Nov. Globe 2011

83.3

GLOBE

NEWSMAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2011

BON APPETIT

CHANGES TO SCHOOL LUNCHES

HISTORY AT HOME CLAYTON’S HANLEY HOUSE

BLASTING OFF ROCKETRY CLUB TAKES FLIGHT

GLOBE Volume 83 . Issue 3

20

From Afghanistan to Clayton High

SRO John Zlatic has made a life of serving others, first in the Special Forces and the police department, and now at CHS.

Connected by Cancer 25

The Globe examines cancer from four unique perspectives: a patient, a relative, a surgeon, and a researcher.

BY Z A C H P R A I S S A N D S A R A H T A I T

Review 38

PAINTING A PICTURE Monet

exhibit opens at SLAM. X FACTOR Simon Cowell nails it yet again. ABDUCTION The trifecta: action, romance, and Taylor Lautner. 50/50 Finally a dramedy worth watching.

Commentary 41

TRASHY Litter

in the quad is a disgrace. PROBAMA/NOBAMA Opposing views of the president.

TAKEOVER Fantasy football is dominating the NFL.

UpFront 08

Rocketry club gains support.

EYE TO EYE Carly Beard takes initiative. BON APPETIT Cafeteria introduces new options. SIGNS AND TENTS Occupy protests come to St. Louis.

BLASTING OFF

Features 18

Clayton’s Hanley House offers insight into city’s past. NOT SO ALONE New science points to the possibility of life on other planets.

HISTORY’S HOME

TRAGEDY STRIKES Priory

Play by Play 32

student is killed while running with his team. WRAP UP Fall sports come to a close.

QUICK FEET Cross country runner Matthew Millet. COMING UP Taking a look at the winter sports prospects.

ONE WRONG STEP A sunny Wednesday afternoon turned fatal for Priory seventh grader Brandon Hsueh. Now Clayton runners are thinking deeply about their own safety.

B Y MEREDITH MCMAHON

get creative.

THE GLOBE CAPTION CONTEST

LAST MONTH’S WINNER MCT CAMPUS

“Mom, I’m over here!”

-- Bianca Vannucci (12)

SUBMIT YOUR AMUSING CAPTION AT CHSGLOBE.COM

2011-2012 STAFF Editor in Chief Noah Eby Senior Managing Editors Laura Bleeke Jackie Leong Zach Praiss Section Editors Jake Bernstein Caitlin Kropp Jocelyn Lee Meredith McMahon Sarah Tait Editors David Androphy

Lauren Friedman Caroline Greenberg Jack Holds Jake Lee Shuyang Li Eudora Olsen Katherine Ren Parker Schultz Shiori Tomatsu Anna Williams Arya Yadama Distribution Editor Jonathan Shumway Advertising Editor Dylan Schultz

Web Editors Appi Sharma Dan Zheng Sri Panth Copy Editor Maria Massad Graphics Editor Dee Luo Photo Editor Paul Lisker Reporters Peter Baugh Abraham Bluestone

Rachel Bluestone Chris Cho Neil Docherty Emma Ehll-Welply Isaac Fish Jeffrey Friedman Aidan Hayward Jessica Jancose Jon Knohl Nina Murov Steven Paster Charlotte Reed Adam Schultz Peter Shumway Richard Simon Christopher Sleckman Steven Zou

Photographers Claire Bliss Madeleine Fleming Lewis Grant Kate Harrison Lauren Indivino Meredith Joseph Christa Kopp Laura Kratcha Allison Peipert Regine Rosas Thalia Sass Dana Schwartz Andrea Stiffelman Rebecca Stiffelman Emma Veirod

Artists Taylor Gold Nicole Indivino Nia Charrington Jasmine Raskas Zoe Curry Business Manager David Behrend Adviser Erin Castellano

The Globe Newsmagazine exists to inform, entertain, persuade, and represent the student voice at CHS. All content decisions are made by the student editorial staff, and the Globe is an entirely self-funded publication. Not every story that our reporters write is published in the print newsmagazine. Visit www.chsglobe.com for additional stories and photos, and for more information about the Globe itself. For more information about advertising and subscriptions, please contact our office: Clayton High School Globe 1 Mark Twain Circle Clayton, MO 63105 (314) 854-6668 Fax: 854-6734 globe@clayton.k12.mo.us

4

MASTHEAD

EDITOR’S LETTER

C

WAKEUP

O

FF

EE

CLUBS

SPORTS

SCHOOL

HOMEWORK

SLEEP...

BREAKING THE CYCLE

O

ne quarter gone. 11 weeks past. We’re now deep into the regular rhythm of school. We know the beat by heart – the measure of a class period, the accelerated tempo of assignments and the cadence of the week resolving into the harmony of the weekend.

There is little rest in this fast paced melody of school. At times, unfortunately, it seems like the only song in our playlist – an endless stream of academics, athletics, and extracurricular activities. Five days a week, it echoes in our ears as we struggle to stay afloat and fight to swim towards the bright horizon of the weekend against the ever-beating tide of schoolwork.

Each of us has developed our own nearlymechanical routine for combating our schoolwork that keeps us up late at night or up early before sunrise. At times, it’s a vicious cycle that

wears us down to the point where we hopelessly seek refuge in the blue solace of Facebook. This might be a slight exaggeration; however, there is no denying the fact that school, homework, sports, activities, and a brief period of sleep define the majority of our daily existence.

It’s time we break the cycle.

A routine is only as monotonous as you make it. Take a second to catch your breath.

We all need to step away from our schoolwork sometimes.

Challenge yourself to do at least one thing differently each day or at least each week outside of school. For instance, have breakfast with your friends, read a novel, bake, take the time to relax and leaf through this copy of the Globe Newsmagazine, or go out to dinner with your family. Anyways, when was the last time you had a long, sincere conversation with your

family or friends? What ever happened to those Saturday morning bike rides or Sunday night family traditions? Where is your spontaneous behavior? For the most part, it’s these times when we break the routine that we have the greatest productivity upon returning to our schoolwork.

So do something different today.

Whatever you decide to do, make each day special in some way to stand out from the routine. Today should not be just another date that you etch in the top corner of a handout. Seize the day.

ZACH PRAISS SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR EDITOR’S LETTER

5

PANORAMA

FACE OF THE 99% A man looks into the lens as he sits in a makeshift shelter, a part of the Occupy St. Louis protests on Oct. 16. Ralliers gathered in Kiener Plaza, protesting the growing income gap, Wall Street abuses, corporate political influence, and the failure of government to protect the middle class (see page 14). Until real change takes place, though, all the protests in the world will do little to help the man sitting on the couch.

Photograph by Julia Grasse

PANORAMA

FACE OF THE 99% A man looks into the lens as he sits in a makeshift shelter, a part of the Occupy St. Louis protests on Oct. 16. Ralliers gathered in Kiener Plaza, protesting the growing income gap, Wall Street abuses, corporate political influence, and the failure of government to protect the middle class (see page 14). Until real change takes place, though, all the protests in the world will do little to help the man sitting on the couch.

Photograph by Julia Grasse

UPFRONT

THE PRICE OF A FREE EDUCATION JESSICA JANCOSE A recent decision made by the state may result in a free-for-all of transfers from unaccredited school districts to school districts that have not lost their accreditation, meaning that as many as 27,000 students will become eligible to attend school districts such as Clayton.

This possibility is a result of a ruling made by the Missouri Supreme Court nullifying Clayton’s original victory in the case of Turner v.

Clayton. According to the Supreme Court’s official order, “The case is remanded to the circuit court for resolution of all issues.” This means that the case must be retried in the lower courts where a final decision will be made.

