be

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ABOVE: Gionfriddo, wearing the Make a Wish shirt he got for his trip to Disney World, returned to Mott in the spring of 2015 for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Glenn Green, three years after his original surgery.

the person who implants it,” Ohye said.

“So I’m not the brain and the outfit here, I’m just the plumber.” Although he was not part of the design or creation of the splints, Ohye’s job of surgically placing the splints is very important. “[Gionfriddo] was dying and was transferred here,” Ohye explained. “We got approval from the FDA for emergency use of the device, so we put it in and it was actually pretty miraculous. It worked exactly as [Green and Hollister] had hoped, and that child was probably within hours of dying.” Right now, the splints are for emergency use only, so all of the stories are dramatic, much like Gionfriddo’s or Peterson’s.

Green and Hollister use CT scans (series of special x-ray images taken from many different angles) of the child’s trachea/bronchi to create each splint, so they’re specially designed for the size and shape of the particular child.

The splints are bioresorbable, and after about three years they are fully absorbed.

NEWS There have been seven total emergency body had already matured, she did not and effective, that Ohye will take the lead implants of the splints. Six of them have get the bioresorbable version that grows as the principal investigator of the trial. been in young children under the age of with the patient. Ohye had to do a couOhye gives the credit to Green and three and one was in a 15-year-old. One ple other things as well, such as rerout- Hollister for the splints. “They’re the of these emergency procedures was per- ing vessels that were compressing on ones that thought of this and invented formed in a young child in Spain. Green her airway, because she was much older it.” Despite the fact that Ohye did not and Hollister were contacted by the staff than the previous patients, but the splint help in the creation of the splints, he is at the hospital in Spain and asked to cal- worked and she went home alive and is essential in the success of these devices. culate and send the design specifications currently doing very well.

Neither Green nor Hollister could use overseas where it was then printed and To date, the splint has saved the lives their amazing devices without Ohye’s implanted. of seven people, but there are many unique surgical skills.

The 15-year-old mentioned above was more lives that it could save if it isn’t All of the previous implants have originally treated at another hospital for for emergency use only. “In the future saved the lives of the patients with TBM. a minor case of TBM, but she sudden- we anticipate that this will be useful for All six of them have gone home able to ly took a turn for the worst. Before get- kids that are not necessarily dying once breathe and have a much more normal ting her splint, her only option was to be we get full approval from the FDA,” life. on a mechanical ventilator, Now an active four-yearwhich she had been on for old, Gionfriddo went to around 41 days.

World last year for “It’s the concept that’s brilliant and going to be Disney “Any movement and she the first time thanks to the life-saving for a population of kids.” would lose her airway and Make-a-Wish Foundation, not be able to be ventilatand his ability to leave the ed, not be able to breathe, hospital. Peterson is an ennot be able to move any air through her Ohye said. Green, Hollister and Ohye ergetic three-year-old who has a contaairway,” Ohye said. “She was paralyzed are in the process of getting the splints gious laugh—something he wasn’t able for those 41 days and the family had approved by the FDA so they can help to do when he was stuck on a ventilator. actually been told that there was noth- people before they are in critical condi“It’s the concept that’s brilliant and ing else that they could do and that they tion. going to be life-saving for a population should withdraw care and let her go, let While Ohye hasn’t previously been in- of kids,” Ohye said. “[It’s] going to be her die.” volved with actively developing or de- life-altering for another population of A family friend of theirs had read about signing new technologies, he has had kids who won’t need to be “trached”, the splints that were used at Mott and experience in writing protocols and run- who won’t need to be on ventilators long told them about it. The patient’s doc- ning trials to get devices approved for term, who won’t need to be in a hospitors contacted Mott and she was trans- use. It’s at this stage, running the trial to tal for 18 months before they can have ferred to Mott for the surgery. Since her prove to the FDA that the splint is safe some effective treatment.”

LEFT: This model consists of two splints, one on each bronchus. It modeled where the splints would be attached in a patient that had severe TBM in both bronchi.

RIGHT: Unlike the left photo, this computerized image shows only one splint (red) on the bronchus (green), located on the left bronchus.

BOTTOM: These three images show how the splint is attached and how it works. The first image shows the collapsed airway (grey). The white surrounding the second image is the actual splint; it is wrapped around the airway and holding it up. The final image shows how the airway grows but the splints stays attached and continunes to hold up the airway.

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23

SPORTS FEATURE

INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS

BY MIRA SIMONTON-CHAO PHOTOS PROVIDED BY KATE BURNS

From scholastic medalist to international finalist, Kate Burns takes fifth in the women’s eight at World Rowing Junior Championships.

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verlooking the Huron River, a wooden dock forks out over the water. Young rowers scurry back and forth along both sides while blades twice their size rest across their shoulders. In the moist August heat, the water lays flat and even— a perfect day for the middle schoolers participating in Washtenaw Rowing Center’s (WRC) Middle School Learn to Row program.

Among the many students gathered that day sits Kate Burns, an incoming freshman at the time and beginning rower herself. Introduced to rowing in middle school, Burns was more than reluctant to row at first. Burns admitted that she hated it that first week during WRC, and even through the beginning of her novice year. Burns’s father, a former University of Michigan (U of M) soccer coach, was good friends with the U of M rowing coach and encouraged Burns to row after concluding that she would make a “good rower.” “He [former U of M Crew Coach Mark Rothstein] said ‘Someone’ who’s tall, someone who’s strong and someone who has a high tolerance for pain’ and my dad was like— ‘Oh that’s Kate. She should row!’” said Burns with a laugh. After swimming the fall of her freshman year, Burns went into Skyline’s winter crew season as a novice. More than six months after her first experience on the water at WRC, the Skyline crew team returned to the site at Concordia College along the Huron river near Gallup Park, and Burns got her real first taste of rowing on the Huron River. Though the rowing was hard, she slowly began to love the sport in her first couple months. “When the boat starts to feel better, that’s when I start liking it,” said Burns, noting that these words are still true years later as a senior and varsity member on the Skyline Crew team.

INFLUENTIAL “[Kit Bennett has] been there since the beginning,” said Burns, accrediting her head coach as the biggest influence in her rowing career. Having taught her how to row nearly four years ago, Bennett was one of the first to encourage Burns to row when she was in middle school. So this summer, when Burns was offered a spot on the USA Junior rowing team, Bennett was one of the first to urge her on. Burn’s parents have encouraged her over the years as well, helping at the many Skyline regattas and urging her to row in college. “They just like seeing me happy, and I’m happy when I’m rowing— most of the time,” said Burns.

A TURN IN EVENTS Weeks before the end of the 2015-2016 school year, just as her fellow classmates

SPORTS FEATURE had begun to study for the semester finals, Burns packed her bags for New London, Connecticut. Having taken her finals early, Burns was off to participate in the 2016 High Performance rowing camp run through the Coast Guard Academy boathouse in New London.

For two weeks Burns practiced with High Performance camp. She rowed on the Thames in New London—the same river that both Harvard and Yale crew teams practice on—and slept in the dorms of Connecticut College, enjoying the work of drills and technique. After rowing for two weeks with the camp, Burns was bumped into the next level training camp called “Selection”. Once there, Burns was being considered for Canamax, an international competition between the USA, Canada and Mexico.

After completing a 2000 meter erg (rowing machine) sprint, coaches at the camp were surprised at Burns’ speed, as she finished with the third fastest time at the camp, and slated her to seat race for the Junior Worlds eight. But after not making the cut in the seat race, Burns and good friend Jenna Van De Grift, being the last two to not make the Junior team, went on to race at Canamax with their fellow Selection camp rowers instead of joining the Junior team in racing at Worlds. This event is regarded as less prestigious than Worlds, but still impressive. This year Canamax was held at Nathan Benderson park in Sarasota, Florida. There, the team won gold in both the eight and four event. “It was groundbreaking,” said Burns. “It was the first time that I really got a challenge, international competition.”

With two gold medals in hand, Burns returned home, intent on starting training for Henley (a training camp hosted

by WRC for the Canadian Henley competition). But receiving a call not more than two weeks after returning to Ann Arbor, Burns returned to Princeton.

There, Burns and Van De Grift trained alongside the USA Junior team as spares.

Dropped into boats unexpectedly, Burns and the other girls learned to get to know each other quickly. “I feel like my growth as a person, not so much a rower, has tripled,” said Burns, saying that her social skills definitely improved by long strides this summer just because of the amount of people she met. She was able to make a close knit group of friends during her time at Princeton, who stuck together throughout the move from Princeton to Rotterdam, Amsterdam.

After a few weeks of workouts three times a day, seven days a week, the junior team set out for Rotterdam, their hard work all leading up to just over a week of racing. Losing her primary race against Germany, Burns finished racing earlier

than many of her fellow rowers. Preparing to return to the hotel, Burns was unexpectedly asked to stay on at the course by coach Sandy Armstrong. Not racing in the eight the following day, Burns had thought she was finished with racing.

But Armstrong that evening sent Burns out in a scratch line up of the eight, and in a “whatever looks better” decision, subbed Burns in for the race the following day. Not making it straight to finals, Burns and her team were determined when they got on the water next to make it to the A- finals. In their last race, after long pep-talks and through months of training, the USA Junior World’s women’s team took fifth in the women’s eight, four seconds ahead of the Romanian women’s team after competing closely with them throughout the preceding events. Burns began the summer with an already impressive rap of two Scholastic Nationals medals, but ended it with an even more impressive that boasts international success as the fifth fastest junior women’s eight in the world.

A MAIZE AND BLUE BOW Deciding between Duke, Michigan State University, Yale and University of Michigan, Burns went into the college search looking for a strong academic college.

She wanted a school that would support her rowing as well as her interest in engineering. Through her rowing, Burns was able to get into to a college that otherwise may have turned her down. “I definitely wouldn’t get into Yale or Duke without rowing, but rowing gave me the ability to do that,” said Burns, though in the end choosing to go to U of M. Looking to get away a little, Burns applied to out of state colleges as well as in state, though in the end decided to stay in Michigan. “Going on my visit, I really couldn’t see myself going anywhere else,” said Burns. “I’ve been cheering for Michigan my whole life, [and] it just feels so right.”

A month after her visit to Duke, Burns orally committed to U of M, establishing her place on the U of M women’s crew team for hopefully the next four years.

With a hefty scholarship in hand, Burns has set her goals high and is still anticipating a reply from the U of M School of Engineering. U of M’s strong engineering program playing a role in her final decision to attend U of M in the Fall of 2017. Though she hopes to row for the next four years, a professional career is still up in the air. No matter what Burns decides to do, rowing has influenced her life in more ways than she can count and shaped her to be the person she is today.

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SPORTS FEATURE

Behind Huron Field Hockey The story of a new head coach and her young varsity team.

BY JACKIE MORTELL

H

uron High School Field Hockey has gone through several changes over the past couple of years, but now they have a new coach, a young team, a strong record and the respect of their rivals. Best of all, they seem to be having the time of their lives.

In June of 2016, Lauren Hall took over as the Head Varsity Field Hockey Coach for Huron High School. She played a myriad of sports in high school and college including field hockey and basketball at Northwestern University.

This was until she decided to play field hockey on scholarship at Eastern Michigan University. Coach Hall came from Pioneer High School, where she coached the junior varsity team for the past five to six years.

“I wanted the opportunity to coach a varsity program and to see the varsity program at Huron stabilize,” Coach Hall said.

It was hard for Coach Hall to leave Pioneer because it meant leaving her field hockey kids. She usually coached the freshmen and then would help out for the rest of their high school careers, so she knew them all. The upside is that at Huron she has her own kids and she said, “The easiest part of being here is having more kids, and my kids are just

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mine.”

Early in the season Huron traveled across town to play Pioneer and came away with a sweet 2-0 victory. Coach Hall said, “Oh, it was fantastic I have to say, because this is my team now and I’m very competitive.” When she coached at Pioneer she found that all the coaches were very competitive. They would have heated discussions about all aspects of field hockey including strategy and where to play certain kids, and they all enjoyed it.

“I loved working with that group of people, so for me to have my team beat them was fantastic,” she said.

Huron has experienced a lot of turnover in the coaching staff the last few years and Coach Hall wanted to change that. She has lived in this area for many years and has no plans to leave.

“Huron’s a great team,” she said, “and it was disappointing to have Huron look like it was starting to fall off.” Coach Hall loves competition and feels that Huron has been a formidable team in the past.

She is determined to keep the competition at the highest level in this area.

Coach Hall’s team is a little unconventional in several ways. It consists of one freshman, eight sophomores, who are all veteran varsity players, three juniors who have all played at Huron for three

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years and six seniors, one of whom is on injured reserve. Four of the six seniors have played field hockey at Huron for four years.

Out of the 18 total varsity athletes, 10 play year round on travel teams. There are two sets of sisters and one pair of twins. Two hail from Washtenaw International High School, three from Community and 13 from Huron. As they started their season, the players only had their black away jerseys with no home jerseys or skirts due to a delay in the order for new uniforms. Their opponents were gracious enough to let them wear their away jerseys for all the early games, and they played in their own black shorts. That has become their signature style, and they sent the skirts back when they finally arrived. They do dress in white jerseys bearing a little River Rat when they play at home now.

Huron’s lean varsity team is a scoring machine with incredible defenders who rarely let the ball anywhere near the goal. The goalies may go through an entire game and not touch the ball. Huron scored 75 goals during the regular season, followed by the next closest team with 43 goals. Only nine goals have been scored against them.

Coach Hall has faced some challenges

in her first season. One of the biggest has been the low numbers of players on the team. However, she also feels strongly that the more touches you have on the ball the better. The Huron athletes play almost every minute of every game because there are only five substitutes on the bench.

The skill level of her team is very high.

“I could probably take my team and match them one-to-one with any other team’s starters in the state and I would have a better team,” she said. Coach Hall also sees maturity as a challenge. “Sometimes we overplay and we’re over-anxious,” she said. The team is dominated by sophomores, which she also sees as a strength because they are younger and more excited.

Rachel Kerr, senior and team captain, thinks the young players have rejuvenated the team and brought a lot of great energy. “I love the fact that everyone is so young… I think that it makes us a stronger team,” Kerr said.

Coach Hall feels there is tremendous value in being on a team because it teaches players that the team, rather than the individual, is the most important.

“A championship team will always beat a team of champions,” Coach Hall said.

“If you grow the whole team and make them all feel capable and competent

throughout the season, then pass them the ball when they’re open and they’ll learn to catch it,” Being part of a team also teaches you “to work with and respect and appreciate people that you would not necessarily choose as your friends.” Teamwork, she said, “prepares you for life and everyone should participate in something where they are a part of something bigger than themselves.”

Kerr said that developing into a team both on and off the field was the most challenging and most rewarding aspect of Huron field hockey.

“I think somehow we have been able to make it work better this year by playing as a team on the field, by passing, which is very important,” she said.

The players find it challenging to manage field hockey and academics. “It is really hard, I think, especially my junior and senior year,” Kerr said. But she feels it has helped her learn time management, so it is worth it.

Coach Hall recognizes this and finds that athletes are often better students during the season because they have so little time they have to manage it very well. She feels that academics are more important than athletics and that’s why the student comes first in student-athlete, though you have to have a balance.

She has very high expectations of her

SPORTS FEATURE

players as athletes and as students and she checks grades regularly to be sure people are on top of their work.

When asked to name their favorite thing about field hockey or what has been the most fun, the coach and most players agreed: the team, the team, the team.

Coach Hall: “It’s been really fun watching the team become a team.”

Senior Rachel Kerr: “Spending the night in Chicago [with the team].”

Senior Miah McCallister: “I like the team aspect and hanging out with all the girls and being part of something.”

Senior Gigi Guenther: “Being part of a team.”

Freshman Cat Guenther: “Being part of such an amazing team.”

Sophomore Lee Stewart: “The Huron girls.”

Sophomore Afua Nkansah-Andoh: “The good times that I get to spend with my friends.”

Sophomore Anna Scott: “My favorite thing are the people. I love all my teammates. They’re amazing!”

Coach Hall has definitely taken charge and her players admire and respect her.

She knows field hockey and she knows high school girls. Her team has had a great season and now they look forward to 2017.

LEFT PAGE: The 2016 Huron High School Varsity Team. Photo: Rob Kerr TOP LEFT: The Huron team huddles before their big game at Riverbank Stadium. Photo: Frank Connolly TOP RIGHT: Senior Miah McCallister blocks a Chelsea shot on goal. Photo: Frank Connolly BOTTOM LEFT: Sophmore Lee Stewart getting warmed up for their big game against Cranbrook . Photo: Frank Connolly BOTTOM RIGHT: Captain and senior Maria Hill-Carruthers high fives the team before the start of the game. Photo: Frank Connolly

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FEATURE

PHOTO: NOAA

Protecting Right Whales the Right Way

O

BY ETHAN KAHANA

ver 70 percent of the earth is covered in water, and the oceans are home to many species of animals and plants.

For most of earth’s history, the ocean was a quiet place. But today there are over 87,000 shipping vessels with their massive, roaring engines, crossing the oceans to connect the global economy.

Many animals have suffered because of this, but none more than the Right Whale.

At Cornell University, director of the Bioacoustics Research Program (BRP) Dr. Christopher Clark is aiming to help protect Right Whales. Because the deep ocean waters are dark, whales rely on sound to navigate the oceans and to communicate. “Right Whales are particularly sensitive to sound because their calls can travel 20 miles to communicate information about food and migration routes,” Clark said. Because of this, noise pollution is threatening their very existence. In addition to the dangers of noise pollution, direct collisions between whales and shipping vessels have hurt and even killed numerous whales.

Therefore, protecting whales from the growing dangers of a global economy has become imperative In 2008, the BRP teamed up with an in-

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ternational energy company and federal regulators to help listen for and protect Right Whales in New England waters on the main shipping lanes using auto-detection buoys. Auto-detection buoys listen for the calls of all animals, not just Right Whales. “The buoy has an auditory system that covers a wide frequency band from about 20 Hz to 60 kHz. We listen and try to pay attention to all types of sounds,” Clark said. This buoy system lets the crew on ships know if a Right Whale (or any animal) is nearby based on their call. This especially helps these whales during migration season since the Right Whales in New England waters migrate through a highly industrialized part of the coastline.

The auto-detection buoy system is not yet perfect because different animals react differently to loud noises. “Beluga Whales go nuts – they dramatically increase their vocal activity,” Clark said.

However, Right Whales act differently.

“I’ve observed Right Whales in dangerous situations and they become silent.”

When there is a great amount of noise, Whales have two options; they can call louder, or they can be silent and wait for the noise to go away.

Whales are known to change their calls during different times of the year.

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“Some whales are known to have different calls and/or song patterns under migration context,” Clark said.

Climate change is also causing these Whales to behave and migrate differently. “Climate change in the form of ocean temperature changes is having obvious and I’d say profound changes on seasonal occurrence and distribution patterns,” Clark said.

All of these variables in whale and fish behavior require someone who can detect a specific animal based on their call.

This is a specialty of Professor Clark, who is an expert at detecting different animals using the buoy system. Clark is also trying to educate people about the problems of noise pollution and the effect that it has on animals, especially Whales. “I put my energy into letting as many people, especially younger people, know about how much noise humans dump into the ocean and how it reduces the ability of all types of animals, not just whales, to live,” Clark said. Thankfully, new technologies such as the auto detection buoy system and the work of scientists such as Clark, provide hope that the impact of human activity on ocean life will be minimized, and all species on earth would live in greater harmony.

FEATURE

Water Around the World Around the world, many people do not have access to clean water.

Unsafe drinking water kills a child every 15 seconds Over 768 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water

The United States waste on average of 570 litters of water, more than any other country Baths waste 80 liters of water, toilet flushes 10 liters and hand washing 5 liters of water

M

BY CAMMI TIRICO

any places around the world do not have clean water. Other places waste too much water. That gap is a hard line to walk. Those who have clean water, use too much of it.

Those who do not have clean water do not have what they need. Flint, Michigan, a mere 53 miles from Community High School, does not have clean water.

And a large portion of people in Ann Arbor wasted a great deal of water on a daily basis.

Raising and preparing a turkey takes over 730 gallons of water. That is 730

gallons of water that 1 in 10 people around the world do not have. Growing potatoes takes nearly 35 gallons of water per pound. 7 pounds of potatoes is what is needed to make 10 servings of mashed potatoes. 245 gallons of waters go into making mashed potatoes for 10 people. Total, 975 gallons of water went into raising and cooking turkey and mashed potatoes.

The people of Flint, Michigan do not have 975 gallons of water. Their tap water is unsafe to consume, especially for children. According to “Little Miss Flint” on Twitter, their family used “6

packs of water, so 144 bottles of water”.

Many people around the world do not have access to 144 bottles of water.

It is time that the whole world recieves access to clean water.

It is time those who have clean water use less of it.

It is time that we turn off our faucets and turn on our minds. It is time those who have water to being it to the rest of the world The world needs clean water and every person, every second, every drop counts.

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FEATURE

Nothing but Yes Means Yes

BY SUEPHIE SAAM AND EMILY TSCHIRHART

Disassembling stigma and stereotypes one sexual health program at a time.

A

nne Huhman sits stoic in her agreeable office, accommodating and collected. In the cluttered quiet of the University of Michigan Union, her office lies in the deepest ventricle of the building.

The fluorescent lights gently hum, while students cross the grassy Diag outside.

This day, as all others, has been drastically different from the last.

Huhman, Program Manager for Education and Prevention at the University of Michigan Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, or SAPAC, finds that everyday presents new challenges, new adversaries and new opportunities to educate her clients and her campus about sexual assault.

In a new day and age, the world seems ready to tackle the topic of rape.

Those who come into the office are greeted by pamphlets, pins, temporary tattoos and a serene environment, homey and inviting. The words “YES MEANS YES” cover the walls and post30

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ers. Huhman constantly stressed how important it was to her that the survivors that come into her office are as comfortable as possible.

“We use the term survivor, just because it feels a little bit more empowering for somebody who’s actually gone through something really traumatic and survived it,” Huhman said. Typically, the employees at SAPAC will handle the aftermath of an attack, and provide the survivor with the tools that they need to cope.

Although SAPAC only caters to the needs of those who attend the University of Michigan, they will still direct other survivors to places like Safe House, which rests on the outer edge of Ann Arbor. Survivors have access to a 24hour crisis line operated by professionally trained staff members, time to meet with employees and assistance in processing prior events.

The University of Michigan has three student programs advocating against sexual harassment on their campus, con-

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sisting of 150 student volunteers. The Peer Education Program focuses on primary prevention of sexual violence. This stage of prevention centers its practice around adopting healthy behaviors with relationships, consent and communication. The program presents this information to U of M students in hopes of reaching out to various programs at the U of M such as fraternities and sororities.

Secondary prevention is covered by the Bystander Intervention and Community Engagement program. They teach students how to intervene safely in harmful situations in order to support one another. The program provides various workshops teaching these skills. They collaborate with other student groups that haven’t normally worked with places like SAPAC, such as the Greek system and athletics.

The Networking Publicity and Activism program deals with tertiary prevention. Their main focus is to raise aware-

ness by providing information about SAPAC itself at all the school fairs, and by planning and organizing some of the larger events. Every November, they hold a survivor speak out event that provides a safe and supportive environment for survivors to share their stories. Following that, the program holds an art show every spring, centered around raising awareness through art.

SAPAC was developed in the mid-eighties by student activists who wanted on-campus resources for sexual assault.

At the time, the University of Michigan offered no center or phone-line for those affected by rape. A group of students staged a sit-in at the Student Life Vice Principal’s office and demanded that a rape crisis center be opened. After its creation, SAPAC was run mostly by students and activists until it became a professional setting, although many students volunteer to this day. A vast majority of college campuses are just beginning to provide resources for their students, whereas SAPAC has been providing its services for roughly 30 years.

There are many factors that can contribute to how someone is affected by personal trauma, like social identity, family support and culture. SAPAC understands that they don’t always know best, so they help survivors based on the complex basis of each person’s life, and the most important thing is to unconditionally support them as they take the next step in the healing process.

Although SAPAC has made an outstanding difference in the Ann Arbor community, sexual assault is still the most underreported crime, especially in Michigan. Before every student’s enrollment at U of M, they are required to take a campus climate survey. The survey, which asks questions ranging from intervention methods to how to report, indicates that 46 percent of the people who have experienced sexual assault reported it. Out of that group, only three percent reported to an official university resource, including law enforcement.

Sexual assault is the number one least-reported crime in the United States.

But why would there be many circumstances of rape yet so few incarcerations? Why would people be afraid to go to the police to report a crime they knew had been committed against them? “[There is] fear of not being believed and that’s a big barrier,” Huhman said.

“Fear of the perpetrator and what they would do to them if they find out they reported it. If the survivor and perpetrator are part of the same social circle, that can be really challenging because they are trying to weigh if they should report it and risk fracturing the social circle.”

In some cases, the initial reaction of some reported cases could be “what did

this person do to bring this on themselves?” It is as if the rape is blamed on the survivor and not the rapist. This sort of blame is called victim-shaming and is a major part of rape culture today. “[Victim-shaming] is counterproductive and really negative,” said Siena Mckim, a U of M student. “To shift the blame... It’s wrong. And I think that it diminishes image, as if women are second class citizens.”

A gross overgeneralization is that rape only happens to women. Sexual assault can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, race or sexual identity. SAPAC sees more women than men, due to toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is the perpetuation that men are stronger and cannot show emotion like women can.

Ideas like this slow the progression of our ability to combat gender norms and make statistics foggier, like that in the Climate Change Survey. SAPAC hired a male advocate to help break down barriers that men might see.

“There are these stereotypes that it only happens to women, but we know it happens to all gender identities,” Huhman said. “It’s hard for men to come forward and report. So we end up seeing more women, but we also see men. We are trying really hard to make sure that people know that this is a place that is inclusive for all gender identities. We are here to support all.”

Following the trial of a rapist by the name of Brock Turner, the topic of sexual assault became far more socially prevalent. After committing sexual assault at his college, the University of Stanford, Turner was sentenced to six months in jail, a lenient and unjust ruling, which was eventually brought down to three months for “good behavior.” A major issue was the fact that the media that covered the story seemed to cover his accomplishments, highlighting him as a talented swimmer and intelligent student, and not the fact that he had committed a federal crime. To those who have experienced sexual assault, this is a slap in the face and a failure on part of both the legal system and modern day media.

Matt Harmon, a freshman at U of M, was disgusted by the poor judgement and the case in its entirety. Harmon also suggested that the weak ruling may have been affected by the fact that Turner was a swimmer for Stanford.

“The university is there to make sure everyone should feel safe, not just the people who make them look good,” Harmon said.

Mitchell Lawrence, an 18-year-old high school student was sentenced to two years in jail for possession of a teaspoon of marijuana. Marissa Alexander, a floridian woman, was sentenced to 20 years

FEATURE

in prison for firing a warning shot out of a gun to scare her abusive husband away from her. Yet rapists like Brock Turner, David Becker, Nicholas Fifield, and John P. Enochs walk away from trials, with probation, fines or lenient sentences. Often times, the rapist is portrayed as the victim, in the sense that their occupations and talents are mourned if they go to jail. Infamous rapists are known, not for committing crimes, but for the careers that ended when they were found guilty.

“It’s really important that we really hold perpetrators accountable,” Huhman said. “What kind of message does [three months] send? To me, that is a failure on part of the legal system. Yet, there is so much activism and awareness surrounding this case. I’m glad to see the public outcry. When people demand change, is when we will see it.”

SAPAC works diligently on campus, with fraternities, sororities and the school itself. The interfraternity Council (IFC), consisting of ten elected executive council members and a body of fraternity representatives, requested SAPAC to be a part of their yearly orientation program for two consecutive years.

For all incoming students going into a fraternity, SAPAC provides the necessary information on sexual violence prevention, consent and bystander intervention. According to Huhman, some fraternities on campus have become broad allies to SAPAC, and are actively working to be part of the solution.

To those entering a college campus, the future is bright, and taking the time to ensure you have good relationships with communication is key. Empower your individuality and autonomy. And teach the world, not to not drink or to not wear revealing outfits, but to not rape.

“Be proactive in who you are, and who you want to surround yourself by,” Huhman said. “You have the right to do what’s best for you and to communicate that to someone else. Know who you are. Practice communicating that. It takes time. It’s one thing to know what you want. It’s another thing to be able to communicate that to others.”

FURTHER HELP AND RESOURCES SAPAC - 24-hour Crisis Line (734) 936-3333 Assault Hotline (RAINN) 1-800-656-HOPE National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE

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“Who gets found guilty if they’re not guilty?”

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FEATURE

Julie Baumer as a Mortgage Loan Officer, her job at the time she was convicted.

Julie Baumer was accused of shaking her sister’s baby and served over four years in prison. She was not guilty.

BY ISABEL RATNER

Harrison Township, MI, 2003—Julie Baumer was only trying to do one thing: support her family. Her sister Victoria—a drug addict at the time— had suffered from the traumatic birth of her son, Philipp, and could no longer take care of him. Baumer, who was working as a mortgage loan officer at the time, agreed to step in and take care of Philipp. He was just released after two weeks in the hospital, but was put on a strict feeding schedule. Baumer continued to care for him, and for four weeks, things seemed to go as planned. Then one Thursday in October, at a baptismal class at St. Peter’s Parish in Mt. Clemens, Father Cooney expressed concerns to Baumer.

“Phillip’s not looking that good,” he said to her.

Father Cooney was right. Philipp

wasn’t able to to keep any food down.

On the advice of her father and pediatrician, Baumer picked her up her sister from her job at Coney Island and they rushed Philipp to the hospital.

At Mt. Clemens General Hospital, an MRI and CAT scan were taken of Philipp’s brain. In need of better care, Philipp was then transferred to a children’s hospital. However these initial scans—which revealed that he was having a stroke—were not given to the doctors at the second hospital. The following day, nurses measured Philipp’s head and found that it had grown since they released him. They took new CAT scans and MRIs, and it was then that doctors saw bleeding in the brain, and misdiagnosed Philipp as a victim of shaken-baby-syndrome. In that moment, the doctors failed to see a part of the CAT scan

that clearly showed Philipp had suffered a childhood stroke called venous sinus thrombosis. What happened next was nothing that Baumer expected.

“And so, of course, with my being the primary caretaker, and my being the last one being with Philipp, all fingers pointed at me,” Baumer said.

OUT OF HER CONTROL

Matters were quickly taken out of Baumer’s hands. Because she was the prime suspect, all contact was cut off between her and Philipp. Members of Baumer’s family tried to get custody of Philipp.

Both of Baumer’s sisters were denied to right to take him. Baumer’s parents tried to fight, but were told that if they were going to have him in their home, they could not have contact with their daughters. They knew that no contact december

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FEATURE with Baumer would not be possible, and with that, Philipp became a ward of the state, and later became adopted by a foster family.

In February of 2004, she received a call from the adoption attorney handling Philipp’s case, telling her she had 72 hours to turn herself in and find a criminal attorney. Baumer, still in her early 20s, did not have the resources or knowledge at the time to realize the level of attorney she really needed to protect her. This came back to hurt her later in the trial. Baumer was formally charged a week later. The trial began in September of 2005.

this.”

For Baumer, the most difficult part was how much she had to deal with things alone.

“Yeah, you’re in a sh**** environment, but you don’t get to go home,” Baumer said. “You don’t get to go complain about it to anybody.”

Baumer recalls one evening, after about a year in prison, when her cellmate would not turn down the volume on her small television. Baumer, on the top bunk and unable to sleep, called to the guard who was just outside of her cell. ‘“I remember going up to [her] and saying, ‘I can’t stay in that cell. Are you guys gonna move me?’” Baumer said.

She continued to tell the guard, “This lady, she really is antagonizing me and I’m not doing anything wrong.’ and I remember [the guard] saying, ‘You’ve got 15 years, go kick her a**. And I looked at her, I’m like, ‘Who do you think I am?’ [She replied,] ‘You gotta get a thick-

School.

Thankfully, Lugosi had just met David Moran, was looking for viable cases to start a clinic, which later became the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan.

THE CLINIC

The Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan helps those who have been wrongly accused and are in jail get out and get their charges lifted. In order for an inmate to get their case reviewed again, they must be provided new evidence to prove their innocence. The Clinic began when Moran found that there was a strong need for cases that THE TRIAL do not use DNA as evidence (non-DNA Baumer continued to believe in her incases). According to Moran, most DNA nocence. Throughout the trial, she concases are rape cases, where the perpetratinued to work as a mortgage loan oftor most often leaves behind “biological ficer, as the job allowed her to work at evidence” that can later be used in court. her own schedule. Nonetheless, she kept This leaves out many other types of casthese two parts of her life separate. es, including ones like Baumer’s.

“You can almost “The vast majority say I lived a double of other cases—burlife,” Baumer said. galaries, armed rob“I didn’t tell anyberies, arsons, thefts body outside of of all kinds—there’s the family what was no DNA to test,” happening to me Moran said. “The legally because [I DNA cases are great “Prison isn’t like they have it on TV.” believed] I was gobecause they realing to be found not ly shine the light on guilty. I was going the problems in the to get Philipp back criminal justice sysand I was just going tem—but it’s just a to resume my life. very small piece of That’s what I wholeheartedly believed. I er skin if you’re gonna survive in here,’ the puzzle.” did not think at any time that I would I’m like, ‘No, because two wrongs don’t When Moran heard about Baumer’s be found guilty. I was just like— it’s ab- make a right.’” case, he decided to take it on. He resurd.”

Baumer believes that it was a strate- mained in contact with Lugosi, and What Baumer “wholeheartedly be- gy of sticking to the rules and “tough- asked Carl Marlinga to be Baumer’s lead lieved” did not happen. Baumer’s de- ing it out” that got through her years in council. Baumer went back to court in fense appeared to be very weak in court. prison. She continued with this strategy November of 2009, this time with the Her inexperienced attorney did not and immediately after her conviction, Innocence Clinic attorneys by her side. know to ask the court for funds to hire began her appeals. After her first appeal The attorneys had according to Bauexperts to review the brain scans. With- was denied, Baumer sought help from mer’s transcripts (published in the Uniout the help of these experts, Baumer the prison law library. They helped her versity of Michigan Journal of Law was left helpless. The doctors’ testimo- write a brief to submit to the Michigan Reform) had sent the scans to several ny convinced the jury that Philipp was Supreme Court. However, her appeal doctors and neurosurgeons who proved a victim of shaken baby syndrome. In was denied. By this point, Baumer didn’t that the CAT scans and MRIs were interSept. of 2005, after a four-week trial, have any appeals left. She continued to preted falsely. Philipp had suffered from Baumer was found guilty, taken into cus- visit the library and this time researched venous sinus thrombosis. tody and then to the county jail. 40 days lawyers and sent them a synopsis of her Despite her improved defense this later, she was brought back to court for case. Despite her efforts to get a lawyer, time in court, Baumer kept her expectaa sentencing. The judge told her 10-15 she was again unsuccessful. Most law- tions low. Underneath her face in court years. Then, she went to prison. yers had either too many cases or did not was one of fear and worry. Underneath work on ones like Baumer’s. the suit she wore everyday to the courtFOUR LONG YEARS What happened next Baumer describes house, she kept on a sports bra and comBaumer’s new living space was now as divine intervention. fortable clothing because she knew that 6-by-6 foot area shared with a stranger.