The outcome of a ruling in favor of Turner would mean that any student currently enrolled in an unaccredited school district would be able to transfer to a school in an accredited district. The original case filed by Turner also states that the schools receiving the students “must calculate the ‘rate of tuition’ for each of the pupils… and submit Board of Education and St. Louis School District bills for the [tuition].” The result is that the original schools would be responsible for the students’ tuition payments to the new districts.

Many worry that such a rapid influx of students would cause class sizes to increase and result in less in-

dividualized attention from teachers.

Chris Tennill, Chief Communications Officer for Clayton School District, said that in trial Clayton will need to argue “impossibility to comply.”

The ruling would alleviate a financial burden from those families wishing to offer their children a better-quality education. However, if accredited school districts are not given discretion, unaccredited school districts would also be negatively impacted.

It would be difficult for them to work towards improving and receiving accreditation if such a substantial amount of their funding is going towards tuition payments to other schools. This inability to improve the quality of education offered would harm students that remain in the district.

“The ability to manage the size of the district and class sizes in a way that’s consistent with what school districts expect is important to the Clayton School District,” said Tennill.

“It is our goal to continue operating that way.” 

JULY 22

Taxpayers in St. Louis Public Schools and the School District of Clayton filed suit to intervene against the State of Missouri.

MAY 16 Missouri General Assembly’s 2011 Legislative Session ended without a legislative fix for the decision.

SEPT 28

Judge David Vincent orders that all matters between the parties are stayed.

JULY 16 Missouri Supreme Court overrules decision in Turner v. School District of Clayton.

Dee Luo

8

UPFRONT

JULY 30 Clayton files motions to rehear case.

DEC 21 Supreme Court denies writ filed by plaintiffs for seventh time since Turner decision was handed down by Supreme Court.

SEPT 13

MAY 31

Judge David Vincent granted a joint motion for a continuance, postponing the start of Turner v.

Clayton until Jan. 23, 2012.

Status conference for held, and Judge David Vincent sets tentative trial date of Sept. 26 and an additional status conference for July 22.

ROCKETRY CLUB BLASTS OFF Students will have to send a pair of eggs 800 feet into the air.

STEVEN ZOU

A

t CHS, there are an abundant amount of clubs and after-school activities to choose from. They all have interesting histories, unique sponsors, and are fun pastimes. This year, one particular club that stands out is the CHS Rocketry Club, which has taken off to new heights.

The Rocketry Club was founded in 2002, and this year it will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. Chemistry teacher Nathan Peck and physics teacher Rex Rice are the co-sponsors of the club. Peck said that the CHS Rocketry team competes against hundreds of schools from almost every state in the U.S. and they are presented with a different challenging task each year.

“This year, they’ll be designing and building a rocket that will carry two raw eggs to an altitude of exactly 800 feet and parachute safely back to the ground in a time between 43 and 47 seconds,” Peck said. “The rocket has to weigh less than 600 grams at take off and the eggs have to survive the trip without any cracks.”

Peck said that they launch the rockets about once a month on a Saturday, depending on the weather.

“There are launches that are sponsored by the St. Louis Rocketry Association (SLRA),” Peck said. “SLRA sets everything up and gets Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) clearance and then we just show up and fly.”

Peck wanted to sponsor the Rocketry Club because he always liked rocketry and he thought it would be a cool thing for CHS students to participate in. Senior Tyler Ponder, a first year member, agrees with Peck.

“I’m still pretty new to rocketry club,” Ponder said. “So far I’ve really liked it.”

Peck has had a lot of fun sponsoring the club and believes that the club is successful.

“The students who participate get very excited about the activity and they learn a lot as well,” Peck said. “That makes it worthwhile for me.”

Although Ponder is still new to rocketry club, in addition to having fun, he has learned a lot as well.

“My team has a couple rocketry veterans, seniors Sam Sutter and Ian Docherty,” Ponder said. “They taught me a lot about building rockets, and Mr. Peck has also taught me some things.”

Ponder said that he thinks that Peck and Rice are excellent sponsors.

“They were the ones who first got me inter-

ested,” Ponder said. “They showed the other students and I how to begin building our rockets, without being too overbearing.”

Peck understands student interest in rocketry, as well as what it takes to build a successful rocket.

“It’s cool to build a machine and fly it,” Peck said. “It has to be engineered in such a way so that it is successful in the competition.”

Peck said that there has been many reasons why there is an increase in popularity in Rocketry Club.

“We have a new workspace that is well equipped and the club is popular because it’s a fun challenge,” Peck said. “The top 100 teams in the nation qualify for the final fly-offs in Washington D.C. in the spring. There’s over $60,000 awarded at the finals, plus the winning team gets a trip to the international air show to compete against the French and British winners.”

Peck is hopeful that the popularity of rocketry club will continue and that the club will be successful this year.

“We have a lot of underclassmen competing this year, and teams usually compete until they graduate,” Peck said. “Clayton rocketry teams have made the finals in D.C. eight out of the previous nine years, so hopefully we will make it to the finals again this year.” 

Courtesy of Joseph Dillon

Last year, several CHS students went to the TARC national rocketry competition in Washington, D.C. This year’s team hopes to make it to finals once again.

UPFRONT

9

MODERN MUSIC MASTERS

Tri-M inducts a new group of musicians.

EMMA EHLL-WELPLY

I

t was the week after homecoming, a time of getting back in the groove of school for many, but for a few talented students it was time to audition for Tri-M. Modern Music Masters, better known as Tri-M, is an international music honors society for middle and high school students.

Earning a spot in the society is meant to recognize the members’ musical and academic talent and provide them a place to further their musical success.

However, Tri-M is not just another extracurricular for these musicians to put on their college applications.

“Tri-M is primarily a community servicebased organization,” senior floutist Taylor Kloha said. “So being a member has solidified the importance of giving back to the community in ways that makes use of your talents and interests.”

Everyone from band to choir is welcome to audition, however few make the cut.

“This year, twelve auditioned,” CHS orchestra director Julie Hoffman said. “However, not everyone that auditions makes it into the pro-

10

UPFRONT

Globe Staff Photo

gram; we have criteria for admittance.” chapter this year described it as a “valuable way The criteria involves being enrolled in a to learn leadership and service skills while havmusic class, maintaining a B average in music ing fun with fellow musicians.” classes as well as a C average in other classes, On Oct. 10, the new members were chosen, displaying leadership skills, and having good and those lucky few that earned a spot are lookcharacter. ing forward to what lies ahead.

For some, just “I think it will be inmaking it through Being a member has solidified teresting to meet other the audition is an the importance of giving back to people involved in muaccomplishment. sic,” Kohmetscher said. the community in ways that make “I know what is going on “The audition use of your talents and interests. in band, but by knowing process was not really stressful, exother people in choir and cept when I was in Taylor Kloha orchestra I will be able to the room playing know what they are doing Senior Floutist as well.” my piece,” sophomore floutist Abbie Although the process is Kohmetscher said. “I was nervous because I was over for this year, Kloha recommends auditionplaying in front of my peers and because I was ing next year to any student with a passion for being judged by many people.” their art.

Students have reason to be nervous for the “For those who do decide to become inaudition because once a student has been ad- volved, I believe that they find it to be a fun mitted they are in it for the rest of their high and enriching experience in terms of both their school career, as long as they stay enrolled in a musicianship and their connection to the commusic class. munity,” Kloha said.

Kloha, who took part in Tri-M during her The Inauguration Ceremony for those who sophomore year, served as secretary during her made it into the CHS chapter will be held on junior year and serves as president of the CHS Nov. 7. 

THROUGH HER EYES Sophomore Carly Beard sets out to win the Golden Award with her Girl Scout project, which will document the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.

CHARLOTTE REED

I

f a tree that falls in a forest with no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Nobody knows, but we do know that when a person dies, their story goes with them. Senior Girl Scout Carly Beard wants to prevent this from happening.