Sister Lois, a nun from the Felician Sis- any minute she could be taken back into “Prison isn’t like they have it on TV,” ters in Livonia, saw Baumer’s name on a custody.

Baumer said. “They try to dehumanize prayer list and visited her in prison. JuAround Thanksgiving of 2009, Baumyou, they take your name away, they as- lie shared her story with Sister Lois, who er was told by her attorney that the judge sign you a number, and you are proper- recommended she speak to Charles Lu- was reviewing her case and would hopety of the state. And they remind you of gosi, an attorney with the Ave Maria Law fully overturn her conviction.

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FEATURE Baumer’s conviction was finally overturned in November of 2009, and she was hoping to be home by Thanksgiving, but the prosecutor decided to appeal her case, and tried her again. Baumer was recharged, taken to the county jail, and had a tether placed on her. She was able to work at home while she awaited her second trial, which started in September of 2010.

At the second trial, two doctors testified against Baumer. Her lead counsel, Carl Marlinga, had transcripts of what these doctors said at the first trial, and Baumer knew they were lying.

“I don’t understand how they weren’t even charged with perjury, because they were giving different answers and everybody in the courtroom could see that they were conflicting with their own stories,” Baumer said.

When David Moran and his students confronted Dr. Ham, the neurosurgeon, with new evidence that they had received from new doctors they contacted, Baumer was surprised.

“He said very very casually, ‘You know what, I might have been wrong about that one, but if I was wrong about that one, how many other cases have I been wrong about? I’ve been in practice for 30+ years. I’ve got a reputation, I’ve got a family, I’ve got a practice. I’m not changing my story.’ That would make him uncredible, if you will,” Baumer said.

Baumer and her attorneys at the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic were able to prove, with new evidence, that Philipp had suffered a form of child stroke, called venous sinus thrombosis, and was not a victim of shaken baby syndrome. According to the transcripts from the trial, (published in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform). On Oct. 15, 2010, Baumer was officially exonerated and cleared of all charges. She remembers this feeling.

“Oh my god finally, this nightmare’s over,” she said. “Finally, somebody’s listening.”

STARTING OVER

Life after exoneration was not easy for Baumer. She become so accustomed to the strict life at prison that her transition to normal life was difficult. One day when she was at the public library, she approached the woman working behind a desk and asked her for permission to use the restroom.

“That’s just how you’re mentally trained,” Baumer said. “You don’t do anything without permission. “It was a really really long time for me to get out of that mental [state.]”

One night that February, she woke up

in the middle of the night to again remember how free she really was.

“I remember waking up, laying there, and I was like, you know what? And I actually started crying. It was like tears of joy,” Baumer said. “But I remember thinking, I can go outside and look at the moonlight, and no alarms gonna go off—no alarm from the tether. I was like, if I want to I can go—I don’t care if it’s 2:30 in the morning—I can go to Meijer if I want. I can do whatever I want. It was just having that reality of having that freedom back. It was very overpowering. I can remember I started crying but it wasn’t like I was sad, it was like this is finally over. This is really finally over.”

MOVING ON

Baumer started to come up with a plan to get back in school and find a job again. Still in debt from matters not dealt with before her conviction, she was denied student aid. She then got a second job which helped her pay off the debt after just a few months. She worked hard and now serves as the secretary of Our Lady of Redemption Catholic Church in Warren, Mich.

Along with getting her life back together, Baumer has been advocating for legislation to compensate exonerees. According to an article published by Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act was introduced in May of 2015 by Michigan State Senator Steve Bieda The bill states that exonerees would receive $50,000 for every year they were incarcerated. According to Baumer, if exonerees want to be compensated, they can’t simply say they were wrongfully convicted. They must get a court date, go to court and show their innocence to a judge.

According to an article published by Michigan Radio this fall, 31 states already compensate exonerees, but Michigan does not. Steve Bieda wants to help exonerees “reestablish their lives.”

“When an individual is proven innocent, they should find a state that wants to help them, not another legal battle,” Bieda said in the WMU Cooley Law School article.

The bill passed the Michigan House of Representatives and the Senate, but it must now go through a conference committee in order for it to become law. The life of a bill is only two years from the time it is introduced, so if they bill is not passed in two years time, the process will have to start all over again.

While Baumer is grateful for the creation of this bill, she still believes that not much can make up for what she has

lost. She believes that her life was given back to her as a broken jigsaw puzzle, and that she will never have a full one again.

“There’s nothing anybody can really do to compensate me,” Baumer said. “Everything that I’ve lost is priceless. You can’t put a price on my four years, you can’t put a price on Philipp, you can’t put a price on the memories of just being out—getting married, furthering myself in my career, anything. You know those were very important years.”

However, Baumer does believe that the passing of the bill could help her move forward mentally and emotionally. She would see it as an apology from the state.

“Of course I have people saying ‘I’m so sorry that’s happened to you,’” Baumer said. “But the prosecutor never apologized, the prison certainly never apologized because they mistreat people there. Nobody apologized. It would just be helpful for me to have that closure and be like yeah, somebody is finally accepting that they did wrong and they’re acknowledging it.”

Although Baumer is moving on, it is not easy. She missed out on four years of her life.

“I look at the people around me and the world is evolving,” Baumer said. “People I know are evolving, they’re getting married, they’re having children. My nephews and nieces are getting married and having children, my nephews and nieces are getting married and having children and here I’m stuck like a kid still. The world is moving and it’s like I’m not trying to be left behind.”

She will be resigning at the end of December to attend Southern New Hampshire University, an online school, to hopefully finish her degree in criminal justice that she started before taking care of Philipp. She is still in touch with her sister, who celerbated her 39th birthday in October.

If the legislation passes, Baumer plans to donate a portion of the money she is compensated with to the Innocence Clinic and the lawyers there who helped her. She continues to participate in the innocence movement by speaking to University of Michigan Law School students and attending a yearly innocence conference. The conference serves as a platform for discussion around how to further educate people about wrongful convictions and the seriousness of the issue.

“It’s not a Law & Order episode. It’s real life.”

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FEATURE

Former Community High Student Brigit Young Pursues Dream Year

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BY ELENI TSADIS

ommunity High School alumnus, Brigit Young, is pursuing her passion of writing in New York. She has mainly written short stories, but her first novel is soon to be published in the spring of 2018.

Her book is called, “A Thousand Words,” and is about a young girl in seventh grade who was disfigured in a car accident when she was very young, when her dad was driving. She’s retreated inside herself, and has become a very withdrawn person, but finds expression through her camera; she loves her camera. She becomes kind of a school detective with her photography; she documents the school’s life and is able to uncover mysteries.

“She becomes kind of like Harriet the Spy,” Young said.

One day a boy comes up to her who is very popular and gregarious, quite the opposite of her; he tells her that he has a secret, and that his father had left home.

He has to find him, so the two of them go off to find out why his dad left.

Young has always wanted to write about kids, and she wanted to make the main character in her story a bit different, someone who’s differently bodied or abled. She also connected to a personal thing about herself when she was writing this book.

“I actually have had terrible chronic pain my whole life, and I feel like I’ve never read about a character for young people that feels physical pain all the time,” Young said. “I wanted to put that concept into the book.”

She based this character somewhat off of herself. And this book was, in a way, an outlet for her feelings.

“I kind of think every character is based off yourself because you’re putting parts of yourself into it,” Young said. “She’s kind of the the shy part of myself, which isn’t always the first person people meet, but I connected to that side of myself. Certainly, her chronic pain she deals with is directly me, and it was therapeutic writing it. I felt I could really complain, and let all my feelings out.”

Young definitely likes to write realistic fiction. When she used to write for just herself it was a lot darker. Her nov36

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el that is coming out doesn’t have that same darkness, because it’s for kids, but it’s definitely a more somber story. She is aiming towards an audience of people around the age of twelve, with hopes that they can relate to the book.

“I’ve written books that I can never finish for young adults, and I hope that one day I can write for older kids. It’s hard though because you’re writing for like twelve-year-olds and you want to use curse words, and you want to be a little more real but you have to watch it more than if you were writing for fifteen and

sixteen-year-olds.”

Her first and main inspiration was Tracy Anderson, Community High School teacher. Young took the English class Pop Lit with Anderson, and it changed her whole perspective of writing.

“It blew my mind because it was a teacher saying you can read and write what you want, and the creativity and expression that comes from that is profound,” Young said. “You spend so much of your academic life having things very strictly dictated to you, and Tracy didn’t do that. That was special.”

Anderson herself gave her the confidence that she is a good writer, and that she should keep writing. She still remembers to this day what influence Tracy had on her career.

“She read things that I wrote and gave me such positive feedback. There was

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none of this trying to break me down in order to teach me something, everything she taught me was by pointing out something I did well, or giving compliments, and giving me strength to believe that I can write. I did a lot of other things before I became a writer professionally.

But when I really discovered that writing is how I can make my living, and writing is what I would do, it was so funny, I thought of Tracy immediately, like in those moments. I felt like I would never even believe that I had talent if I hadn’t had Tracy giving such positive feedback.”

One thing that Anderson said to Young was, “Brigit you need to write every day, even if you’re going to school for something else, or whatever you’re doing, write every day,” and that stuck with her, and she still thinks about that to this day.

She had always liked to write, ever since she was a little kid, but she had originally wanted to be an actress. However, Andersonreally sparked her interest in writing, and to this day Young feels she wouldn’t be where she is now if it weren’t for Anderson.

“There are a lot of things that lead you somewhere, and I do think we have these guideposts, and I would say she’s a guidepost.”

She started her writing career by writing about a hard time she was going through, and channeling her feelings.

That was a big sign for her that she should continue writing.

“I had a really bad breakup with this jerk when I was an actress in New York, and I got so depressed, I just started writing about it. I just wanted to keep writing and writing, and that was actually the first thing that I ever got published. I do write a lot to express my feelings, and to deal with hard times, but I used to more. I think before you start to write to make money and work as a writer, it’s easier to write as an outlet for your feelings. When I could just go to a coffee shop and feel like I could write anything, I definitely felt it was therapeutic.

I think now it’s more like, I need to write ten pages today to meet my deadline, and that doesn’t mean it’s not fun, but it’s not as much of a journaling type of writing.”

FEATURE

The Never Ending Battle Veteran Richard E. Cleveland reflects on his personal pursuit of happiness.

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ALEC REDDING

rom 3p.m till dark, Richard E. Cleveland shakes his Starbucks cup full of change and receives donations from bypassers.

Cleveland is 58-years-old and was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and has worked for more than 40 years in his life. “Although I was born in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor is a lot better of a place so I stay here most of my time during the day, go home, back to Ypsilanti depending how much money I’m making. And if the money is running, I’ll stay till seven, and if it’s not, I’ll stay til nine o’clock.”

Cleveland said.

He is a also veteran, who enlisted when he was 20-years-old and served from 1979 to 1989. Cleveland trained in Fort McClellan in Alabama and then was stationed in South Korea as a Military Policeman. While he was there, he enforced traffic and checked cargo, only working two or three days weekly. This gave him a chance to explore and adventure, which had been his motive to join the army.

After South Korea, Cleveland went on

leave in Bayonne, New Jersey. Shortly after, he decided he wanted to go back into the army. He was then sent to Fort Ord in Florida and worked as a Military Policeman again, though after four years he realized he didn’t enjoy it. “They chased this guy and he went and slipped off this edge over a hill and killed himself,” Cleveland said. “That angered me real much. And it came back over the radio that he was killed in a car accident because he went over the edge. This guy was drunk and he had a BB gun in his hand.” This was the last straw for him and he decided resigned. Later on, Cleveland re-enlisted for the Military Intelligence, and started to teach interrogation in Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

Cleveland then started questioning the ethics of interrogating people. “They’ll say anything to keep your from hurting them. To keep you from hurting them they’ll tell a lie, and that lie can be so devastating that you might lose your own family.” The subjects of interrogation would often lie and in return would get their families’ lives threatened. Cleveland

then resigned and came back home to Ypsilanti and worked three jobs, one as an employee at Ford Motors.

Over time, he developed a rare brain disorder known as Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia disabled him and he eventually became incapable of work. “Some people call it Schizophrenia and Schizophrenia is a complex brain disorder,” Cleveland said. “You see people going around tearing things up and shooting at people because of their illnesses and what it was is neglect or the doctors not giving them the correct medications.

But I take my medication faithfully and I don’t have no problems. I’m happy, I’m never sad; I don’t hear voices. I still see things every once in awhile… But yeah, that’s why I can’t work.”

Cleveland uses his money from panhandling in Ann Arbor, to pay for his one bedroom apartment in Ypsilanti. He plans to relax in Ann Arbor, which he describes as one of the best places he’s lived in, for the rest of his life.

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FEATURE

Crossing the Border One woman’s story of immigrating from Guatemala to the States.

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BY ANDIE TAPPENDEN

s a 25-year-old Guatemalan, Sandy Lopez-Vasquez, was facing daily struggles such as trying to find work while living in fear of the horrors inflicted by gangs, murderers and rapists. These horrors were becoming routine, and Lopez-Vasquez knew she had to leave.

Finally, one Friday in the spring of 2016, Lopez-Vasquez and her husband started their journey of immigration to the United States. They were packed into a trailer with 92 other people ranging in age from young children to people who were old and grayed. For a bathroom, there was a covered bucket in the corner.

“They said that we were going to have to be in the trailer for at least a day and a half, in the pitch dark, and the bathroom was so uncomfortable,” Lopez-Vasquez 38

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said.

“When they told me that I had to get up into this windowless trailer it gave me a lot of fear,” Lopez-Vasquez said. “I was really wondering what was going to happen to me because I had never heard that I would have to be put in a trailer.”

Lopez-Vasquez and her husband stayed in the trailer for a day and a half straight until they reached Mexico. Once there, they encountered many checkpoints by the highway where immigration officers checked cars for illegal immigrants.

In order to avoid being discovered hiding in the trailer, the group would have to get out and walk for hours at a time while the empty trailer drove by the checkpoints.

“We would walk for like four hours, and then we would get back in the trailer,

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and then have to get out again and walk for another four hours, and it just kept on going like that,” Lopez-Vasquez said.

While travelling through Mexico, Lopez-Vasquez and her group stayed in what she called “bodegas.”

“Bodegas are like little houses, big rooms.

Nothing more than empty rooms. Like, big rooms. The guides that took us had contacts and they would let us use these houses,” Lopez-Vasquez described.

Lopez-Vasquez would wait in the bodegas for a varied amount of time. While Lopez-Vasquez never had to wait in a bodega for too long, she met people who had been staying in the same bodega for weeks, even a month.

“Really, the hardest thing was being in these empty rooms and we couldn’t leave.” Lopez-Vasquez said. “We had to

FEATURE stay there for a couple days, up to a week.

Then they would take us to these other bodegas and again we wouldn’t be able to leave, we’d be all crammed in there.”

The situation for meals was also not ideal. Lopez-Vasquez said that while they did have food, most of the time they would just eat junk food with little to no nutritional value: chips, crackers, cookies, etc.

“Sometimes in the bodegas there were people who would cook for us,” Lopez-Vasquez said. “And the food was more or less good, but in others, at least in one, even I had to cook. And I’m not a very good cook, I had to cook for everybody, that was a very ugly bodega.

Even though I tried to cook, it wasn’t very hygienic. I did my best to cook, but I didn’t eat anything there.”

After traveling through Mexico for a few weeks, Lopez-Vasquez finally reached the U.S.-Mexico border. While her journey through Mexico had been ridden with struggles, the hardest part was now arriving. The guide woke up Lopez-Vasquez, her husband and a group of nine other immigrants at 6 a.m. to start their journey. The little food and water they were provided with seemed to feel like nothing under the beating desert sun.

“I had spent all this time not really eating well, and I just didn’t have the strength, especially the sun, the sun was so hot,” Lopez-Vasquez said.

“We just kept walking and we just kept walking and by 4 p.m.

I just couldn’t walk anymore.

My legs just, I don’t know, they just gave out. It wasn’t that they were painful, they just gave out.”

Lopez-Vasquez told the guide she just could not go on anymore. The guide warned her against it. “The immigration is going to get you if you stay,” the guide told Lopez-Vasquez and her husband. But, ultimately, the group had to keep moving, something Lopez-Vasquez was not able to do. Lopez-Vasquez and her husband were left behind near a well with a compass, a cell phone, some tortillas and a can of tuna fish.

They rested for a few hours, but at this point they didn’t know what to do.

The couple decided that the best way to survive would be to be picked up by immigration. “So then we waited, but no immigration patrol passes or anything.”

Lopez-Vasquez said. “Just when you want an immigration patrol to pass, none come by!”