“When we die, our stories die with us. Until now,” Beard said. “So, I’m doing a project called Through My Eyes. The purpose of it is to perpetuate the extraordinary stories of ordinary people. I’m going to document people’s stories, and I’ll publish those on a website.”

Beard has been planning to do this project for years.

“I thought of it when Napoleon Carter came to talk to my history class in middle school,” Beard said. “He told us about growing up in the

South and how segregation affected his life. I think it’s a shame that not everyone knows his story.”

The timing of Beard’s project came from being a Girl Scout.

The Gold Award is the highest honor that a Girl Scout can receive. It is the equivalent of the Boy Scout Award of Merit. High school age Girl Scouts may propose a project that will benefit the community, have it approved, work at least 80 hours on it, and have the final project accepted to receive this award. Through My Eyes is Beard’s initially approved Gold Award project.

Beard found much of her strength for this mission in the empowerment she has gained in Girl Scouts.

“To me, being a Girl Scout means dedication to my community, challenging myself, taking risks, and stepping out of my box in a way I would not get outside of Girl Scouts,” Beard said.

What Beard has gotten from Girl Scouts, she wants to use to give back to the world.

“I want my project to really open the eyes of teachers,” Beard said. “In school, we learn what happens to the presidents and the senators and the first ladies, but we never actually learn about Joe, Todd, and Mary. That will help open a new level of education.”

Beard wants to get all the stories that she can.

“This generation is dying,” Beard said. “Like the people who grew up during the Great Depression. I want to find people whose stories

were affected by the Cold War and budget cuts.

Beard hopes that the stories will last.

“I want my project to be sustainable,” Beard said. “One of the big things for the Gold Award is it has to be sustainable. And once it’s on the Internet, it will always be there.”

Advertising within the school district and adding a new resource for history teachers is how Beard hopes to gain awareness for her project.

“I am really excited for the website, because I am going to go to classrooms throughout the school district and just do a 15-minute schpeel about what it is,” Beard said. “Maybe show one of the interviews so that the community can see it.”

But Beard wants to go further than Clayton.

“It’s on the Internet and I’m going to interview people in Germany, so I hope there’ll be that global link as well,” Beard said.

Beard hopes that this project will gain recognition in the Girl Scouts organization too.

“Out of everyone who does their Gold Award in one year, each council can nominate two or three projects that they think are the cream of the crop,” Beard said. “That goes into the national pool. And, they select ten girls in the nation whose projects are really original and really influence the community to receive another award. I’ll get my Gold Award first. And we’ll see if it can go there.”

Beard is very happy about doing this project.

“This is going to be a very big commitment, but I’m very excited for it,” Beard said. 

“”

TO ME, BEING A GIRL SCOUT MEANS DEDICATION TO MY COMMUNITY, CHALLENGING MYSELF, TAKING RISKS, AND STEPPING OUT OF MY BOX. UPFRONT

11

APPETIZING CHANGES

By Parker Schultz

W

hat happened to the fries? Seems to be what CHS students are asking.

The lunchroom favorite has taken a new flavor this year: baked.

Actually, the entire menu has been changed for the healthier and more changes are projected for the future.

Director of Dining Services at the Clayton School District Bridget Jordan is in charge of managing what students eat. Last year, Jordan joined a nutrition committee formed by administrators and parents. The goal of the committee was get students eating healthier.

“They really wanted to see a shift towards healthier food items,” Jordan said.

The nutrition committee was taking an extra step. CHS has already met its state require-

12

UPFRONT

ments for health. It always has, but the com- pled [this year],” Jordan said. “That’s fantastic mittee wanted to go above and beyond. nutritionally.”

This year, the cafeteria has brought in more The cafeteria has also changed how food is whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. It’s also prepared. This year, CHS has gotten rid of the working to promote its healthier items. fryer. It’s been replaced with a combination There are two opoven, which both tions for students They really wanted to see a shift steams and bakes the who are buying lunch. towards healthier food items food.

They can choose be“It [the oven] was tween buying a coman expensive piece of Bridget Jordan equipment,” Jordan plete meal or à la carte. The meals inDirector of Dining Services said. “It cooks your clude an entree, two food without added sides, and a milk. Jordan says meals have more fats, so kids can still have fries, chicken strips, nutritional value. Part of getting students to eat and foods they like.” healthier is to sell more meals.

The changes have met mixed reactions from “The number of meals we’re serving have tri- students.

“I think it [the food] is better this year,” food. They’re considering adding a new kiosk sophomore Bre’Ona Little said. “I like the pani- somewhere on campus. This would allow stunis, and I haven’t tried the calzones, but they dents who don’t eat lunch in the commons to look pretty good.” still buy a meal at school.

Other students think the food is worse.

“They [the students] just want to get away “I’ve noticed a drop in quality of the food; from the building, and it’s not necessarily the all of the foods,” sophomore Ben Cook said. “It’s food, but they want to get out of the building not as flavorful this year.” and get fresh air,” Jordan said. “So we thought The food departif we open another opIf there’s something that’s not tion away from the cafment tries to get student feedback. They’ve popular, we know that, and we eteria, then that would even tried taking away give them a different know not to put it back out there. place to go and still eat and bringing back dishFeedback is always welcome. a nutritious meal here es to get more opinions. Jordan tries to at school.” be receptive to student The cafeteria is tryBridget Jordan wants. ing to provide the best Director of Dining Services lunch for students.

“If there’s something that’s not popuWhile not all foods are lar, we know that, and we know not to put it hits, Jordan and other staff work to keep unback out there,” Jordan said. “Feedback is al- wanted foods off the stands. Hopefully, CHS ways welcome.” students can look forward to better, healthier The cafeteria makes changes beyond just the food in the future. 

FOOTING THE BILL According to the Slow Food USA website the National School Lunch Program feeds more than 31 million children every school day. 18 million of those children qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

School districts are reimbursed $2.68 for every meal served to a child who qualifies for free lunch. After paying for overhead costs, schools are left with only $1.00 to purchase food.

As a result, most can only afford to serve the highly processed foods that hurt children’s health and keep them from performing well in school.

SCHOOL VS. SACK According to the American College of Cardiology, compared with kids who brought from home, those who ate school lunches were more likely to:

School

Home

Be overweight or obese:

38.2% vs. 24.7% Eat two or more servings of fatty meats like fried chicken or hot dogs daily:

6.2% vs. 1.6% Have two or more sugary drinks a day:

19% vs. 6.8% Eat at least two servings of vegetables a day:

39.9% vs. 50.3%

UPFRONT

13

Clusters of tents line the upper perimeter of the amphitheater; signs of “We are the 99%” and “Stop Corporate Greed” hang from columns and decorate the grass beside the sidewalk. A car honks in support of a “Honk for justice” poster. The twang of a guitar floats out from the open flap of a sagging tent.

At what could be called the main entrance of Kiener Plaza, the home of the Occupy St. Louis movement, a middle-aged woman welcomes visitors and hands out fliers. A voice announces that an action guidelines discussion will start in five minutes.

A man named Sasha, markers and poster board in hand, is about to begin work on a new sign. He said he has been at Kiener Plaza since day six of the St. Louis protests.

“What we’re trying to do here is create a space where every voice can come down, participate, and try to figure out: how do we fix the system?” Sasha said. “Some people believe it doesn’t need to be fixed, that the system’s just fine, and that we’re only going to make things worse. I think the majority of the 99 percent don’t agree with that sentiment. I believe that almost every aspect of our society is in major need of reform – the education, the economics, the environmental policies, our political system. And that’s what has brought so many people together. It’s not just one particular thing anymore, it’s everything. So it’s gonna take all 99 percent to fix it.”