As the hours passed, the situation seemed to get worse. “It was getting dark and night was falling we didn’t know what we would find, all sorts of snakes and things.” Lopez-Vasquez said.

The cell phone they had only had

two programmed numbers it could call, and neither of them were any use. Lopez-Vasquez couldn’t call her family or immigration. But then, Lopez-Vasquez realized one of the numbers had a nine in it and two ones. By deleting the other numbers in the sequence she was left with 9-1-1. So, she called 9-1-1 and her husband, who speaks English, told them where they were and asked them to pick them up.

Two immigration men arrived and picked up Lopez-Vasquez and her husband. The immigration officers acted cordial towards them. “We had called them and so they knew we weren’t going to try and escape,” Lopez-Vasquez said.

Lopez-Vaquez and her husband were taken to a place with other immigrants to gather their information.

“They put us into what we all called ‘frozen rooms’.” Lopez-Vasquez said.

“They were really cold rooms. It’s a really cold room and they have you remove your shoes and your jewelry and they take all of your belongings. You have to take off your belt, everything that is like a cord. And then they took everything away.”

After that, Lopez-Vasquez and ten other women were taken into a big cell and were supposed to sleep. They were no beds or blankets, only cement benches, walls and floors. Very early the next morning, Lopez-Vasquez, her husband

“We basically just waited.

It was like a prison in that you couldn’t leave, you were fenced in.” and the other immigrants were bused to a detention center.

The first thing they did was see a doctor. While Lopez-Vasquez didn’t have any injuries, many other people were in pretty bad shape: scratches, rashes, allergic reactions or injuries. They got uniforms, underwear and an identification bracelet, but at the beginning they barely ate and were only fed two sandwiches a day.

“When they took us from the first detention center in the bus my husband was with me, but when we arrived at the center they again separated the men and the women.” Lopez-Vasquez said. “We didn’t what happened to them, we didn’t know if they were taking them somewhere else, I didn’t know what happened to him.”

This detention center was nice. There was a library where people read books and created art with paper and markers.

There was a place where people could fix their hair and an open area where people were outside and played soccer and exer-

cised. Uniforms were washed daily and there were showers. Lopez-Vasquez had weekly contact with her family and her immigration lawyer.

“We basically just waited,” Lopez-Vasquez said. “It was like a prison in that you couldn’t leave, you were fenced in.”

After staying in this detention center for a month, all the women were transferred to a different detention center.

“This was the ugly part, I didn’t like this at all,” Lopez-Vasquez said. “At night time, about nine o’clock at night, we’d already had breakfast, lunch and dinner, they came to take us. They took us out and took us by bus again to these ‘freezing cells’ that we call them. This time they kind of treated us like criminals. They put handcuffs on our wrists, chains around our waist, and on the legs, all the women, to take us to the other detention center. We were like, really, prisoners.”

Lopez-Vasquez did not like this new detention center.

“This one was really ugly,” Lopez-Vasquez said. “There were very tiny rooms [with] maybe 30 people in these rooms. At this place we didn’t know whether it was day or night, we just had no idea what time it was. They only took us out at meal times. This place had nothing. There was no opportunity to go outside at all. They just had a little place you could play basketball but it was still closed inside. No place to get fresh air.”

While staying at the detention centers, the immigrants were constantly interviewed by officials. The officials try and determine whether a case is “credible” or “not credible”. If they decide a person’s case is credible, the person has the opportunity to go in front of an immigration judge to be considered for asylum.

“They believed that I had a credible case of having reasons to fear returning to Guatemala,” said Lopez-Vasquez.

“After interviewing me they thought that I had a credible case to be able to present in front of a judge, instead of deporting me right away. In this case, they felt that I was credible enough that I could leave for bail, not that definitely I wouldn’t be deported later.”

After 17 days of traveling to get to the border and two months of waiting in detention centers, Sandy Lopez-Vasquez was reconnected with her family, like her mother and some of her sisters, in Michigan. Right now, she hopes to learn English (this interview was translated).

“I would want young people here to never have to go through what I went through,” said Lopez-Vasquez.

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FEATURE

Call Him Jackson, Brandon Jackson

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BY NICOLE COVEYOU

randon Jackson, better known as Jackson by his students and co-workers, is a World History teacher at Community High School. He spends his weekdays in his classroom, which he calls “Jacksonville.”

Jackson starts the day with his students standing and gets his students attention by saying “Great day, Jacksonville,” which is the student’s cue to shout in return “Great day, Jackson!”

Jackson is proud to say he has great bonds with his history students. He claims being ‘different,’ in a sense of race and culture, is a way to connect with his students.

“I think that being different gives me the opportunity to engage kids in a different way to give them a different experience than they’ve had before. I think it enriches their overall academic portfolio because they can hear from different 40

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people and see different people and see different teaching styles from different people.”

Jackson who uses this platform and teaches history differently than most would, believing that it is important for Ann Arbor students to hear about all issues.

Being ‘different’ in Community High has helped him focus on his students especially those that are ‘different’ like him. He and the deans of CHS urge all types of kids to apply for the Community lottery.

“I think we are still growing to become a diverse place at Community High School,” he said. “Although we have a lot of students, we are still trying to increase the number of minority that we have at Community High School.” Jackson also praises how much the dean’s wanted him to teach and bring different people into the predominately white Community

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High School.

Jackson, being a co-sponsor of Community High’s very own Black Student Union (BSU), fully supports those who want to make an impact on social justice in the community. He believes that clubs like BSU create a dialogue and safe place for people to connect with the same issues.

“BSU helps them find their place as a Community Zebra,” Jackson said.

Jackson continues to enjoy Community and spreads the love to other places and people that he visits. He hopes for his two daughters, seven-year-old Breyana, and four-year-old Madisyn, to be social leaders wherever they end up and to preach what they feel passionate about. As for BSU, they will be working on continuing to make Community more diverse and enjoy their reccuring Soul Food Friday.

FEATURE

Kyle Eversole’s New Ram 1500

PHOTO: ALEC REDDING

Eversole is back at CHS this year with a new Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck.

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BY SAM MILLMAN

ommunity High School is now very awake in the the mornings, thanks to Kyle Eversole and his new, and extremely loud, Ram 1500 pickup truck.

Eversole’s new Ram is hard to miss, and with its two tone paint job and upgraded exhaust system, it’s a sure attention grabber. Eversole’s new ride is not your normal working pickup, it’s a Laramie Longhorn package that’s almost as flashy as an escalade.

“It is a little loud and obnoxious, but that’s the way I like it,” Eversole said.

The Laramie Longhorn Package is Ram’s top of the line interior package.

This truck has beautiful accents of a wealthy rancher all over over it, mixed with brand new technology from Dodge.

The iconic leather is gorgeous and gives it that old Western feel. The interior is topped off with a speaker system from

Alpine Audio, just incase his exhaust is not loud enough.

Eversole is a young entrepreneur and owns his own lawn care business. His Ram is not only his daily vehicle, but a necessity to his work.

“I tow with my truck all the time, my business could not work without it,” Eversole said. The combination of luxury and versatility of a pickup truck made it a clear choice for Eversole while car shopping.

The pickup truck is one of the most popular vehicles on the road. The U.S. Michael Betts of After Market News said, “Pickup trucks accounted for 20.57 percent of all vehicles in operation.”

With over five different companies producing multiple models of trucks, the competition is real, and Dodge Ram is fighting hard to lead the mix. The Ram

trucks feature huge engines, aggressive styling, advanced interiors and an extremely loud exhaust. The edgy style has turned the Ram line into the fastest growing truck brand in America.

“I was looking at a lot of different trucks before I settled on mine,” Eversole said. “I decided that the styling of the Ram and the the power of the engine made it my favorite choice.”

The Ram 1500 has a 5.7 liter power plant making an outstanding 395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque. That’s about 30 more horsepower than its biggest rival, the Ford F150.

Eversole’s new truck is flashy, powerful and functional. It’s the perfect combination for a pickup truck, and a beautiful sight to see and hear on the way into school.

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FEATURE

PHOTO: ALEC REDDING

Writing Himself a Career

What started as a dream, has turned into a reality for local sports blogger, Ace Anbender.

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BY SHANE HOFFMANN

t is nine in the morning, a coffee machine grinds in the background, Ace Anbender’s laptop is already out, only a short time after waking. A quick click clack of computer keys begins as Anbender begins work on his pieces for the day.

The U of M sports blogger has created a career for himself that began as a childhood interest.

After moving from San Francisco at the age of five, Anbender was quickly indoctrinated to the University of Michigan by his father, an alumnus. Anbender’s father hoped that by exposing his children to the University at an early age, it would encourage them to follow in his footsteps and attend the University of Michigan.

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His father, while not the biggest sports fan, purchased two season tickets at the Big House a year or so after moving to Ann Arbor. This spurred Anbender’s interest in sports, and he continued on to play almost every sport except football. At the age of seven, Anbender first started showing interest in sports writing; instead of cartoons, his morning entertainment was the New York Times sports section. Although he showed early interest, Anbender did

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ABOVE: Anbender partakes in the friday edition of a twice weekly podcast for MGoBlog. Previously taking place in Moe’s sports shop, the friday podcast took on a new location in the recently opened Bo Store in downotwn Ann Arbor.

not fully pursue journalism as a career, until his collegiate years.

“In high school I more wanted to be a baseball general manager. I was always really big on reading and sports journalism, but that wasn’t initially my plan,” he said. “I don’t think my parents ever expected, they certainly weren’t pushing towards [journalism]. They weren’t disappointed or upset either... Early on it was something of interest, but college is where it really turned into something that I was actually gunning for.”

In his freshman year at U of M, Anbender’s roommate wrote for the Michigan Daily, covering sports. After both showed interest, they decided to experiment at WCBN, the student radio station. The duo recorded a few basket-

FEATURE ball podcasts, however they were never aired and instead stayed on WCBN’s site.

Meanwhile, Anbender had started his own blog on Blogspot.

“It was every Detroit team and Michigan football and Michigan basketball. It was a little bit too wide of a scope probably, but it got me writing everyday and practicing and that was how I ended up applying for an internship at the Wolverine after a couple of years,” he said.

During his time at Michigan he had many professors. However, none were more influential than New York Times best seller, John U. Bacon. In his sophomore year, Anbender was lucky enough to get a spot in Bacon’s class, which was primarily seniors with a few exceptions for underclassmen.

“I was not always the most attentive student necessarily in college, but with him, he was one of the few professors where I made sure to go to his office hours and made it clear to him pretty early on that this was something I was looking at as potentially a career,” Anbender said.

Over time, Bacon became a mentor to Anbender, giving him advice on his career among other facets. Early in his class, Bacon mentioned his background in history and how he had made the transition from a major in history to a journalism career. Anbender instantly felt a connection as he also majored in history.

“That kind of hit home for me, I was like ‘If you’ve already done this, teach me how to follow in your footsteps,’” he said.

At the time, Michigan did not boast a journalism concentration, so he was forced to select a different major. History turned out to be a good choice as the transition worked out well for Anbender.

“It just sort informs the way of thinking, kind of how to approach writing, especially big picture stuff. To be able to go back and look at the past and frame it in that way, I think is really helpful for contextualizing whatever’s going on in the present. Sometimes you kind of throw that out the window.”

Although he has limited time during the season, Anbender enjoys reading the work of fellow journalists at both the local and national level. As well as becoming a mentor and friend to Anbender, Bacon inspired him with his work.

“I love John Bacon’s books… especially to get the historical background on why things are the way they are in the athletic department,” he said. In addition, he enjoys some local Mlive writers such as Brendan Quinn and Nick Baumgardner.

However, when reading for pleasure, Anbender likes to venture outside of sports to get a well needed break.

Shortly after college, an opportunity for Anbender to pursue his passion opened

up. MGoBlog, a site that he was already familiar with, lost two of their main contributors, Tim Sullivan and Tom VanHaaren. Brian Cook, the founder of the blog, posted an opening. Anbender was a perfect fit for the job, which essentially combined the two vacancies.

“I was the person who was already doing what he was looking for someone to do and I was also familiar with MGoBlog and the site and there’s so much kind of weird insider jokes and terminology that Brian used, that takes awhile to pick up on. I had a nice head start.”

While some staff members meet infrequently, thanks to a work from home policy, others have become increasingly close. What started as a strong employee/employer relationship has transformed into a partnership between Anbender and Cook. In addition to Anbender and Cook, there are several other part-time employees, including business manager and writer, Seth Fisher. Anbender has found that having a smaller work force can be beneficial as it allows for the staff to become closer. He knows what to expect and when to expect it.

“Our office chats tend to be not so productive and more distracting because it tends to devolve and we like talking to each other. We have to get our focus back, like all right we need this piece by whenever. It’s a fun atmosphere to work in,” he said.

On the average day, Anbender is awake around nine to ten; his computer is on and he has already started writing while he is making his coffee. He usually finishes his piece or pieces for the day around mid-afternoon, and proceeds to take a walk to clear his mind before starting prep and research for the following day’s pieces. In addition to prep, he also catches up on pieces posted around the blogosphere and national news, as well as the MGoBlog site.

“It’s sort of an ADD style of working, but it’s been able to work for me. You kind of need to give yourself that break every once in awhile,” he said. “I’m lucky in that I get to write about something that I thoroughly enjoy, so a lot of it does not feel like work. A couple years ago there were some times when it was tough to motivate myself, but that hasn’t been a problem the last couple years.”

Another reason that this arrangement works well for Anbender is the fact that MGoBlog applies a self-editing process.

While some pieces receive formal editing a majority or the regular content receives little to none. He believes that the absence of common editing has made him a better and more attentive writer, “I was very used to that from having my own blog for four or five years before I started writing for Brian. I was used to flying without a parachute,” he

said.

For certain posts such as columns, the writers try to get some other sets of eyes on them. An example, is a recent article Anbender wrote covering Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh.

“We wanted to make sure we hit it on the mark and had it right from the beginning,” he said. “So that was one where I actually went through the process of writing a draft and send it to multiple people, having them comb it over and edit it and making sure that it had the right tone and was saying the right things.”

Anbender has been able to create a full time career with MGoBlog. The blog supports itself and its employees through a laundry list of local sponsors that pre-date Anbender’s time at the blog, as well as an annual season preview magazine. In addition, Anbender and Cook conduct weekly podcasts which they have recently monetized by adding sponsors to. Traffic on the site has greatly increased as college football season is well underway and the Wolverines have proven to be one of the elite teams in the league.

“I try not to count too closely how many people visit the site, because I tend to get nervous when I start thinking about the number of people reading my articles,” Anbender said.

The world of sports journalism and journalism as a whole is ever changing.

The amount of online articles and pieces over the last few years is as large as ever. Online sites and blogs continue to monetize and become more streamlined.

“The blogger style writing, the fans as journalists stuff is not going away. I think there’s going to be an even more blurred line between what’s an objective journalist and what’s not,” Anbender said. “Also kind of a more obvious split between team focused sources and more national sources as the number of credentialed writers increases.”

Anbender is a prime example of a talented individual, who followed his childhood interest, taking it to new heights.

While many are able to receive some compensation from a blog or other online site, only some are able to construct a full time career around it. He used those around him, such as his family, fellow classmates and mentors, such as Bacon, to propel himself through the ranks of sports bloggers. As MGoBlog continues to change and alter its appearance, Anbender continues to refine his skills and branch out as a writer. Five years from now, Anbender might still be here, covering Michigan sports, however, as doors continue to open he may one day be writing for a national news source across the country.

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FEATURE

Supercalifragilisticexpialido-stress Survival of the fittest is here to stress us out a little more.

A

BY KASEY NEFF

nimals and humans both feel stress, whether it be a frantic zebra being chased down by a starving lion or a student overwhelmed by workload. There is no avoiding it. If you can’t avoid it, then why not learn how to deal with the stress that affects students everyday?

From reshman year to the senior year of high school, one of the main focuses in a teenager’s life is school. There is constant pressure from parents, guardians and teachers looming over our shoulders to do well in school. There is also social competition that has developed among students and peers, to do the best on tests, have the best Grade Point Average, etc. Most students would agree that stress from school is always with them, whether they are at home or in school.

Senior year is stereotypically the simplest year of high school in terms of workload. Ella Mosher, a senior at Community High School (CHS), put many things onto her plate: work, applying for colleges, school (high school and University of Michigan classes) and her social life. Between all of these activities and obligations, it is hard for her to find time to relax. Senior year has become her most stressful year yet.

Junior year can be a tough one as well, as students take a few major and potentially life-changing tests like the ACT and SAT. Standard tests and school work are taking their toll on Clarence Collins III, a junior at CHS. He also plays the trumpet in the Jazz band at CHS that, giving him even more responsibility.

“I’m expected to do so much this year, to be at a certain level, and I’m not,” Collins said, with a worried tone of voice.

Why does Mosher feel so overwhelmed when she should be at ease in her senior year? And why does Collins worry so deeply about tests, while a zebra has real life-threatening worries like a vicious lion chasing it?

Mosher’s and Collins’ problems are not immediately life-threatening like the zebra’s, but the problems can be damaging to their futures. So it makes sense that humans and zebras have the same stress response. This response is called fight or flight. In threatening situations natural instinct is to fight back against the threat or to flee from it. It can be seen in most 44

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living creatures.

The thing is, zebras do not get chased half as much as humans take tests and face deadlines. Overusing the stress response, like humans do, can be detrimental to one’s health, mentally, physiologically and physically. The stress all of us feel can be traced back hundreds of thousands of years.

“Bottom line about stress is: there is no such thing as stress,” said Robbie Stapleton, a Health and Wellness teacher, Physical Education teacher and Forum leader at CHS. “There is a stressor and there is the stress response. We call it stress.” All vertebrates feel stress in some way or form.

The stress response is a mechanism that releases hormones, such as adrenaline and other catecholamines, instantly increasing heart rate, blood sugar, blood pressure and energy. Through natural selection homo sapiens with a good stress response would prosper when faced with predators, while those who did not would face certain death. This adaptation is almost useless to modern day humans who do not deal with predators on a regular basis.

Robert Sapolsky, a researcher, professor of biological sciences and neurological sciences at Stanford University, studies stress reactions in the wild baboons of Africa. Baboons are one of the human’s closest relatives. Sapolsky found that stress reactions had been a helpful tactic for surviving hundreds of thousands of years ago, but now cause more harm than good.

“If you turn on the stress response chronically for purely psychological reasons, you increase your risk of adult onset diabetes and high blood pressure. If you’re chronically shutting down the digestive system, there’s a bunch of gastrointestinal disorders you’re more at risk for as well,” Sapolsky said in an interview with Stanford University. There are many known and well-researched ‘side-effects’ of stress in the modern day human.

A rare disease called Stress Dwarfism or Psychosocial Short Stature (PSS), arose recently in extremely overstressed children. It is when a child’s growth is stunted in order for more energy to be supplied in response to stress. This energy comes from growth, which, to the

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body, is an unnecessary process. It can also come from another unnecessary process: the immune system. If you were being chased by a dangerous predator there would not be enough time or energy for your body to protect you against the flu since you might be dead in that second anyway.

Living in harmony with stress can be achieved. Doctor Roger Walsh, a professor of psychiatry, philosophy and anthropology at the University of California, has come up with eight major hacks to the stress response. Walsh calls them the Eight Ways to Wellbeing, but they are also known as Therapeutic Life Changes (TLCs). They include: nutrition, relationship building, exercise, sleep, time in nature, recreation, contributing a service to society, relaxation/meditation and spirituality.

The symbol for TLCs is a flower with eight petals. Each petal represents one TLC. The petal for nature is light green, spirituality is white, exercise is red, relaxation is a deep blue, etc (using the rest of the colors in the rainbow). The colors of all the petals represent each TLC perfectly.

Walsh made an hour long PBS documentary looking at the numbers/statistics and appears emotionally shattered by his discoveries and research. Over one billion people have some kind of mental disorder, which means that 60 million Americans deal with mental illness every day. The National Institute of Mental Disorders announced that the cost of treating worldwide mental disorders was 2.5 trillion in 2010, making it the biggest driver of health costs globally. Walsh worries about the public’s fear of mental disorders and the major stigma that surrounds it all.

Walsh hopes that his TLCs will help with the health and wellness of our species, starting with mental wellbeing. His TLCs have been proven to help ameliorate stress, which in turn helps many mental disorders like depression. Regular practice of even a few TLCs can help prevent all the stress ‘side-effects’ mentioned above and more physical diseases. There are now thousands of separate studies that support one or more of his TLCs. Some people will be drawn to certain TLCs out of the eight, and that is a part

FEATURE

ABOVE: This the symbolic flower that represents the Therapeutic Life Choices or Eight Ways to Wellbeing. Illustration by Josh Krauth-Harding

of Walsh’s goal. They are natural life- controversial. For some people it may lection. style changes that should feel comfort- take more than 21 days to pick up a habIf the rest of the brain has not finished able and easy. However they are not a it. If 21 days just is not doing it for you, developing then the basal ganglia has not cure for depression, high-blood pressure do them for a month or two. Keep trying either. This means picking up and dropor any other diseases/disorders. In the until something sticks. ping habits is much easier. The teenage fight against mental disorders, they are The goal is to combine Maltz’s study brain is less cemented in old habits that simply an option easier to have access with Walsh’s and live in harmony and could be unhealthy compared to a fully to and sometimes safer than medica- balance stress. Try hammocking in the developed adult brain. Adopting TLCs tion. Medications are meant to suppress woods for an evening, volunteering or at a young age is crucial so that they symptoms, while a lifestyle can be continuously used in change can become a part your life. So channel your of someone through beganglia and form some “You know, the world is a pretty crazy place right basal coming a healthy habit. healthy habits (TLCs).

Collins found relief now. It would be odd to not be stressed about that.”

“Everything gets easier I through the regular practice think,” Stapleton said, with of music, which is the TLC a delicate smile on her face. “recreation”.

“Especially if you do these “It’s not just therapeutic [jazz], it’s a meeting someone new (as there is no things that are called Therapeutic Life cliche, but it’s getting your emotions out harm in trying). Stress is a big deal, espe- Changes. In other words, if you start doand your stress and any other type of cially for a high school student who was ing them now, then as your brain has that feeling out,” Collins said. just thrown into the midst of it. last flourish in young adulthood they will Mosher, finds relief through her “great The teenage brain is more malleable stick.” and supportive friend group”, which is than the adult brain. This is a good thing The large amounts of stress students the TLC “relationship building”. Both when it comes to forming new behaviors feel is not uncommon, as you can see.

Mosher and Collins admit their stress and habits. The malleability is from the It’s a scary thing to think about. would be worse if it was not for the fact that the teenage brain is not finished “It’s not going to go away. We need it.

TLCs they have accidently adopted. developing and the teenager is also not Stress is a motivator,” Stapleton said.

There is a controversial study per- finished maturing. There is a part of the formed by a Doctor Maltz, stating that brain called the basal ganglia, which is habits take 21 days to form. No one is responsible for habit-making behaviors, the same and that is why this study is emotions, memories and pattern recoldecember

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BOOKS THAT CHANGE LIVES

BY SUEPHIE SAAM

BOOK AUTHOR

REVIEWER

GENRE

DATE PUBLISHED

Khaled Hosseini

Terah Blakemore

Historical drama

5.29.03

“

It kind of makes me think about what’s around me and how lucky I am, a lot of people have it harder than me. I started the book around the beginning of the school year. This year everything’s been going wrong for everyone, so sometimes I just feel like ‘wow everything’s just really crappy here,’ and when I read this book I realized everything’s hard around the world and none of us are really alone with our pain and problems. Everyone has something so it kind of made me feel less alone and 46

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less weak. [The book] shows the characters getting stronger from what’s been going on in their lives. My favorite quote from the book is: ‘There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. There is no act more wicked than stealing.’

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It really hit me hard because everyone tells a lie, there’s been a lot of death going around. It made me want to be a better person and never tell a small lie, like when my teacher says ‘Terah why didn’t you do your homework?’ to not say my dog ate it, and instead to say the truth and be honest because it’s just wrong to steal someone’s truth. It makes me value every moment more.”

- Terah Blakemore

FEATURE

posttruth: OXFORD’S WORD OF THE YEAR:

Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

Or, when feelings trump facts.

/ˌpəʊs(t) ˈtruːθ/

O

BY JOSH KRAUTH-HARDING

xford Dictionaries has chosen their word of the year. The term, dating back to 1992, was only recently re-earthed, with usage rising by 2000 percent according to Oxford Dictionaries’ language tracking.

“Fueled by the rise of social media as a news source and a growing distrust of facts offered up by the establishment, post-truth as a concept has been finding its linguistic footing for some time,” said Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Dictionaries. “It’s not surprising that our choice reflects a year dominated by highly-charged political and social discourse.”

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47

1000 WORDS

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1000 WORDS

1000 WORDS N

BY GRACE JENSEN

atalie Sherson didn’t know before going to the spring 2016 Stapleton forum day lock-in that they would be taking a surprise visit to the least-explored part of Community High School: the basement.

“It was fun, but it was so scary, actually, because it was so dark and there were all of these individual tunnel kind of things,” she said. “We kept crawling in them and they kept being dead ends, but it was fun.”

Sherson was struck by the lighting in one part of the basement and immediately reached for her camera. She has taken several of Steve’s photography classes, and her favorite subjects are people and urban scenes.

“I think it’s fun, you know, you’re having a good time and you snap a picture of your friend laughing and a month later you look back on it, you’re like, ‘Oh, she’s so happy! Remember this fun day?’ And it’s just fun to capture stuff that you don’t get to do every day,” Sherson said.

PHOTO: NATALIE SHERSON

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49

FEATURES

Passion for Potions

Nate Ford’s experience as a high-school entrepreneur.

BY CAITLIN MAHONEY

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FEATURES

ABOVE: Each bath bomb is made by hand, and ach batch goes through this careful process before being molded into a ball shape and eventually sold.

I

n fall 2015, Nate Ford discovered something that would alter his young life. While bored one day and seeking inspiration, he discovered tutorials on YouTube for luxury bath products and began experimenting with making his own. This began his journey, eventually making his own successful small business that would be restocked with colorful and fun products every week.

During the day, Ford is a 14 year old, freshman at Father Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor. After school, he spends 10 to 12 hours a week making bath products, ranging from bath bombs to bubble bars to shower gels for his online business “Wwhiteforest”. He makes each of these products from scratch in the basement of his house. His workspace is lined with shelves that he built, containing hundreds of goods he has made awaiting a website restock to go off to their new homes.

Ford created Wwhiteforest in March 2016, and the business took off very

quickly, recruiting a following through its own Instagram profile @wwhiteforest, as well as Ford’s 60,000 followers strong @thelushking. Ford initially underestimated his popularity. “I remember when I used to make 50 to 70 bath bombs per batch, I would sell out within five minutes for every product [each restock],” said Ford. Recently, the demand for these products has become so large that Ford has had to triple the size of his batches for each product to over 200 bath bombs. Ford has a unique online only business model and intends for it to stay that way for now. “I have decided that selling online is so successful, why take the time to put myself out there and set up a booth, other than the experience that it might be fun,” said Ford. This business model allows Ford to restock once a week on Fridays around 7 p.m.

When Ford increased his batch sizes in Sept. 2016, he also added a new ingredient to all his products. Ford started using legal CBD oil in all his products, a non-psychoactive chemical that relieve-

pain, nausea and arthritis, adding muscle therapy to the aroma theraphy in the products.

Each month brings something new and different for customers. Ford spends about a month planning, creating and restocking new products throughout the month, and products often relate to the time of year they is released. Ford’s Dec. line consists of peppermint and hot chocolate aromas, as well as colors of red and green.

This business has opened doors for a potential career opportunity for Ford, and has caught the attention of his family and friends. “[My parents] have really high expectations for me, and everytime I bring up [my business] they are just so proud of me, and say ‘I can’t believe [you] have come this far and you are so successful and smart about this’,” he said.

Both Ford and his family are considering this as a future career opportunity for him, taking into account how successful this endeavor has been so far.

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51

PICTURE THIS

PICTURE THIS recalling influential loved ones through photographs

BY EMILY TSCHIRHART

Callum Mein met Makela Lynn in his junior year of high school. They met by chance through a mutual friend, Emily Fishman. After meeting and talking, they immediately hit it off. Mein, remembers her in the beginning of their friendship; kind, shy, calm, and dignified.

“The more you get to know her, the more you realize she is the biggest freaking goofball there ever was,” Mein said.

Mein’s favorite memory of Lynn is when

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they went to the Arb on a sunny weekend in Summer. They laid down in the middle of a field and spoke for hours on end.

“We had the best time,” Mein said. “We just laughed and cried and smiled.”

Mein and Lynn have multiple inside jokes including Mein’s personal favorite, “SANDY.” Mein wouldn’t trade Lynn for a single soul in the world, except for maybe Barbara Streisand.

“She’s loyal, funny, will always make me

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happy, without fail,” Mein said. “Sometimes, I’ll get out of hand but she’s always there to keep me grounded. I don’t look before I leap but she is always there to catch me.”

After an entire year of friendship Mein holds Lynn in the highest respect.

“She is determined, a strong woman, empowered, mature, and a god,” Mein said.

“She doesn’t like being called a god but she really is in every sense. She is the Daphne to my Fred.”

FEATURES

Celiac Disease: What is it Really Like?

The Warners share their experience with Celiac disease.

D

BY MADIE GRACEY

edication. That is the adjec- SETBACKS AND SEPARATION been reading labels. “Gluten is made up tive Amy Warner used to deHaving Celiac disease affects your ev- of wheat, barley, malt and oats,” Stacie scribe Celiac disease. This is eryday life. Thinking about where to go said. “You have to read every ingredient because one must complete- to college was especially hard for Sydni. because if malt or barley is in something ly cut gluten out of their diet. “[It is] difficult because there were some it is going to be the last thing listed. It Celiac disease is a very serious condi- schools that I simply could not attend just takes an extra second before you tion. It is a genetic autoimmune disorder [because they didn’t offer gluten-free know you can eat something.” in which the ingestion of gluten causes options].” Sydni said. More recently, The “It’s a pain having to read every ladamage to the small intestine. There are University of Michigan has been offer- bel and asking for the gluten free menu,” over 200 different symptoms. ing more options that accommodate Sydni said. “It is embarrassing in a way Many people diagnosed with Celiac disbecause many people don’t understand ease don’t react well with skin how serious of a food allercontact of products containgy it is.”

“Gluten is made up of wheat, barley, malt ing gluten. Wheat germs and parabens are used in products AND RECIPES and oats. You have to read every ingredient DIET like shampoos, conditioners Stacie’s favorite recipe is a because if malt or barley is in something it is berry pie her mom makes. and makeups. Parabens are preservatives in cosmetic and It has a cookie crust, gelagoing to be the last thing listed.” pharmaceutical products. tin and berries. She also likes Some people choose to eat gluten-free donuts that they gluten-free. It is more apparsell at Arbor Farms, though ent that it is becoming a trend most people haven’t heard of due to the increase in gluten free options those like the Warners. them. in restaurants, businesses and stores.

Sydni’s favorite gluten-free recipe is the When Sydni was a freshman in high gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that school, all she wanted was to eat the DIAGNOSED WITH CELIAC same foods that her friends were eating. her mom makes. She uses almond flour, When Amy Warner was 18 years old, Sydni was often tempted to eat foods dairy-free chocolate chips, eggs and coshe started experiencing symptoms and that would make her sick. “I have to be conut milk. They are best fresh out of was diagnosed in 2006 when she was 36 very careful to avoid anything with any the oven. years old. Her two daughters, Stacie and hint of gluten in it,” Sydni said. It was “Before I went gluten-free, I could not Sydni are also gluten-free. eat salads,” Amy said. “It was like somea similar feeling for Stacie. “At birthday Stacie gave up gluten in seventh grade parties if they have pizza, I can’t eat it. It body had food poisoned me. I hadn’t when she got constant stomach aches. is not disappointing, but it is just [some- eaten a salad in almost 20 years. After I Soon after that she felt much better. Syd- thing] I can’t eat.” Stacie said. was gluten-free my doctor said I should ni was diagnosed five years ago. “When be able to eat a salad now that my intesI started to get headaches and stomach READING LABELS tines were not irritated.” aches every time I ate [gluten] I figured I In the Warner’s everyday life, they have should get tested,” Sydni said. december

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53

EDITORIAL

Editorial from the Editors: Preserving the First Amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” These words are the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. They are the law of the country in which we live.

They are a reality that no amount of sobering moments will destroy. They identify rights of all citizens in this country.

And here is what is most key: they are listed in one single amendment. The First Amendment is not split into five parts to describe five different freedoms for a reason. All of these freedoms are inherently linked; one cannot have free speech if one is not able to practice whatever religion they choose. They cannot peaceably assemble if they do not have a method in place to petition the government, otherwise such assembling is rendered useless. The list continues, but the point is that not one of these rights could exist if the other four did not as well.

Last edition, The Communicator used its freedom of speech and of the press to endorse Secretary Hillary Clinton for president. We thought (and still think) that she was the best candidate to represent the opinions of those of us who were unable to vote in the election. We now know that Donald Trump won the election, but here is something else we know: our constitutional right to a free press means that we, and every other news source in the country, are able to

speak out about this election and we are able to hold everybody in public office accountable for their actions.

Journalistic integrity means that we need to ensure that the facts we are presenting to our readers are objectively true. That being said, having journalistic integrity is not at all the same thing as having no voice or opinion. Every single person in this paper, this school, this city, this state, this country and this world has a voice. We will not stand by and pretend to be neutral when we are scared for the future of our country.

And as a publication, albeit a small one, we have reason to be scared. On the following page, you will find a list of quotes from president-elect Donald Trump wherein he insults various media outlets that have in any way criticized or questioned him and speaks about banning certain news sources so as make them be kinder in their reporting of him. As a publication, we are willing to use our voice and tell you that all of those quotes scare us. All of those quotes are a direct assault on our First Amendment right to a free press (we won’t even get into religious, assembly, and speech rights in this letter as it is already very long). And the man that said every single one of those things, the man that unceasingly threatens every right that “we the people” possess that allow us to stand up against our president, will be sworn into the highest political office in the country, if not the world, on January 20th. That scares us.

But we do not give into fear. We search for comfort in what surrounds us. In four years, pretty much all current

Community High School students will be able to vote for the next president.

That fact comforts us. Our school has suffered great personal loss in these past months, and we have all bonded together to grieve and to support one another, and we believe, or at least hope, that the same will be true for our country. That comforts us. As we go out into college and the rest of our lives, we will be exposed to new voices and opinions, and our own voices will be honed and strengthened by such experiences. As long as we approach these new voices with open ears, that fact comforts us.