Occupy St. Louis is an off-shoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, which began its protests on Sept. 17 in a Lower Manhattan park. Since then, the Occupy Wall Street movement has gained momentum and spread to cities across the country. Part of the intent of the protests is to emulate recent government protests that have occurred in other countries, such as Egypt and Tunisia. In addition, the organization’s website said the protests have been gaining international support, with 1500 protests in 82 countries on Oct. 15.

According to its website, Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement made up of the “99%” who “will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%.” The website of Occupy St. Louis expresses the same ideas.

“We, the 99%, are hereby taking action against the greed and corruption of the richest 1%; the bankers, politicians, and corporate persons that govern our nation,” the website states.

“Like our brothers and sisters in Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Spain, and Iceland, we plan to harness the power of mass occupation to restore democracy and justice in America.”

The website adds that the St. Louis organization “proudly stand[s] in solidarity with those whose peaceful Wall Street occupation seeks to expose the greed and avarice that has sold off the ‘American Dream’ in exchange for executive bonuses and political kickbacks.”

Occupy St. Louis began its protests about two weeks after the ones in New York City began. After first protesting at the St. Louis Federal Reserve building, the group soon moved to their current location at Kiener Plaza, a city park at the heart of downtown St. Louis. The demonstrators use the park’s amphitheater as a space for General Assemblies, discussions, and simply as a living room.

According to Sasha, the Occupy St. Louis group has maintained a “good dialogue” with the police.

“We did have some confrontations with the police the first couple of nights and there were some arrests made, but since then everything’s been very good,” Sasha said.

Since its start, Occupy St. Louis has attracted a diverse group – some with jobs, some unemployed, some homeless, and some who have chosen to make a tent in Kiener Plaza their new residence.

One such individual is Michael, a fresh-out-of-college student who stumbled upon Occupy St. Louis, or what he called, “a little bit of a revolution,” during a backpacking trip around the country.

“Basically I came to the realization that American history is pretty driven by social movements,” Michael said. “Most recently the Civil Rights Movement, before that women’s suffrage, before that Temperance, and then of course the American Revolution, which was also a social movement. A friend brought me down, I saw a bunch of people sitting around talking to each other, and I knew something really important was happening around here.”

Ever since then, Michael has been camping out in Kiener Plaza.

Michael said that the media trivializes the movement to a great degree and often comes set with specific expectations and ideas of what they want to report. According to him, it is not quite possible for the media to accurately depict the Occupy movement.

“You can’t really show what’s happening here, because what’s happening here is just interaction between people,” Michael said. “You know, it’s not like a five-second clip, it’s like a 45-minute or two-hour-long conversation between two people or a group of people.”

Kaare Meldy, a young archaeologist in Illinois, joined Occupy St. Louis for slightly different

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UPFRONT

19

reasons. He lives at home with his wife, and every day after work he comes to Kiener Plaza and returns home after the General Assembly, the group’s community meeting. He is employed now, but this has not always been the case. In January of this year, the company he worked for was forced to fold, and Meldy was left unemployed until April.

“So we’re working… two people in the household working 40 plus hours a week, and we’re not able to pay our bills,” Meldy said. “And that just doesn’t seem right in America. It used to be that one person in the household could work 40 hours a week and pay the bills for, not just two people, but two people and two or three kids. And now I’m working 40 hours a week in a job that I went to college for, and I’m making $9.50 an hour. And my wife is picking 30 cents more than that. That’s not a sustainable amount of money, and that isn’t enough to live on.”

Meldy said he was surprised that this was not enough money for them to live on, because he does not have any “extras” like cable TV. He has a cell phone, but he said that is his only luxury – if he can even call it that, since it is his only phone.

“So I realized that this is not how our country is supposed to function,” Meldy said. “I realized that there is a large wealth inequality in our country. Between the average worker and the CEO of most companies there’s over 400 percent difference in how much they’re being paid. That just doesn’t seem like the way we should be running things in our country. It seems like the average person should have a little bit more money.”

Among the multitude of issues being protested by the Occupy movement, another main concern is corporate involvement in politics.

“These corporations are making unlimited campaign donations, but they’re not doing that for no reason, they’re doing that because they want something in return,” Meldy said. “So when there’s this much money being spent on a campaign, who is the politician going to represent? Are they going to represent the average person, or are they going to represent the campaign donors?”

According to Michael, the way to deal with this problem is to amend the U.S. Constitution.

“That is not an easy thing to do,” Michael said. “But, in the times that it’s happened in past U.S. history, it started in places like this. [The movement]’s at a big enough visible point that I would say it happens within a couple or a few years. I think we’re pretty close to some actual, interesting, good change happening here.

The Occupy protests have been criticized for lacking a strong direction and well-defined demands. Nevertheless, the protestors do not seem to be lacking in faith for their cause, however unclear it may be.

Meldy said Occupy St. Louis will remain for “as long as it takes.”

“We’re gonna be here, we’re gonna continue,” Meldy said. “This movement is worldwide right now. There’s 3.5 million people worldwide, there are over a thousand protests in several different countries and almost every state. I just saw a picture of Occupy Alaska, which blew my mind. So yeah, as long as it takes.”

Meldy currently works to help all participants become equally knowledgeable about the movement, by teaching others about consensusbased decision-making.

“I learned how that process works, and now every time before we have a General Assembly, I try and get everyone together so that they can learn consensus-based decision-making so that they can be facilitators in the next meeting,” Meldy said. “We don’t want to be a leaderless movement, but we don’t want to have a leader movement. We want to have a leader-full movement.”

According to Sasha, the movement has been a long time coming, and now that it is taking form, he has to take part.

“For myself, it’s a personal moral obligation,” Sasha said. “This represents everything I truly believe in, so I have to be here. Some people have a choice, I don’t.”

Occupy St. Louis is comprised of a wide range of people, all of whom are involved with their own particular causes, Sasha said.

“We have social activists, we have political activists, we’ve got social workers, we have every demographic; we have socialists, anarchists, libertarians, Republicans, Democrats; we’ve got union supporters, we have non-union supporters,” Sasha said. “And that’s why it’s beautiful, because we get to hear more and more voices every day.” 

All photos by Julia Grasse

16

UPFRONT

6th Grade Camp Brings Cheers

Above: An Bottom tonio Wilson C Kogos, enter: Teddy Lucy Bo we

ABRAHAM BLUESTONE

A

t around noon on Monday, Oct. 3, buses filled with sixth graders pulled onto the field at Sherwood Forest. Kids flocked around the windows inside the bus, watching the groups of two or three cheering them on. Among these groups, they knew, were their counselors.

This is the scene when the sixth grade class of Wydown arrived at Sixth Grade Camp; a yearly event in which the entire grade has a taste of summer camp.

This event is partially run by a group of CHS students who volunteer to miss a week of school in order to help the sixth grade class enjoy this unique experience.

This year, however, fewer people applied to become counselors, according to Wydown Middle School teacher and Sixth Grade Camp organizer Erin Ott. “I would say that competition is considerably less for counselor spots than in past years,” Ott said. “Many students find conflicts with sports

Bowe, Above (left to right): Lucy Luong, Abraham Bluestone, John Rilk , e Teddy Kogos, Adam Zoll Griffin, Peter Grayson, heny, Zoe Keller, Jonathon Mat Watson, Graham Fiorello, Noah is, Paul Kiefer, Montel Harr Flood Antonio Wilson, Connor Right: Chris Cho

and their class load. It’s hard to find people who are willing and able to make the commitment to missing a week of school.”

The students who applied to become counselors, such as junior Teddy Kogos, chose to do so based upon their love of children.

“I became a counselor because I really like hanging out with kids,” Kogos said. “The kids are really happy people, and the counselors just helped the kids have a great experience.”

Senior Montel Harris has a similar viewpoint.

“I love kids,” Harris said. “I love taking care of people.”

This love for the children is what brings the counselors to participate. But first, the CHS counselors needed to rally as a group.

“It only took two days for some phenomenal bonding to happen in this counselor group,” Ott said. “Because we have nearly 30 counselors and 14 CIT’s (Counselors In Training), we split them up into three smaller groups for team-building, which really made them close to each other.”

Sophomore Rilke Griffin agreed that the experience created a strong bond among the coun-

selor group.

“We all became really close and supportive of each other,” Griffin said. “We were always there for each other no matter what, and whenever someone needed something, anything, we were there.”

The counselors that had boys’ cabins even made a name for their group, “Team Testosterone,” also known as Team T. Griffin’s team won Male Counselor of the Year, one of the many awards available for the campers and counselors at the camp. “[Team T] started out as a group of guys,” Griffin said. “But by the end of the first day at camp, we had evolved into a family.”

However, Team T wasn’t the only unit formed. In the end, all of the counselors came together.

“All of the counselors showed commitment to each other by the end and I think experienced inspiring success,” Ott said. “I personally witnessed the whole group rally around individuals, and each individual rally around their group. It was beautiful.” 

UPFRONT

17

The historic Hanley House in Clayton was built in the mid-19th century. It was then bought by the city of Clayton and turned into a museum in the mid20th century. It is now an educational site and open for tours on the weekends.

HISTORY AT HOME The Hanley House provides local history and a look into what life was like in Clayton over 100 years ago.

12

UPFRONT

STORY BY LAURA BLEEKE PHOTOS BY LAURA KRATCHA

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Walking through the streets of a Clayton subdivision, it’s a surprise to see an outhouse and old slave quarters standing in perfectly good condition in a backyard. But in the small neighborhood off of Hanley on Westmoreland Avenue this is normal.

The Hanley House, a historic house museum, is a perfectly preserved home that provides a look into what life was like for the everyday family in St. Louis in the late 1800s.

The house is big, with stately columns and porches on the first and second floors in the front and back. And the classic St. Louis brick the house is made of keeps it akin to the surrounding homes.

It was restored after being bought by the city of Clayton and opened as a museum in 1971. The house remained in the Hanley family until 1968 when one of Martin Hanley’s granddaughters, Barbara, sold it to the city with all of its contents.

Sarah Umlauf is the Community Resource Coordinator for the City of Clayton and handles the house. While studying in Washington, D.C. Umlauf worked at a historic house museum in Virginia, and when she moved back to St. Louis to work on her thesis she heard about the Hanley House.

“What makes the Hanley House unique is that the Hanley family always lived here until the City of Clayton purchased it,” Umlauf said. “So we have this great pedigree, and we also know that most of the furnishings in the home are original to the family, which helps to tell their story.”

Sophomore Carly Beard is a volunteer at the Hanley House and provides entertainment by playing the fife, a period instrument for when the house was built.

“I love the Hanley House because it’s one of the most unique things in Clayton,” Beard said. “It’s the only rural historical site in Clayton, and it’s really special and is something that needs to be preserved.”

The Hanley House is a learning tool for students to understand how events in the country’s history like slavery, the Civil War, and western migration, affected the people of Clayton 150 years ago.

Like many Clayton settlers, the Hanley family was Confederate, and they were slave owners prior to the end of the Civil War. “The home is also unique in that it still has its standing slave quarters,” Umlauf said. “The Hanley family owned slaves, just like many of the farmers that lived in this area. We have quite a few Southerners that settled in this area who were slave owners, like Robert Forsythe, Ralph

Clayton, and Thomas Skinker. So we are able to tell that history of St. Louis County, of the slave labor that survived in the county and helped build the county.”

And even though St. Louis is often thought of as a Northern area during the Civil War, many Southerners migrated to Clayton during the 19th century. This included Martin Hanley who traveled to Clayton when he was 20 years old from Virginia.

“For students we like to focus on our Civil War history,” Umlauf said.

“We know that the Hanleys were Confederate sympathizers, so it’s a great way to tell the story of how the Confederate sympathizers of St. Louis managed to reconcile with the North after the war.”

Much of what Umlauf knows about the Hanley family comes from the extensive letters, record books, and journals that have survived. The Hanley daughters were known Confederate sympathizers, and their letters to Confederate soldiers in a St. Louis prison are one of many interesting documents the museum has.

“I hope to bring more students here and to have more student involvement,” Umlauf said. “I’ve been really lucky to have some great partnerships with the Clayton School District. But I also want to reach out to surrounding school districts. So I’d love to bring even more students here and make more connections.”

The Hanley House recently received a grant from the Missouri Historical Records Grant Program to transcribe and digitize the daybook, one of their most important records at the Hanley House, so that information will be searchable. This, and other research and volunteer opportunities are ways for Clayton students to become involved with the city’s history.

“I would love to see other students getting involved who enjoy working with kids,” Beard said. “A lot of school groups, and parents with their children come, and it’s really unique to be able to work with kids in a historical setting, and be able to teach them about local history.”

The Hanley House is an amazing resource for the residents of Clayton and the St. Louis County. It provides a local, historical glimpse into a time when the St. Louis was still growing, and tells the story of mistakes and achievements of the past.

“I love the Hanley House because it’s such a beautiful place,” Beard said. “It’s so close by, and it is really an amazing piece of the history of Clayton.” 

FEATURES

19

PROFILE Student Resource Officer John Zlatic sits with a fellow soldier in the mountains of Afghanistan. Zlatic was a linguist in the Special Forces during the 1990s.

Courtesy of John Zlatic

JOHN ZL ATIC

THE SOLDIER THE DETECTIVE THE MENTOR

In honor of Veteran’s Day, November 11, The Globe profiles SRO John Zlatic. Zlatic joined the military in 1993 and served as a linguist in the Special Forces, traveling throughout the Middle East. After leaving the military, he spent eight years as a detective in the Clayton Police Department before transferring to the high school. { BY NOAH EBY } WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO JOIN THE MILITARY?

I was actually in grad school, and I was driving to class when Desert Storm started. I felt like that would be better service to my country.

But when I joined, by the time I went in, that war had already ended.

WHAT EXACTLY DID BEING A LINGUIST ENTAIL?

I speak Persian Farsi. Basically, any translating, interviewing, any reading of documents, and listening to communications is what I did for the team.

WHAT KIND OF TRAINING DID YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH?

Basic training, then I went to a year of language school, then I went to Advanced Individualized Training, which is where we did interrogations, interviewing, translating, stuff like that. Then I went to airborne school where I learned how to jump out of airplanes, and then I went to Special Forces training.

WHAT WAS IS IT LIKE JUMPING OUT OF AN AIRPLANE?

It was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done.

WHERE DID YOU SERVE?

All over in the states, but also Bahrain and the Middle East theatre.

DID YOU CARRY A WEAPON? Several.

WAS THERE ANY COMBAT?

Sometimes, but minor stuff.

WHAT WAS YOUR BEST DAY WHILE SERVING?

That’s a good question. Probably the first time I jumped out of a plane.

THE WORST DAY? Watching an execution.

WHO WAS DOING THE EXECUTING?

It was a tribal execution in Afghanistan in which we couldn’t intervene.

WERE THERE A LOT OF DAYS LIKE THAT?

Well, for them, it’s normal. There are severe consequences for behavior, and that’s just part of their culture. To intervene in that would have been a bad situation.

WHAT ELSE DID YOU WITNESS?

Just seeing the poverty, people living in total destitution and also being under a government in which their best interests aren’t being identified. That was hard, watching people suffer needlessly.

WHEN THEY CALLED YOU BACK FROM INACTIVE SERVICE AFTER 9/11, WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION?

I was willing to go, but it’s a lot harder once you start having a mortgage and a job and children.