The Communicator is not going anywhere, and despite what our president-elect may wish, neither are the freedoms expressed in the First Amendment. They may be challenged, yes, but the legal guarantee of all five of those freedoms is greater than what any one single man could hope to destroy. So please, Community High School, do not let your freedom of speech, assembly, etc., fall by the wayside. Speak out for what you know is right and what you know is wrong, but never forget that our free speech will never be heard if we do not also listen to those who hold different views. Defend those who are less fortunate than you, for if you refuse to lend them a megaphone so that their voices may be heard, nobody will.

And exercise your right to a free press.

Write an editorial for the Communicator to publish. Hey, write one for the New York Times. You may not be old enough to vote, but you’d be surprised how much weight your voice can carry.

YOUR EDITORS,

ALEXANDRA HOBRECHT, JOSH KRAUTH-HARDING, ISABEL RATNER, HANNAH RUBENSTEIN & MEGAN SYER 54

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DONALD TRUMP ON THE ISSUES:

EDITORIAL

Freedom of the Press “WITH ME, [THE PRESS IS] NOT PROTECTED, BECAUSE I’M NOT LIKE OTHER PEOPLE.”

Media sources banned from Trump campaign trail:

On The Wall Street Journal:

On Megyn Kelly:

Univision BuzzFeed Politico The Daily Beast The Huffington Post The Washington Post The Des Moines Register

“nobody cares what they say in their editorials anymore, especially me!” “seldom has a paper been so wrong” “failing” “purposely mischaracterized my statement” “dummies” “so wrong, so often” “loves to write badly about me” “some of the dumbest people on television work for the Wall Street Journal”

On CNN:

On The New York Times:

On parody of him from Saturday Night Live:

“angry haters” “so negative it is impossible to watch” “really one-sided and unfair reporting” “dishonest reporting” “fraud” “Really pathetic” “everyone knows they are biased” “fortunately they have bad ratings” “ratings are so low - and getting worse” “boring anti-Trump panelists, mostly losers in life!” “don’t watch CNN!” “bad television!” “working hard to make me look as bad as possible”

On Fox News:

“totally biased and disgusting reporting” “biased - a total joke!” “without me they’d have no ratings!” “pathetic” “treats me so badly” “not fair” “other networks seem to treat me so much better than Fox News”

“just write whatever they want to write, making up sources along the way!” “don’t even call us anymore” “failing” “irresponsible intent” “really disgusting” “a laughingstock rag!” “willing to say anything” “has gone nuts” “only writes dishonest hits!” “no longer a credible source” “a dying newspaper” “gets worse and worse by the day” “These people are sick!” “boring articles” “The @nytimes is losing thousands of subscribers because of their very poor and highly inaccurate coverage”

On The Washington Post: “inaccurate stories” “don’t buy, boring!” “dishonest” “phony” “loses a fortune”

On John Oliver:

“his very boring and low rated show”

“so average in so many ways!” “crazy” “sick” “Never worth watching” “Without me her ratings would tank.” “get a life Megyn!” “lightweight reporter” “I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct.” “very bad at math” “really weird, she’s being driven crazy” “don’t watch her show”

“it is a totally one-sided, biased show - nothing funny at all.” “watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me.Time to retire the boring and unfunny show.

Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks.

Media rigging election!”

On media in general:

“I’m gonna open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.” “the election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing completely false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect [Hillary Clinton] president.” “has deceived the public by putting women front and center with made-up stories and lies” “dishonest” “distorted” “rigging election!” “pushing false and unsubstantiated charges, and outright lies” “want me out of the race so badly” “professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”

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EDITORIAL

American Mud

My Thoughts on the Election of Donald Trump as the Future President of the United States of America.

BY MIRA SIMONTON-CHAO

W

hen I was 10 years old, I thought I could be anything that I wanted.

I thought that because I lived in America, a land that proclaims itself as the home of the free, it meant that I could do anything I put my mind to. I believed that our government and society treated all people as equal, that in 21st century, the playing field had been leveled. But now, looking back on my 10-year-old self, I realize that was a preconception of youth. Fantastical belief of a young girl growing up in a liberal bubble with indulgent parents.

Years later, those elementary school days long behind me, I now know that though women have the right to vote, and are considered equal under the law of the United States, we are still socially unequal. Our stories and our voices hindered and set back decades by the election of a man of misogynistic beliefs as Donald Trump.

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My mother is white, a pretentious blend of European that in the end, means Caucasian. My dad is Chinese, a semi-great rags to riches story straight out of Taipei, Taiwan. But whether one would consider our living situation as riches doesn’t really matter, because to my dad it is just fine. With a Caucasian mother and an Asian father, I am the embodiment of the ‘other’ section on your Census sheet. I am not Chinese, I am not European. I am generations of mixed blood. Chinese, English, Scottish and German all within me, holding me together and marking me as an abomination—at least that’s how it feels sometimes. With no true and pure identity to categorize myself as, all I have left to hold onto is American. But in this time and age, do I even want to be an American?

The United States of America is not the white man’s country. It never was, and up until these last few moments, I

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whole-heartedly believed that it would never be. I honestly thought that we, the liberal minded population of American, would prevail over the hate of this election. I thought that we would make it through, that we would come out the other side of this battle waving a flag of true freedom for minorities across the country. Once and for all we would prove that America was not a man’s country—but I was wrong. I believed that there was no way Donald Trump could be elected as the Republican presidential nominee—but I was wrong.

I thought that my fellow U.S. citizens across the nation would open their eyes on Nov. 8, that fateful day, and see the hatred—but I was wrong. What I had before thought to be impossible happened. Almost half of our country voted for a man that I see to be the embodiment hatred and bigotry in our country. For a man that goes against our own colossus etched on a national

EDITORIAL

monument representing liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” But yet again, I was proven wrong.

I was taught to never doubt myself, to live up to my utmost potential and let no one get in the way of that. I was taught that women can do anything and that in America, women are respected as equals of men, as free individuals with rights to their own body, mind and spirit.

American women are strong women, we change laws and minds. But on Nov. 8, a new barrier dropped down to block women across the country. The U.S. population is 51 percent female, meaning that females make up more than 150 million of U.S. citizens. In the election, 42% of female votes went to Trump.

Almost half of our nation’s female population voted for Donald Trump. They voted for a man that to me, and many others alike, is the embodiment of the constraints that hold millions of women in our country back from reaching their full potential. He degrades females, treats them as objects, and views them

as lesser. He sees women not as equals, but as toys that he can simply mess with, break and violate.

One would think that the mass amount of stories of sexual assault and harassment surrounding Trump would repel female voters, but on the contrary, by some they are celebrated.

Women write “grab my pussy” on their shirts and call him their hero because, of course, sexually assaulting women is considered a heroic act in the United States. Yes, we the Americans, the pussy grabbing, insult flinging, spray tanning Americans. Oh, how glad I am to be of true American birth. To be able to say that I share that title with millions of white populists who believe that a true and just country is one with a wall blockading it.

I do not understand how women can vote for Donald Trump. It saddens me to know that my own grandmother voted for Trump and even worse that she did so because she believed he had good “family morals.” In a direct quote from Rolling Stone magazine, Trump insinuated that he would hook up with

his daughter. “Yeah, she’s really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren’t happily married and, you know, her father . . . ” Trump said. If Hillary Clinton had said anything even touching the subject of incest—which she would never do—she would have been politically hung. Trump’s mildly incestual comments and verbal attacks on women on the other hand seemed to attract voters.

Collegiate boards and essay contests throughout our fair nation seem to think that “Why are you proud to be an American?” is a great essay question.

But as someone who has nothing else to call myself other than an American, I can tell you that this question brings nothing to the mind. No flying colors of patriotism dart through mind, only sadness and a deeply rooted discomfort.

I am not proud to be an American. I am ashamed. I ashamed of my country—of its past, of its present, and now, its sure fire future. America was never great, and now, in the hands of a misogynist pig, it never will be.

62.3% 55.4%

Percentage of the US population that voted in this year’s presidential election.

42%

Percentage of US population that voted in the 2008 presidential election.

Percentage of the 59,535,522 votes Donald Trump recieved that were female.

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EDITORIAL

The Election was Rigged—and Not for Hillary How the Electoral College is a Threat to Our (Un)representative Democracy.

BY GRACE JENSEN AND MEGAN SYER

The grey presence on the state of Indiana switched to a vibrant shade of crimson—the first of 50 states to cast the expected electoral votes for the 2016 election. A sea of red soon took over the map, pronouncing Donald Trump, Republican candidate, President-elect of the United States. This was announced before the official votes from the electoral college were cast, as they are scheduled to take place on Dec. 18.

The results of this most recent presidential election did not represent the views of the American people. A combination of archaic and undemocratic laws and practices has yet again created a race where the electoral vote did not concur with the expected results from polling. And although we agree with President Barack Obama that “we are now all rooting for [Trump’s] success in uniting and leading the country,” we believe we all still have work to do en58

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suring that the 2020 election reflects our opinions and our votes.

This is not the first time that the electoral vote has differed from the popular vote. In 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and now very likely 2016, electors have decided upon a different president than the one whom the public voted for. Is this nation truly of the people, for the people and by the people if only a selected group can choose our leader, not bound to select the people’s choice?

The purpose of the electoral college, as outlined in the Federalist Paper No. 68, is for the final deciders of the election to be “men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice,” as stated by Alexander Hamilton. We would argue with Hamilton that the most capable people

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of analyzing the qualities of the candidates are the people themselves, and the most judicious combination of reasoning is the popular vote. The idea that electors are more qualified to choose our president is less popular now, according to a 2011 Gallup poll, stating 62 percent of Americans would amend the constitution to replace the electoral college with a direct vote for president.

But the system persists.

Some may argue that the electoral college prevents the possibility of having uneducated voters decide the outcome of the election, as our Founding Fathers believed it was the most effective in choosing a president. However, the original political system did not not include such polar opposite political parties (and was not meant to) and overtime, the initial intentions have been lost through centuries of politics and change. In addition, following tradition and doing things the way they

have always been done does not justify ignoring problems with the current system. This country has changed since the days when the Constitution was written, and the Constitution itself has changed with it.

One of the challenges faced by the effort for a Constitutional amendment to eliminate the electoral college system is party politics. Before the 2000 election between Republican candidate George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore, a 1980 Gallup poll showed that 62 percent of Republicans favored the proposed amendment. After the 2000 electoral college worked in the Republicans’ favor, with Bush losing the popular vote but winning the election, only 41 percent supported it. When the electoral college elects one party’s candidate, people in that party are more likely to support the representative system.

However, the decision should be based on what is fair and democratic.

In addition, faithless electors have been an occurring issue throughout the electoral college in America. Since the beginning, 157 individuals have voted for a different candidate than the winner of their district for a variety of reasons. According to FairVote, 82 of those electors voted for a different candidate due to personal impulse.

As of now, there are no Constitutional requirements or federal laws that force these electors to vote based on

the outcome of popular votes in their state, although in 29 states along with the District of Columbia, electors are bound by state law and/or state or party pledge to follow their state’s popular vote. The other 21 states do not entail their electors to do so at all. Even in the states with laws against faithless electing, the penalty for disobeying these laws is often a small fine. This is a flaw in the electoral college because the ways of executing their votes differ. If America is to use the electoral college in electing the next president, the necessary requirements for electors state by state must be the same in order to be efficient.

In a recent article by Evan Katz in Georgia Political View, it was illustrated how the electoral college’s structure can change the method of a candidate’s campaign, as it all comes down to “winning” states. Katz gave the example as to how California, which is primarily Democratic, and Texas, which is primarily Republican, make up nearly 20 percent of the electorate in their votes.

With their party preferences very strong in both states, there is no reason for the opposite party to campaign there, which causes the candidates to focus their time on the swing states—those who have not shown a party preference and have the potential to change the tide of the election. By focusing campaign efforts on specific states, the purpose

EDITORIAL

of campaigning is lost as it becomes a race to get the most swing states— not the American people as a whole. In an election based on the popular vote, candidates would be more inclined to campaign in order to reach the most people possible. There would be reason for them to campaign in all states, not just swing states.

Ties are another possible issue with the electoral college, although they are unlikely. There are 538 electors in all the states combined, so if the votes came to 269-269, the presidential race would come to a stalemate. In the event of such a tie, the vote would go to the House of Representatives. This vote would be even further from democracy than the electoral vote. A tie would be far less of a risk if the election was decided by the popular vote, because the exact same number of people would have to vote for two candidates.

We’re left with one question: who should have the final say as to who becomes President of the United States?

We have faith in the voters to collectively elect the most qualified candidate. For this reason, an amendment to disband the electoral college in necessary in protecting our democracy. It is a call to action for our generation to relook the way our country is run, with our shared American values of equality, personal freedom and unalienable rights in mind.

We must respond.

Popular Vote for 2016 Election

64,777,890 VOTES FOR HILLARY CLINTON

62,475,147

VOTES FOR DONALD TRUMP

Electoral Vote for 2016 Election 64,777,890

VOTESFOR FOR HILLARY CLINTON VOTES DONALD TRUMP

62,475,147

VOTESFOR FOR HILLARY CLINTON VOTES DONALD TRUMP

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EDITORIAL

The Wake of Water Bottle Filling Stations Water bottle filling stations in schools have the potential to reduce waste, pollution and other easily avoidable expenses.

BY MARY DEBONA

I

n 2015 alone, nearly 50 billion disposable plastic water bottles were sold in the United States and over 60 million were thrown away everyday. Bottled water is bad for the environment, the drinker’s health and is much more costly than tap water.

Courtney Kiley, a Community High science teacher and the ecology club leader, presented a solution to the ecology club during one of their meetings.

She brought up the idea of getting one or more water bottle filling stations: drinking fountains designed specifically for water bottles, installed in the school 60

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to replace some of the current drinking fountains in the building and promote using reusable water bottles.

“It’s a pain to fill up your water bottle at the one good drinking fountain here,” Kiley said, motioning to the one just outside of her classroom.

The majority of the rest of the drinking fountains in the school don’t arc high enough for some-

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ABOVE: The cost of purchasing one bottled water is equvalent to the cost of filling up 1971 32 oz. water bottles.

one to drink out of, let alone fill up a water bottle in, so it’s often easier for students to bring in bottled water from home, purchase it across the street at Sparrow Market or even fill up their water bottle in the water bottle filling station inside Kerrytown.

The price of water bottle filling stations can range from 700 to over 1,000 dollars, although this initially may be high, it is much more cost efficient and environmentally friendly than bottled water. The installation of water bottle filling stations in schools will encourage students to drink out of reusable water

EDITORIAL bottles, therefore reducing waste created during the production and transportation of bottled water as well as eliminate avoidable expenses. In the production of bottled water, two thirds of water used does not actually end up inside the bottle, but rather goes towards producing the bottle itself. To add to the great waste of water, less than 20 percent of plastic water bottles actually end up getting recycled.

In addition to lowering the loss of water and plastic, water bottle filling stations also have the ability to decrease air pollution. Over 50 billion barrels of oil go towards the production, transportation and refrigeration of bottled water every year, an expense that can be prevented by simply drinking out of reusable water bottles rather than bottled water.

Bottled water prices have risen pro-

portionately with sales in the past decade, which have increased by more than eight billion dollars in yearly sales in the United States since 2000. This can easily be accredited to effective marketing, which further accounts for the stigma that bottled water is cleaner than tap water. When we imagine where our bottled water comes from, we imagine the springs and snow-peaked mountains pictured on the labels, rather than the same rivers that our tap water comes from, which ironically is where more than one-fourth of our bottled water does come from.

Bottled water can be bad for your health too, if it is consumed too frequently or in place of tap water. City tap water is often strictly regulated, disinfected and receives tests for bacteria multiple times everyday, whereas bottled water follows looser regulations and is

only tested once per week. Health problems have been linked to bottled water due to more lenient requirements that allow unwanted bacteria to remain in the water. When left in its plastic bottle for multiple months, chemicals from the plastic can pollute the water and lead to nausea and dizziness if drank in high quantities.

Lastly, water bottle fillers save money. If someone were to drink 60 oz. (almost 2 liters) of bottled water a day, they’d spend more than $1,000 per year.

If they consumed the same amount of tap water per day, they’d spend $0.50 per year. Certainly bottled water can be more convenient at times, but is not the best for the environment, your health or your wallet if bought regularly. Water bottle filling stations encourage students to drink water and do so free from the resulting disadvantages of bottled water.

BELOW: The increase in bottled water purchsesed in gallons per capita in the United States from 2004 to 2004.

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EDITORIAL

I S O L A T I NG THE I SS UE What is the Extent of Human Rights during Imprisonment?

BY ELLA EDELSTEIN

“I had failed at being a son, I had failed at being a father, I had failed at being a brother. I had failed at everything in life that meant anything to me.”

In 1985, Ronald Simpson-Bey was incarcerated on a 50 year sentence. Like many prisoners, he moved from prison to prison, enduring mistreatment and at times being held in solitary confinement. But something in particular made Simpson-Bey different than your typical prisoner: he was innocent. Twenty-seven years later, in 2012, Simpson-Bey was released. Now he uses his experience to speak out against mass incarceration and advocate for prison reform.

But this is not a story about wrongful

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convictions.

“It’s very easy for us all to say ‘people shouldn’t go to prison for no reason’,” said Margo Schlanger, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. “I want to ask about the 60 percent of people who are in prison for doing things that really are destructive.