It’s a lot harder to make those kinds of commitments than when you’re young and single.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO CHS STUDENTS CONSIDERING THE MILITARY?

It’s a great opportunity. I think if you value your freedom, and you believe in that freedom, and you want to help other people reach that freedom, then it’s an opportunity that you can’t find anywhere else.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO INTO POLICE WORK?

For me, it was natural. I was sitting on one of those mountaintops one time, and I was like, “I’m in Afghanistan, but I could be helping people at home,” which is what I decided to do.

THERE ISN’T A WHOLE LOT OF VIOLENT CRIME IN CLAYTON, SO WHAT KINDS OF CASES DID YOU HANDLE? People always say that, but we joined up with the major case squad, so I’ve actually worked on quite a few homicides.

HOW DID YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A DETECTIVE COMPARE TO YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE MILITARY?

It’s great, but it’s the same kind of situation.

It’s just upsetting, more so here. I worked on a case where these three young kids were shot in the face in their bed [points to the children’s pictures tacked to the wall], and you just don’t understand it. We almost have more terrible things happen in our own backyard than happen over there. You just can’t fathom why some people do some of the things they do.

HOW MANY CASES DID YOU HANDLE?

Tons. There were times when I had 30 cases open on my desk at one time, so hundreds.

Over eight years, probably into a thousand and something.

IS IT ANYTHING LIKE THE TV SHOWS?

You know what, it can be. But the paperwork is just tremendous. For every hour of excitement, there’s probably eight to 10 hours of paperwork.

WHY DID YOU BECOME A STUDENT RESOURCE OFFICER?

I worked a lot with kids, and I was pretty comfortable working with juvenile law, and I got really tired of working on cases in which the children were either dead or past the point of me actually helping. So I decided I wanted to be a positive influence on kids’ lives while I could still help them.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE FUTURE?

I’m getting my master’s in education, so I’m actually thinking about at some point teaching.

It’s just the economy has kind of changed that right now. But hopefully teaching history. I’m going to be Mr. Harned’s replacement [laughs].

interview with Officer Zlatic and * For the fullmore photos, visit chsglobe.com FEATURES

21

SOME WHERE / OUT / THERE

THE ONLY THING MORE TERRIFYING THAN BEING ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE? NOT BEING ALONE. FOR MANY RESEARCHERS AND AVID STAR WATCHERS, HOWEVER, THE LATTER IS GAINING / BY CAITLIN KROPP/ GROUND IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY.

W

ith the advent of high-powered telescopes and spectrographic technology, scientists are now able to observe planets that reside light years away from Earth’s solar system. Several of these planets, called exoplanets, orbit stars, making them viable candidates for potential habitation, similar to what is seen on Earth.

Although by no means conclusive, research projects have identified well over 50 of these celestial bodies, bringing the goal of finding a planet similar to Earth all the more closer.

The identification of these exoplanets is difficult, deviating far from a simple pointing of the telescope. The two most common methods make use of sensitive measuring techniques, according to Bruce Fegley, a Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Most researchers utilize sensitive spectrographs to detect shadows on the surfaces of distant stars.

“The planet crosses in front of the star and partially blocks some of the starlight that we see from Earth,” Fegley said. “The decrease in starlight is very small, much less than one

WE ARE HERE

percent, but this is easily detectable by the specially designed telescopes on the spacecraft.”

Another, more reliable method is called the radial velocity method. With this, scientists search for minute wobbles in the speed of a star’s orbit, indicating the presence and effect of an orbiting exoplanet.

“A star with a planet will move in its own small orbit in response to the planet’s gravity,” Fegley said. “This leads to variations in the speed with which the star moves toward or away from Earth.”

These wobbles and shadows indicate the presence and relative mass of any exoplanets, but that’s all they can reveal. Without further research into the composition of the planet, it remains impossible to accurately determine if these planets are capable of sustaining life, according to Fegley’s information. “[Composition could be detected] if one could measure the surface temperature, pressure, and atmospheric composition. This is possible only for planets in our solar system using spectroscopy from telescopes on Earth,” Fegley said.

Simply orbiting a star, however, is not enough to ensure that a planet will be able to support carbon-based life forms. Instead, planets must occupy a space in the so-called “Goldilocks” zone, a “not too cold, not too hot” orbit that provides the correct temperature, allowing the presence of liquid water on the planet’s surface.

“Earth is in the zone, but neither Mars nor Venus is in it,” Fegley said. “If they were, Mars would be warmer with a thicker atmosphere, and Venus would be cooler with a thinner atmosphere.”

Currently, the most viable Goldilocks candidate resides 36 light years from here within the Vela constellation. Given the easily-remembered moniker of HD 85512b, scientists believe that this exoplanet could be viable, provided that is has the proper cloud cover and a rocky surface. A friendly visit to our celestial neighbors, however, is definitely out of the question.

“It may be possible to launch a robotic probe,” Fegley said, “but the time required to get from here to there is so long that at least thousands of years would be required.” 

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CONNECTED BY

CANCER Four Lives. Four Stories.

One Disease.

RELATIVE

DOCTOR BY

SARAH TAIT & ZACH PRAISS

CANCER. ONE WORD THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING.

T

he medical definition of cancer is the unchecked growth of cells. But that’s not saying very much. In reality, medical characteristics make up only part of the disease. Cancer manifests itself not simply as a diagnosis, but a personal struggle, a career, a life-altering obstacle, a passion. The real definition of cancer lies in the impact it has on people’s lives, not the cells it proliferates.

For cancer patient Paul Keller, the father of senior Zoe Keller, the word took on far greater meaning than he would have ever expected after he was diagnosed with melanoma. He enjoys each day as if it were his last, uncertain yet optimistic for his future.

Washington University oncologist Gerald Linette sees people like Keller everyday. Linette works tirelessly to develop new medicines and treatments for patients with malignant brain tumors and melanoma. Patients like Keller inspire him to push past any setbacks in the hope of progress.

For choir teacher Alice Fasman cancer has become an integral part of her life since her husband was diagnosed with it almost a year ago. She’s amazed to see how he, along with other cancer patients, continues to persevere in his fight against cancer.

Washington University surgeon Julie Margenthaler shares Fasman’s admiration. She consults with and operates on breast cancer patients, for some of whom she will be the first to give the devastating diagnosis.

These are four different people, four different lives, but they all share a common thread.

All of these people: cancer patients, their relatives, oncologists, and cancer researchers are connected by their fight to overcome cancer.

CANCER PATIENT: PAUL KELLER

S

unscreen. Today, it’s an essential health product for protection against harmful UV rays. However, for Paul Keller, as a child in the 1960s growing up in Clayton, he had never even heard of sunscreen. He was a normal kid who played tennis, went on canoe trips, and hung out at the pool in the summer.

At the time, the frequent sunburn of his fair skin was of no major concern. Unfortunately, years later, these simple sunburns would forever impact his life.

“I was a typical fair skinned kid who got lots of bad sunburns, and that’s probably why I have melanoma now,” Keller said. “Now we know about the danger of too much sun, and we can avoid exposing ourselves to it. Kids that sit out in the sun, or go to tanning beds are crazy and asking for trouble later in life.”

Last February, Keller was diagnosed with Metastic Melanoma of Unknown Primary Source. Most cases of melanoma usually begin on the surface of the skin where they are visible to the naked eye; however, for Keller, the cancer originated somewhere within his body, preventing him from catching the cancer early in development.