I want to ask about that, because if we don’t confront the majority of prisoners that are there for something that really is destructive, we are not confronting mass incarceration.”

So if real criminals are suffering why is it our responsibility to care? As tempting as it is to isolate them both physically and societally, the truth still

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stands that prisoners are people. Murderers are people, thieves are people, rapists are people, just as their victims are. This poses a problem for the justice system, as it is much simpler to throw someone in a cage than it is to treat them as a member of society. According to Simpson-Bey, around 95 percent of prisoners return to their community after incarceration. They are returning angry and disoriented when we need them to be functioning members of society.

While there seems to be no easy solution to this issue, abolishing solitary confinement and similar forms of prison torment is a crucial first step.

EDITORIAL

Solitary confinement - also known as “the SHU” (Security Housing Units) - entails complete isolation for 22 or more hours a day, usually in a bare cell lacking windows or any source of activity. For one held in this condition, the only source of human contact would likely be guards to escort prisoners from shower to cell and the occasional cry from a nearby inmate. Prisoners in solitary confinement can remain there anywhere from days to years.

Some are isolated for unimaginably long periods, like in the case of a client of Professor Schlanger, who remained in the SHU for around a decade.

Currently, around 80,000 prisoners are being held in solitary confinement in the US. This type of treatment is a clear human rights violation from every angle. Its effects on a prisoner’s mental health are devastating, causing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, suicidal behaviour, paranoia, hallucinations and other problems, which continue even after release.

Isolation has been proven to disrupt developing brains, like those of juvenile inmates. In despair, even those with no previous mental illness begin to harm themselves, becoming rageful and disoriented.

According to a study by the Amer-

ican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), some inmates resort to self harm and suicidal behaviour, occasionally just to receive attention from guards or medical staff.

“It definitely amplifies anger,” Simpson-Bey said, reflecting on his own experiences in the SHU. “Prison in general amplifies anger. Solitary confinement just exacerbates that anger because you reach a level of hopelessness and

riods of time.

Luckily, their suffering is not going unnoticed. Humans rights organizations like the ACLU, Human Rights Watch and American Friends Service Committee have taken on the issue, performing studies and collecting data on what really happens behind prison bars.

This September, one of the largest hunger strikes in the history of the United States occurred in prisons across 24 states. Additionally, bills have been proposed across the country and some states actually have reformed their laws.

Some prisons have taken steps forward, and some have taken leaps back, like Michigan prisons trading personal family visits for unreliable virtual “visits” using iPads.

Still, American prison laws need to change, as well as the way they are executed within prison walls.

Being incarcerated may mean the loss of freedom, but it should not mean the loss of simple human rights. Even those who have never committed a crime are affected by our prison systems. As Nelson Mandela - who had experienced the injustice of his own country’s justice system - said, “No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”

“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” despair. When you [reach] hopelessness as a human, you descend into depravity, you descend into animalistic behaviours.”

So if we know the consequences, why are these methods still used today? Often, inmates are placed in solitary confinement for anything from violence to simply having a mental illness. According to the ACLU, some juvenile prisoners who are held in adult prisons - another issue within the system - are confined supposedly for their own safety. To separate the vulnerable minors from adult inmates, juveniles are often isolated for long pe-

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EDITORIAL

Artists and Stoners

GRAPHIC: GINA LIU

A look into Community stereotypes and why they exist.

BY FRANCISCO FIORI

Accepting. Lazy. Cool. White. When seven Pioneer High School students thought about Community High School students, these are some of the words that came to mind.

Unfriendly. Rude. Weird. Okay. These are some of the words the same PHS students used to describe their peers at Pioneer. In fact, in nearly all of the word association sessions conducted, Pioneer students used more derogatory words to describe their own student body than the one at Community.

In addition, all of the students associated the school Community High with positive words. Some of these included “peaceful,”“cool,” “fun” and “friendship.” “When I think about [Community], I just imagine the green lawn and I’m like ‘Wow, that sounds nice!’” one PHS student said. “It’s calmer and less stressful.” It appears these students think of Community highly as opposed to their own school, where some of the words said by the same people were “scary,” 64

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“work” and “death.”

So if Pioneer students themselves see Community in a better light than Pioneer, why does CHS connotate stereotypes such as the students not doing any work and smoking weed all day?

Emily Williams* is a student at PHS, one of the “Big Three” main high schools in Ann Arbor along with Skyline and Huron. Williams said that a few stereotypes she had heard about Community were that the students were stoners, and it was a much more artistic school, with much less stress on academics than Pioneer.

“You go there if you’re interested in arts or laid back high school,” Williams said. “Not that it’s less academic or anything, it’s just more chill and relaxed. I think if my whole life wasn’t about college at this moment, I would love to go there.”

Although Williams suggests that CHS does not focus on college to the same extent as other schools, the data shows

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otherwise. In last year’s graduating class of 2016, several students went on to attend prestigious schools such as Yale University, Cornell University, New York University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Furthermore, if you go inside Community’s counseling office, you will find yourself surrounded by college pennants and shelves filled with college books.

Kelly Stupple graduated from Harvard University, but attended Community at a time where these stereotypes were abundant: the 80’s. She came from West Middle School, and heard about Community through a community theater group she did in Ann Arbor.

“I really learned from them that it was a school where the kids had a lot of freedom to choose what they studied and they could design their own credit classes, so I was really excited by the idea,” Stupple said. “I liked the idea that the kids that I met from Community were off-beat. They seemed like they *Name was changed in order to protect animosity

EDITORIAL

would question authority and that they Rojo, who was featured recently in the tain subjects from experts. From the CR were not interested in living lives that Huffington Post in October for starting program when she went to Community. were ‘status quo.’”

Patos, a shoe business inspired by Ar“You could take a dance class, you Stupple saw herself as an oddball, the gentine footwear. Or Josh Silverman, the could take a voice class, you could a lanonly mixed raced person in an all-White former CEO of Skype. Or Gene Sper- guage and they weren’t limiting you,” she family. “What I liked about Communi- ling, a former economic advisor to Pres- said. Stupple came from a middle school ty was that [it] was different from the ident Bill Clinton and the director of the that only had enough money for the core norm, and I felt that [at] a school where National Economic Council. The alum- subjects and one elective, but it was difdifferent was the norm, I could feel like ni, among others, have accomplished big ferent in high school. “At CommuniI fit in,” Stupple said. ty, there were semesters Stupple had to apply, but when I would take sevgot in automatically due en classes, eight classes, to the school’s need for “I think that a lot of times, people see ‘different’ as ‘bad’, and some of those classstudents. Every year, the and if they don’t take the time to learn what it’s really es were credits that I deschool board threatened signed,” she said. about, they might dismiss it.” to shut the school down Stupple took a myriad and every year, Communiof Community Resource ty struggled to get enough classes, including a home students to stay open. economics class where Stupple thinks that the reason for the feats, and they all came from Communi- she worked at a daycare center, an indifficulty of getting students had to do ty’s alternative education. ternship at a law office for a civics credit with one thing: the stereotypes.

A different aspect of Community that and even a music history class taught by “I think that a lot of times, people see caused concern for Smith, as well as oth- another student. ‘different’ as ‘bad’, and if they don’t take ers, was the first name basis that the stuStupple admits that the indolent label the time to learn what it’s really about, dents have with teachers. “Personally, if did originate from somewhere. During they might dismiss it,” Stupple said. “A I was a teacher , [I] would not want to be her time at Community, there were cerlot of parents and even other students called by my first name,” Williams said. tain students who would not commit, or were sort of concerned, suspicious of “If they’re respectful kids doing it in a meet at Community but leave to hang students and the school. They thought it respectful way, that’s fine, but not all kids out at the arboretum or downtown, was a school for burnouts, kids who did are that respectful.” which was easier to do due to the open drugs and didn’t pay attention in class, But fearing disrespect with the first campus of the school. “There were cerpeople who weren’t motivated.” name is a popular misconception. Liz tainly some students here who were doBut that was not Stupple’s experience. Stern, a FOS teacher at Community, has ing drugs and not going to class,” StupShe found that the Community student been teaching at Community for nearly ple said. “That was untrue about the body was just as dedicated, if not more, 25 years and has had no problems with reputation that anybody could go there to their studies as the other mainstream students calling her by her first name. and it didn’t matter how you behaved. it’s high schools. Many took classes at the “I’m fine with it. I think it’s great,” Stern not that the school completely turned a university and were “committed” and said. “There’s not a barrier. It doesn’t blind eye, but here was less oversight, ab“full of life”. feel disrespectful at all. The relationship solutely.”

In terms of standardized testing, CHS is more important than the title. I think However, there are good and bad studoes well in comparison to the “Big kids can be disrespectful no matter what dents in every school, and to stereotype Three” schools. In 2016, the mean SAT they’re calling you.”

Community as the “drug school” or the score of CHS was 1170, just five points A big public high school such as Pio- school that has easier classes is inapproshort of first with Pioneer’s average of neer also gives an opportunity for stu- priate and incorrect. Just because there 1175. Community also scored higher in dents to do many things all around, such are some irresponsible students, does the reading and writing portions than as as participating in music, athletics and not mean that every other student is irany other public high school in the Ann programs such as Health Sciences. responsible.

Arbor Public Schools district, and deBut opportunities are also abundant So what is it about Community that spite the facts showing that Community at Community. Students have the oppor- makes people associate it with laziness? does just as well as the other school in tunity to participate in CHS’s acclaimed Is it the open campus? The lack of bells? the district, the lazy stereotype still ex- jazz program, who has hosted Grammy Calling teachers by their first name? ists. award winning artists such as Hal GalpMaybe. Maybe not.

Williams thinks of herself as a highly er and Robert Hurst. A combo coming Community is built around trust beacademic person, whose grades are top from CHS, Tempus Fugit, won Down- tween a teacher and the student. The priority, which is not what she thinks of beat Magazine’s Outstanding Perfor- students receive the same amount of Community students. “I associate ston- mance Award in the high school combo education as other schools. Just because ers and art and general joyous things contest just last April. it is smaller and has different rules does with Community but not necessarily joyCommunity also offers the Communi- not mean the students are any less smart ous things that would push me forward ty Resources program which allows stu- than others. In the end, negative stereoin life,” Williams said. dents to take classes that aren’t part of types should be looked past and discardThe achievements of Communi- the regular curriculum and encourages ed, because alternative is not synonyty alumni show that they were indeed students to go out into the greater Ann mous with worse. “pushed forward in life.” Take Fernando Arbor community and learn about cerdecember

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HUMANS OF COMMUNITY

humans of community MEET THE FACES OF COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

TERRENCE VICK BY ELLA EDELSTEIN

“I was just hanging out with the wrong people, you know, the wrong influence, so I had to break free from that.”

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“I [plagiarized] in 9th grade on something and the teacher caught me. I think that’s when I started doing better in class, because I realized my mistakes. I said ‘Well, you do need to start doing better, Terrence’ so I said ‘Okay’, and I started to do better.

[I was] just too lazy. I wasn’t behind in the teacher’s class, but the class started to be not important. I was not consistent to that class, so that’s why I plagiarized. [I wasn’t really having trouble in school], I was just hanging around the wrong people, you know, the wrong influence, so I had to break free from that. I didn’t feel guilty about because it was just like ‘Hurry up, print this out, get the grade,’ but I guess you reap what

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you sow, you know. I got what I deserved back. The thing is, the teacher was easy on me. I was a nice student. You can get somewhere if you’re a really nice student. So he said ‘I’m gonna give you another chance,’ and then he sat down and had a talk with me, like I didn’t know what plagiarizing was, I was just acting dumb, like ‘uh huh, yeah,’. I said ‘Ok, I won’t do it again.’

I learned to do your own work. It’s better to do your own work than to plagiarize or copy off of someone else’s work. [I learned] to be original.”

HUMANS OF COMMUNITY

NED CAPUANO AND GIULIANO SULAFONTE-BASSO BY ELLA EDELSTEIN

“[My plan is to] get some money, eat some food, go places. “

“N:[Our friendship?] A bit of insults, and mostly a lot of swearing.

G: A lot of science and building random [stuff].

G: I don’t know [the coolest thing we have made]. We have done a bunch of 3D modeling, we have 3D printed stuff, built robots. We have done programming, almost hijacked a car.

N: That was you!

G: We don’t speak of it.

On a five year plan...

G: For me, next year I have to take at least 5 classes at U of M. I have to finish investing, make more money, get a job at a dealership, or Zingerman’s, get my first car and fix it, in five years, almost finish college or finish it ‘cause I could graduate early and then start working. There you go.

N: Get some money, eat some food, go places. “

TRISTAN SHAH BY HENRY SCHIRMER

“I wanted to have a tea business that was more authentic to Indian chai values.”

“My grandma would always make tea for me when I was a little kid and when I went to India it was just something so ubiquitous, everyone drank it, it was everywhere.

It’s something that I grew up with. I started Good Guy Chai about two years ago, I got a recipe from my grandmother -- it was this family recipe that had been passed down for a really long time. I wanted to have a tea business that was more authentic to Indian chai values. Its really been something that I look forward to. I like being in charge of my own business and having the freedom to design my own product. Also, I feel like it gives me the power to put in my own values to an age old recipe. That is something

that I am very passionate about, making sure that everything is safe to use and eat and the best tasting possible, as well as using 100% recycled packaging, because I’m very passionate about saving the environment. It definitely sucks up free time, but in a good way. I think that it has helped me become more responsible and just a better person. I could be cutting corners, but it’s teaching me to not cut corners and make a better product, because it sells better and makes people happier. My grandma is really excited that I’m doing this, that I’m forwarding a family recipe. I think that I honor my family by doing this.”

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS of

BULGARIA

BY MAGGIE MIHAYLOVA

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1 Plovdiv A city with duality, Plovdiv is split into the Old Town and the New. The Old Town is rich and cultural, with churches lining cobblestone streets and history behind every streetlight. The New Town is lively and full of life, packed with 544,628 people living in this urban area. Plovdiv is captivating, in its two parts and together.

2 Nevsky Cathedral 3 Street Markets Grand and decorated, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral stands in contrast to the more plain parliament buildings. It is one of Sofia’s greatest Orthodox symbols and one of Bulgaria’s greatest tourist attractions. The interior of the church is filled with paintings of icons and other religious illustrations, and the color and grandeur make this cathedral a must see in Bulgaria.

In Sofia, there are countless street markets, and each one is a hidden gem full of fruit, vegetables, sweets and other items. In the organized clutter, one can walk among the rows and buy towels next to plates next to radishes next to baked bread. The prices are low, but the vendors are open to bargaining, and the chorus of voices haggling echoes through the market awning.

4 Sunny Beach Although the name is plain, Sunny Beach is a boisterous, lively place near the border of Turkey. Every August, the white sand is packed with Turks, Bulgarians and other Europeans. The beach is attractive because of its affordable resorts and abundance of nightlife.

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5 Levski Stadium In the mood for a match? Levski, one of the beloved soccer teams in Sofia, plays here often in the about 50,000 seat stadium.

The games are intense, with literal die hard fans screaming and chanting and singing.

Explosions of color occur throughout the game, regulated by the “die hard section” that sits behind one of the goals. The atmosphere at a Levski game is indescribable, and is one feeling that must be experienced firsthand.

6 Rila Monastery

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The Rila Monastery is the largest Eastern orthodox church in Bulgaria, and it shows.

With colorful, mosaic like designs, it’s an art lover’s spectacle, but it also a place of serious worship. Monks live within the monastery’s walls among visitors, who can rent rooms to stay. The Monastery was founded by the hermit John, and its seclusion and remoteness are an ode to its peaceful spirituality.

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FASHION

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Community Fashion

BY BRENNAN EICHER

marika chupp photos

1. Sophomore Zoe Lubetkin casually puts together her outfit with an oversized sweater and blue denim jeans.

2. Senior Shashe King dresses to impress with her styled bomber jacket over top of a floral shirt. She completes her look with black leggings and a choker.

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3. Sophomore Chloe Di Blassio accesorizes with a silver ringed necklace. The black strand matches her black silk laced top.

4. Senior Vivienne Miller creates an all white look by combining bright white knee high socks with her white holographic Adidas sneakers.

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5. Sophomore Aviva Satz-Kojis dresses for the warm weather while she still can in a striped short sleeved shirt and cropped jeans.

6. Junior Erika Chesky combines comfort and fashion with one of her favorite knitted sweaters.

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The Arborialist Ann Arbor Street Fashion

BY EMILY TSCHIRHART

1 A white cutout T-shirt with holey jeans and white Converse sneakers alongside a strapless red dress, a hooded sweatshirt and cowboy boots.

2 Custom made white painted kneelength dress with blue Toms.

3 A colorful dashiki complete with goldenrod socks and brown leather ankle booties complete with a top bun.

4 An olive green A-line long sleeved dress with knee high brown boots.

5 Opposite matching outfits! Pink and baby blue hijabs, pink lace t-shirt, baby blue skirt, light blue jeans, peach pink flats, jean jacket, and sky blue slacks.

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THE COMMUNICATOR www.chscommunicator.com |THETHE COMMUNICATOR | www.chscommunicator.com COMMUNICATOR www.chscommunicator.com

From top to bottom: Natasha T. Miller, Casey Rocheteau, and Siaara Freeman

Q&A

The Fruit Poets Every third Sunday of the month, three queer poets, poets of color, or queer poets of color blow into Litetati, courtesy of a poetry project called Fruit. Here are October’s features.

BY KYNDALL FLOWERS

NATASHA T. MILLER is a three time Women Of The World Poetry Slam top five finalist. She’s been featured in Vogue, is a Kresge Artist Fellow, and has been featured both in Sprite and Shinola commercials, the latter being played before and after the second 2016 presidential debate. Natasha has published two books, “Dreams Of A Beginner,” and “Coming Out Of Nowhere.” She’s a Detroit native and is totally okay with people throwing their bras at her if they like her poem.

What was your introduction to poetry like? I can’t say what it was like because it’s a continuous process and I’m still learning about it. It’s amazing to see how so many different poets can elevate language, can use language, can rearrange language, can talk about the same things differently, can talk about different things in the same way.

It’s fascinating.

How do you find and keep your own voice in the midst of the poetry that already exists?

I keep my own voice by making sure I’m telling my own story. If I’m talking about the things that I’ve experienced, whether or not someone else has experienced those things, it’s still genuine. It’s still authentic. It still belongs to me because it is my story. So, I don’t try to tell anyone else’s story, in any capacity. I’m just always talking about what it is I’ve dealt with.

What do you hope the outcome will be with your poem airing on CNN? If I had to have any desires for the commercial, it’s that people get a sense of the good things that are happening in Detroit. The poem is about Detroit. It’s a ninety second slot with me just kind of talking about what it’s like to be a young kid growing up in the city of Detroit. So I hope that people understand that there’s a lot of positive things happening in Detroit. Detroit is worth the struggle. Detroit is worth redemption. I hope people are like, yo, that poem is great, I wanna hire her to do all her shows but also people are like, yo, Detroit exists and that is amazing.

in Cape Cod and is the editor-in-chief of both Kinfolks Quarterly and Heart Online Journal. Their second poetry collection, The Dozen, was released through Sibling Rivalry Press in March of 2016. Rocheteau started their poetry set with “When I get bored I like to write poems about Kanye.”

When did you start writing? When I was nine or ten, I started writing fiction. I wrote a novel about vampires when I was eight years old. I started writing poems moreso when I got older, and I started taking it seriously my freshman year of college, because I got into slam, and it was like “Oh, I have a reason to do this.”.

What was the slam scene like in college? It was different than it is now, definitely. I don’t know how to put this. It was coming out of this period of the nineties were there was a very certain aesthetic. I feel like it came into a different era while

es, which is the teen competition. I started off when I was 13 and it was in our neighborhood libraries. I lived in a very urban part of Cleveland so there wasn’t much for me to do after school outside of going to the library. One year they had a slam, and I saw it, and I fell in love and I began writing and that was it.

How do you think Brave New Voices has changed from when you started? It was so much more fun. It’s like we taught the kids competition and I think we didn’t mean to. I think the adults started participating in Brave New Voices more. It went from teachers being coaches and community leaders being coaches to poets and we’re more competitive. So we taught the kids to be more competitive so now when you look at Brave New Voices versus when I went, it was like “oh this is fun!

This is a festival! We’re all hanging out!” and now it’s a competition and these kids serious. They’re not playing around.

How would you put that playfulness back into slamming for teenagers? Honestly, I would not let us [coach] them for a while. I would tell adult slam coaches “You like them that much, go support. Go be their judges, run the bouts, help do that.

But don’t coach them. Let somebody who is not as competitive [coach].” Let’s give it a year and see what it’s like. Or even, let’s go as far as to say we’ll give them mentors, we’ll give them chaperones. They can peer coach. See what they come up with themselves. See what it looks like to let the youth run themselves. I have a lot more faith in the youth. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an adult who’s still childlike and I don’t have a lot of responsibilities so I’m like “No! Kids can do everything,” because I’m a kid, right? But, I really think you guys can. I don’t doubt you. If an apocalypse happened tomorrow I’m where the 16 year olds are. They figure shit out. They will bypass zombies. I feel like if you let them run a poetry competition you guys should be good. I would like to see you guys do it literally on your own. I think that would take it back.

“Detroit is worth the struggle. Detroit is worth redemption.”

CASEY ROCHETEAU is the winner of the Write A House residency in Detroit, Michigan. They were raised as a sea witch

I was starting, in a certain way. The focus became different. The way people told stories onstage changed.

What kind of poems have been the most challenging for you? I’m working on a memoir right now and it hurts to do, and part of why it’s hard is because you don’t know what’s memory and just like wounds that you’ve held on to.

SIAARA FREEMAN is from Cleveland, Ohio. She’d been published in Balkan Press, 3elements review, Crab Fat, Tinderbox Journal, the Chicago Lit Review and others. Her poem “The Drug Dealer’s Daughter,” has more than 400,000 views on Button Poetry, and she is the editor and cheif of her own literary magazine WUS GOOD.BLACK. Outside of poetry, she is growing her afro so tall God mistakes it for a microphone and uses it to speak through her and is your friendly neighborhood hope dealer.

Where was art in your childhood home?

I was lucky enough to do Brave New Voic-

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edition 2 playlist: reflection CAITLIN MAHONEY AND GINA LIU

what to listen to

listen when you’re

Cranes in the Sky Solange

reflecting on days past and resting

Homecoming Kanye West

missing the old kanye

Stargirl Interlude The Weeknd

jamming out in your room

Real Love Baby Father John Misty

feeling happy and positive

Broad Shoulders (ft. Chance the Rapper) Taylor Bennett

in a chill mood

Give Me A Try The Wombats

excited about life

Hey Girl Lady Gaga

empowering your lady friends

Heart Don’t Stand a Chance Anderson .Paak

making a missed connection

All I Want for Christmas is You Mariah Carey

preparing for the holiday season

24K Magic Bruno Mars

ready to DANCE!

Take A Bow Rihanna

trying to get out the feels

Waffle House (ft. Doja Cat) Tru Heru

blasting music on the back lawn

Vibe. JoJo

ready to go out

LISTEN ONLINE!

Self Control Frank Ocean

mellowing out

http://spoti.fi/2fW10lh

Play That Song Train

on the train

Ophelia The Lumineers

after a good date

Good Day Nappy Roots

waking up

Late Night GoldLink

midnight car rides

Think About You LÉON

falling in love

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ARTIST PROFILE: SKYE GAMZU

BY WM. HENRY SCHIRMER

Skye Gamzu is a sophomore at Community High School. She spends much of her time in and out of school drawing in one of her several sketch books.

Why did you want to be an artist? I thought that the cartoons that people drew were cute and funny and I wanted to be able to draw that way. I also wanted to be able to draw the things around me. The main reason is because my friends were really good at drawing and I started drawing out of spite. Also my mom was an artist and she inspired me. It was really just something that I started doing.

Where do you draw inspiration from? When I was little [my insparation] was Disney movies, because I was like, “I want to draw like them folks.” Mostly now it comes from other artists that I see online. That’s about it.

What do you hope for the future of your art? Money, I want to make money. I want to be able to turn my art into money, because that would be crazy awesome. Then I could just not have to do anything else. It’s also something that I would totally want to do in college, but art colleges are scary. Actually they are terrifying, but I do want to go to one.

What do you enjoy about your own art? Not much. Most times artists never like their art. So I always just want to send my art off to someone else who enjoys looking at it. Actually I do like looking back at my old art now that I’m better, and being like, “ha that’s a piece of garbage.”

Is there anything you wish you could do better as an artist? I just want to get better. I’m really bad at drawing people and also perspective. I have never drawn real people and stuff the way that you are supposed to. If I’m going to draw a person it’s going to look like a cartoon person not a person person. I want to make it look more like a person person.

What mediums do you tend to work with? I work mostly with pens and pencils. I also do digital art. I have to paint now too for my art class, but I don’t like doing it because it’s really hard. I wish that I could be better at painting, but I just have to practice that because I have never really done it before.

What is your style as an artist? I think that style is one of the most important things about an artist. I hate people who copy other people’s style, but that’s what you do to create your own style. You base it off another artist that you like and mix it with the way that you see the world. But to describe my own style, I can’t really describe an art style.

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“

RECIPES

Easy Fast Bread Pudding 7 cups squared bread 4 tsp maple syrup 4 eggs 4 cups of whole milk 1 cup chocolate chips 2 tsp vanilla extract 78

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INSTRUCTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Have 10 x 10-inch baking pan ready.

2. Chop bread into 1 x 1inch squares (aprox) and spread evenly in pan.

3. Mix chocolate chips in with bread.

4.Beat together milk and eggs then add vanilla and maple syrup.

5. Pour custard over bread, into pan.

6. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until browned on top (firm but not dry).

7. Serve hot or room temperature.

“She” POEMS AND PROSE

A POEM BY HEVIN WHITE

She stares, brown pools looking black with their depth.

Desperately trying to see clearly in a world That became blurred in her effort.

She thinks, her mind a whirling mass Unknown knowledge within her reach A comprehension that some things will never be in her grasp.

Old worries forgotten in place of new dilemmas Found in a storybook’s character, canceling out the noise and creating her own world of thoughts.

She hears, the whispers passing over her dark skin, dismissing any hopes that she’s more than a color.

The harsh opinions of others begging to be heard A desperateness that they will become so loud she’ll fall deaf

She dreams, a shimmering hope blossoming in her chest She can be more than just a girl Who has eyes and thoughts and sounds that swiftly diminish.

But a girl who’ll turn into a woman And eyes not just physically but in her mind too, And ears that not only hear but listen without faltering.

And the dreams that she dreamt will influence her hopes Until they ascend mere goals Finally discovering the knowledge she thought she’d never know.

The whispers once perceived as having no face Revealing their new found inner demons that they once taunted Slowly beginning to see and hear and dream of a woman named Hevin

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SONG OF THE DAY JOEL APPEL-KRAUT

“JAPANESE DENIM” DANIEL CAESER It’s hard to find a sound that is quite as unique as Daniel Caesar’s, an up and coming singer/songwriter from Toronto, Canada. He does not fit into any musical “box”, as each of his songs contain characteristics from many different genres. His new single ‘Japanese Denim’ is a cross between blues and R&B, featuring a lead and bass guitar, and drums that create a slow but strong rhythm. The song starts out with just the drums playing, then the guitar kicks in, followed shortly by Caesar’s smooth voice. The song continues to follow a blues form, paired with Caesar’s jazzy vocal riffs and hits of funky chords.

Caesar’s music career started far before he became popular.

He said he has been singing as far as he can remember, singing around the house all the time. He started to get more serious with music once he got into high school. Caesar made music a priority over school, and he ended up getting kicked out of school in 11th grade. He then met Jordan Evans, a producer in Toronto who has worked with big rap and R&B names like Drake and Tyga. Evans and another Toronto-based producer named Matthew Burnett started working with Caesar, hoping to construct a successful music project. His first EP, ‘Praise Break’, features seven songs and two singles including ‘Violet’, his most successful song, with over half a million plays on SoundCloud. Caesar continues to rise in the new competitive music scene in Toronto.

- Sacha Verlon

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“SOMEDAY AT CHRISTMAS” STEVIE WONDER AND ANDRA DAY In 1967, Stevie Wonder got into the spirit, releasing “Someday at Christmas,” a 12-track album celebrating the holiday season. It was Wonder’s eighth studio album with Motown Records, and his name was already known all across the country.

Andra Day wouldn’t be born for another 17 years, but we’ll get back to her later.

The first track, holding the same title as the album, was covered over the next 40 years by musical forces such as the Jackson 5, The Temptations and Mary J. Blige. But despite all of these big names, the most recent remake of the song, and in my opinion the most powerful, came from Little Stevie himself.

Teaming up with vocal powerhouse Andra Day, who had just released her first studio album to tremendously positive reception, Wonder recreated the song for an Apple Music commercial in November of 2015. Beginning with just Wonder’s light and airy keyboard, Day’s soft and soothing vocals creep over the top singing the famous lyrics wonder wrote so many years before: “Someday at Christmas, men won’t be boys / playing with bombs like kids play with toys / one warm December, our hearts will see / A world where men are free.”

This version of “Someday at Christmas” in many ways is a passing of the torch, a collaboration between the face of soul music over the last 50 years and a powerful, incoming R&B voice. While Wonder is winding his career in the music industry down, Andra Day is poised to be the brightest star in this music for many years to come. Wonder seems to acknowledge this with his lyricism, alluding to a bright future. The song ends, utilizing a beautiful harmony between the two vocalists, with the lines “Someday all our dreams will come to be / someday in a world where people are free / maybe not in time for you and me / but someday at Christmastime.”

“CROWN VIOLET” AZIZI GIBSON Off of Azizi Gibson’s “Backward Books (Reloaded)” album released in 2014, “Crown Violet” is featured as a bonus track on the album. The child of a collaboration between Gibson and Abbas Kamandi, the track is a combination of subtle instrumental with an increasingly harsh beat.

A kaleidoscope view of adolescence, Gibsons lyrics are relatable to an almost unsettling accuracy. Comparing his adult life back to his high school years, Gibson raps about what he doesn’t understand. He reflects upon his self in lines like “It could be hell it could be heaven and I don’t know what the difference is,” while in others seems to be an in an entirely different world from us.

Throughout the song discussing seemingly random thoughts, Gibson is reminiscent in parts as he sings about his struggle to let go of his youth. The majority of the song is an ambiguous stream of consciousness and I leave lines like “Use powers within, heal the world before 4:30,” up to the interpretation of my fellow listeners.

Jumbled like childhood itself, “Crown Violet” is a string maize of blue and pink ribbon that takes it’s listeners to a world with no boundaries. The real world left in the dust as Gibson enthralls you in a slow rap and hypnotizing beat that practically spits teenage angst at you.

- Mira Simonton-Chao

- Joel Appel-Kraut

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IN MY ROOM with

ELLIE VANDERMARK

BY ELLA EDELSTEIN

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3 1. “Those are work boots that my mom had when she started working at Smith Group JJR. She would work on site for her builds. She’s an architect. They were my grandpa’s too. They’re her boots from then, and now their mine.”

2. “My grandma makes quilts and sells them online, but she just decided to dump a bunch on us. “

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3. “I’’m a really big reader. I really like to read. I like Gail Carriger, she wrote a book about an espionage school in the 1880’s.”

4. “Those are from camp. Every year at camp there is a big thing about getting bandanas, because bandanas are a camp thing.”

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5. “We got [Mac] in 2005. He is a Great Pyrenees. I have a lot of good memories.

He is a really cute dog. When we first got him he was really playful, but now he’s really quiet and he doesn’t play. He is a big pillow. “ 6. “ My neighborhood is really close.

We are all really good friends. We go on camping trips. We’ll take like 15 families and we’ll rent out a whole campsite to do it. We’ll have dinners, we’ll have brunches every once in a while. “

7. “-One of [the pictures] is my cousin Lily.

[The next] is me and my brother. “

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8. “The map is everywhere I want to go before I settle down and do anything. I want to go everywhere my mom went when she was a kid. It was all over Africa and Europe. I wanna visit places that my uncle and cousin have lived for these past fifteen years. More places in Africa, places in Asia, Indonesia, Guam. I just kinda wanna do it all.”

WHERE WAS THE LAST PLACE YOU TRIED ON CLOTHES? WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU HIGHFIVED? Myself. I told a really funny joke about Little Caesars, but no one would laugh so I high-fived myself to have some closure. I can’t tell the joke though, mostly because it isn’t “school appropriate” and also because it wouldn’t make sense to someone reading it. It was one of those in the moment jokes. But it was funny, trust me.

My bathroom. I got this neat pair of running shorts.

They have an one inch inseam. I had to show my aunt a picture. She didn’t approve. Our whole soccer team got a different pair of them, we all have different designs.

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WHAT WAS THE LAST TEXT YOU SENT? “I have a McDonald’s visor.” My indoor soccer team has this guy on it who can’t play soccer to save his life, so naturally he’s our coach. He needed a visor to wear to our first game. I thought that a McDonald’s one would prove to be useful in this situation.

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU SNAPCHATTED? This girl from New Zealand. She didn’t belive that I could speak with the same accent as her.

Needless to say I had to prove her wrong.

last thing

khalil eljamal

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WORKED OUT? Halloween. I couldn’t do homework cause of the doorbell so I hit the gym instead. It was the right move.

WHAT WAS THE LAST PHOTO YOU TOOK? The catapult I’m working on for my physics project. Our teacher wanted proof that we didn’t just buy a kit and build it, so I figured I’d get proof. Currently our catapult looks like a 5th graders macaroni sculpture though, so I don’t have high hopes.

WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN THEATERS? Demolition. I really like Jake Gyllenhal. He’s in that movie.

BY JOSH KRAUTH-HARDING

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? This morning. I stubbed my toe as I was walking down the stairs. It felt like I had jumped right on top of a pile of legos. I lay on the floor until my mom came down the stairs and told me to get up. It was a bad morning.

WHERE WAS THE LAST PLACE YOU SWAM? Huron Valley Swim Club. I learned how to chuck a gainer off the diving boards.

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ART THROB: THEA ROWE, SOPHOMORE “I think art is incredibly important and it’s an integral part of society. I also think that it can be helpful to society as a whole and also to the individual to communicate. I think it’s a really beautiful thing. I’ve done a lot of art and crafty things with my mom, and it’s been a really nice way for us to bond, especially because I haven’t been able to see her as much as I would like, so I think that that’s been a really nice thing. Something that we can do together and also have to look back at.”

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