“The first sign of trouble for me was a bruise that suddenly appeared under my left armpit,” Keller said. “A scan revealed an unusual mass, which was not supposed to be there. I had it removed immediately in surgery. Once they tested it, they knew it was some form of cancer,

but did not know what kind.” and I’m still doing many of the things I always For days and weeks on end, Keller waited used to do. I try to view my physical limitations anxiously to hear back from his doctors. as an interesting challenge, not as something “A cancer diagnosis is especially scary in the that stops me from pursuing things I enjoy.” beginning, because they often don’t know very Today, Keller maintains a Grateful Log to much until more tests are completed,” Keller record valuable memories as to not forget the said. “That was a stressful period. The results special moments of his life. are hard to understand because they are writ“I have a great life and a great family and ten in medical terminology and, as a patient, it’s cancer doesn’t change that one tiny bit,” Keller hard to know what it all really means. I spent a said. “I have already done almost everything I lot of time on the Internet trying to figure out ever wanted to do so I’m extremely lucky. Canwhat it all meant. It was hard to concentrate at cer can’t take any of that away. I am grateful work or go that I live to sleep at I TRY TO VIEW MY PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS during a night. Aftime when ter a while, AS AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE, NOT AS medicine I became SOMETHING THAT STOPS ME FROM is advancmore coming quickly f o r t a b l e PURSUING THINGS I ENJOY. and I am with my still optisituation just because I understood it better.” mistic that I can beat this. The drugs I’m taking Over the following months, Keller had two today were not available a year ago – that’s how major surgeries in addition to radiation treat- quick it’s all changing.” ment.

Recently, Keller began taking a new and Although the treatments and drugs have left promising drug for treating his melanoma. Alhim weaker, Keller continues to strive to do though the drug has shown positive signs of what he loves in life. improvement, Keller continues to recognize the “It has slowed me down and the drugs tend importance of his loving family in fighting this to make me tired,” Keller said. “But I try to cancer. make sure I still do things I enjoy, and I don’t let “I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by the disease dictate how I live. I am still going to so much love and support,” Keller said. “This work, enjoy being with my friends and family, would be very difficult to go through alone.”

COVER STORY

27

CANCER RESEARCHER: GERALD LINETTE noma. We’re also involved in the testing of new medications for patients with malignant brain tumors.”

The field of medical oncology has opened up a wide range of opportunities for Linette. Pharmaceutical companies that have gone through hen most people receive a pre- the preliminary stages of development for a scription, they simply take the new medicine recruit Linette to conduct clinical medicine and wait for the magical trials on patients.

After he has been recruited, Linette’s job is results to manifest, which, more often than not, they do. Though modern sci- to find patients for the trials. These patients ence has brought about this miraculous form come in the form of referrals, often by physiof treatment, it has also obscured those behind cians who find that currently available medicine these advances, the magic-makers, like Dr. Ger- is no longer helping a certain patient, and by Linette’s recruitment of his own patients. ald Linette.

Despite the seemingly sluggish pace of cliniLinette is a senior oncologist and faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis. cal trials, Linette remains committed to his work.

Though Linette “Most new sees and treats THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF medicines are decancer patients veloped through regularly, he also PATIENTS THAT WE’VE TREATED works in clinical IN THE PAST, WE’RE NOW FINALLY clinical research in a very deliberate trials, testing new manner; it takes a cancer and drug MAKING PROGRESS. long time to develtherapies on paop,” Linette said. “This is how progress is made tients for pharmaceutical companies.

“There are two different types of research in a field like oncology.”

Indeed, Linette’s persistence has resulted in that we are involved in,” Linette said. “The first is clinical trials and development of new some notable achievements. Just this year, two medications for patients with advanced mela- new medicines that he tested in clinical trials

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28

COVER STORY

were approved for the treatment of melanoma.

“We have patients that participated in this clinical trial, that took a chance and needed to receive additional treatment, that are still alive now because they responded to the therapy,” Linette said.

These great successes give additional value to a decade of work that Linette has dedicated to testing new treatments. However, success is not the only motivation for his commitment.

Linette’s main drive comes from his desire to help his patients.

“Everything in oncology is personal on a certain level,” Linette said. “We deeply care for the patients that come to us hoping to get better, and when a new medicine doesn’t work and a patient gets sick and dies of their disease, it’s always difficult for everyone. It’s something that we do take very personally, but part of each patient’s care is learning something so that we can help future patients. Through the efforts of patients that we’ve treated in the past, we’re now finally making progress.”

Progress has certainly been achieved through Linette’s work, but he has no plans for slowing down in the immediate future.

For Linette, progress is not measured by large benchmarks, but by continued and constant development. For this reason, Linette is optimistic that a cure looms in the future.

“I believe that by continued investment and research, someday we will have the answer to this disease,” Linette said.

PATIENT RELATIVE: ALICE FASMAN

E

ach morning, Alice Fasman enters her choir class at CHS beaming with optimism for the day ahead. For her students, she is a radiant source of energy, laughter, and passion for music. Her bright attitude towards life has never changed even with the difficult journey she has faced since her husband was diagnosed with cancer almost a year ago.

Fasman was at the state music educator’s conference when she received a devestating phone call from her husband, Mark. He had received a report from his doctor that he had stage four lymphoma. The news came as a complete shock to both of them. He was asymptomatic. Tears filled her eyes as she drove back to St. Louis.

“I just couldn’t think it could be possible,” Fasman said. “I think that when they say denial is one of the first responses, it absolutely is. I thought there must be something wrong. It just couldn’t happen to us.”

Denial was followed by incredible sadness.

Questions whirled through Fasman’s mind as she pondered, “What’s going to happen to him?

What’s going to happen to us? How is this going to change our lives?”

The next week her husband began receiving treatments and chemotherapy. For three days every month for six months, he stayed in the hospital for upwards of three to six hours while he was hooked up to an IV and infused with chemicals – “his poisons” – to fight off the cancer. Fasman watched these poisons slowly exhaust and debilitate him.

As a rabbi, Fasman’s husband had to limit his time with his congregation, missing some Shabbats and religious holidays. To make matters worse, at the beginning of his chemotherapy, he led a funeral service for a man who had died from the same type of cancer after not respond-

ing to the treatments.

“Mark saw that at the beginning, and was there with the family when the doctor [told them] there was nothing more we can do,” Fasman said. “So, we thought that was something we could be facing.”

Fortunately, following a series of chemotherapy treatments, his cancer went into remission.

He still suffered, however, from a significant decrease in white blood cells and a weakened immune system. Even worse, he experienced a few serious allergic reactions upon receiving transfusions of these needed red blood cells or platelets.

“The greatest challenge is that there are a lot of things that you cannot do: you can’t help them, you can’t make them feel better, and you can’t make him live any longer,” Fasman said.

“So much of it is out of your control.”

Despite the fact that his cancer is currently in remission, Fasman’s husband still faces the likelihood of the cancer returning in the next decade.

“I don’t know what the future is with Mark,” Fasman said. “There are statistics about how many years one lives with this condition; but the fact of the matter is that nobody knows. I just find it really difficult to face the awfulness of what this could be, and I cannot dwell on that all the time because I don’t think I would be able to function. So you must take each day at a time and enjoy your family, your job, and home, and all the people around you and all your blessings in life.”

In the end, Fasman remains optimistic for her husband’s future. The smile has never faded from her face as she continues to embrace each new day with a positive attitude.

“I want to be strong for Mark,” Fasman said.

“He may live a shorter life span, but I can’t dwell on that. We have to make each day what it is.”

I WANT TO BE STRONG FOR MARK. HE MAY LIVE A SHORTER LIFE SPAN, BUT I CAN’T DWELL ON THAT. WE HAVE TO MAKE EACH DAY WHAT IT IS.

SURGEON: JULIE MARGENTHALER

D

octor Julie Margenthaler starts her nosed and who have not,” Margenthaler said. day at 7 a.m. sharp. If she’s in clinic, “I would say about 70 percent of patients have she will see around 45 breast cancer already gotten their diagnosis. Usually what patients in the next 10 hours. If she’s happens is they have a mammogram, have a biin surgery, she will operate on six to 10 women opsy, then get the diagnosis and come see me. in separate surgeries. All in a day’s work, she About 30 percent of [patients] come in with a heads home at 5 p.m., only to wake up the next symptom like a lump and I am the one making morning and begin again. the diagnosis.”

Margenthaler is an associate professor of Margenthaler must give the devastating surgery at Washington University School of breast cancer diagnosis to around 14 patients Medicine and a breast surgeon at Siteman each day.

Cancer Center. She has been in practice for “I’m going to be very direct and tell them six years, meeting with breast cancer patients what I’m thinking so they don’t have to wonin clinic and performing surgical operations according to the DESPITE THE TYPE OF NEWS I HAVE TO needs of her patients.

In clinic, Margenthaler fa- DELIVER TO PEOPLE, I FEEL LIKE I’M A miliarizes patients with what they should expect over the PRETTY OPTIMISTIC PERSON. course of their treatment. For most women, that consists of a combination of der,” Margenthaler said. “I try to communicate surgery, chemotherapy or an anti-estrogen, and with them, make sure their family’s with them radiation. if possible, and always emphasize that even Aside from the general discussion, Mar- though it is breast cancer, we have great treatgenthaler must also address specific patient ments and we can cure it.” concerns. For patients with genetic problems, Despite the overwhelming difficulty of her a genetic counselor gets involved. For young task, Margenthaler’s direct approach and opwomen looking to become pregnant, a fertility timism proves effective. For those with less counselor gets involved. For the many patients promising diagnoses, however, Margenthaler’s who experience psychological stress because of job becomes different altogether. the weight of their diagnosis, a psychologist is “Once you realize you can no longer cure made available. the breast cancer, then you have to switch your “As the breast surgeon, you’re the coordinat- focus to understanding what her priorities are, ing person,” Margenthaler said. “You need to what quality of life she wants to have, and what make sure you take care of the surgical problem, side effects of the treatments would affect that but you also need to make sure you get all the quality of life,” Margenthaler said. “The focus people involved that play a part in their treat- becomes controlling pain, treating what you ment.” can, and using services like hospice.”

Though this intense coordination is indeed These kinds of diagnoses impact both surdifficult, arguably the hardest part of Margenthaler’s job lies in the conversation that precedes the discussion of additional care.

“I see both patients who have been diag-

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COVER STORY

geon and patient.

“It’s a very emotional time when you can’t offer anything else to the patient; you have to handle it differently for each individual patient,” Margenthaler said.

This emotional hardship is amplified by the long-term relationship inherent between breast surgeons and their patients. As breast cancer is known for recurring, most of Margenthaler’s patients are destined to be her patients for the rest of their lives.

“As a surgeon, I think you have a unique relationship with any patient you come in contact with because you have to cut on them and open them up, but specifically in breast cancer, you spend so much time with [the patient] when they’re first diagnosed and first going through surgery and treatment,” Margenthaler said.

“Those are life-long relationships.”

Though a close relationship with her patients sometimes results in additional emotional stress, Margenthaler finds it’s one of her favorite parts of the job. Indeed, Margenthaler finds that her job and the relationships she establishes play a large role in defining her as a person.

“What I do is a big part of who I am,” Margenthaler said. “I feel like the optimism of knowing you have good treatments spills over into what you do day in and day out of your life. Despite the type of news I have to deliver to people, I feel like I’m a pretty optimistic person.”

Survivor

DOCTORS Relative

A

lthough these four stories are vastly different and the protagonists complete strangers, their lives are more connected than most realize. Cancer isn’t a visible commonality and it certainly isn’t a predictable one, but it exists all the same.

Though this terrible disease has wrought unimaginable pain, it has also brought us together in a close-knit web, all linked to a common enemy.

Cancer is blind to gender, race, occupation, and religion. It refuses to acknowledge the barriers that keep people divided amongst themselves. In the eyes of a deadly disease, we are all merely human and it is only as a united community that humanity can confront cancer.

Whether we are physicians, relatives, patients, friends, victims, researchers, or survivors, the mission is the same. Cancer is a devastating disease, but it is a disease that we can conquer, together. ďƒź

PATIENTS

CANCER Patient

RELATIVES YOU

BOB BONE

PLAY BY PLAY

SAYS:

Athlete Profile: Thalia Sass Thalia Sass played a key role in field hockey’s success. and a possible record.

After recording a shutout in goal for the first half of a game, Sass moved to forward halia Sass has been a four-year varsity where she scored her first two goals of her field player and has transformed from an hockey career. It is under review whether a “intimidated” freshman to starting goaltender has previously scored two goals and goalie sophomore year to team leader her ju- recorded a shutout in the same game. nior and senior years. It is difficult to move According to Sass, the senior night victory on after spending so was a “huge boost for us Try your hardest on the field and topped off our week many hours practicing each season, a dilemma each and everyday and have of wins.” many seniors face as fall As Sass moves on afno regrets with your playing. ter four years guarding sports come to a close.

“I have worked so hard the net, she offered adthrough high school to Thalia Sass vice to future athletes: make this team and to Senior stick with your passion. win my senior year,” “When you find Sass said. “I don’t know what I will do when it’s something you love, the only person standing all over. I can assure you that there will be tears in front of success is you,” Sass said. “Try your on the field for our last game.” hardest on the field each and everyday and Despite the year being a re-building year have no regrets with your playing. Opportuand having a first-year coach, the team fin- nities and other doors will open up when you ished the season with a senior night victory give your full potential on the field.” 

JAKE BERNSTEIN

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With sports finished or finishing up, Bone reflects on how teams did this fall.

Boys’ Soccer

“I think the success we had last year has really given us a lot of confidence...The boys’ soccer team was third in the state last year and this year they hope to take home the gold.”

Cross Country

“Everyone expected our cross country teams to be good this year and they have lived up to expectations.”

Softball

“We have a great bunch of seniors that have worked very hard and an outstanding freshman pitcher that have given us the best softball team that Clayton has had in many years.”

Swimming

“I’m very pleased with our performance.

The numbers on our team are higher that they have been in many years and we also have some very high quality athletes.”

Girls’ Field Hockey

“The [girls’ field hockey team] is moving in the right direction and we all look forward to their success.”

Volleyball

“They have improved a great deal and has represented Clayton very well.”

Tennis

“Girls Tennis finished with a 9-1 dual meet record, was District runner-up, and had their doubles team of Caroline Greenberg and Carly Cassity finish 3rd at State.”

Golf

“Golf had their best season in many years which was highlighted by winning the Ritenour Ryder Cup Tournamnet.”

Football Courtesy of Booster Club

Sass defends the goal against Lafayette. She led the team to a strong finish after a rough year.

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“Football finished 3-7 with a schedule that included 3 teams that were ranked in the top 10 in the area and 6 teams that made the play-offs.”

Athlete Profile:

Matthew Millett

He never gives up on the cross country course.

He is a solid role model in behavior and work ethic for the younger runners.

Kurtis Werner CHS Cross Country Coach

OUT-RUNNING THE COMPETITION Senior Mattew Millet and the cross country team continue to make top-5 finishes.

JEFFREY FREIDMAN

S

enior Matthew Millett demonstrates the talent and hard work valued by cross country runners.

Millett is a talented cross country and track runner, who has participated in running competitively with CHS athletics since he was a freshman.

“I think the most unique thing about Matt is his ability to be a student athlete with such high regards for academics along with sports,” head cross country coach Kurtis Werner said.

Aside from impressing runners his age as well as coaches, Millett is an inspiring image for all of Clayton’s younger members of the cross country and track teams.

“He never gives up on the cross country course, and his number one status has been an attraction to some of the younger guys to get better,” Werner said. “He is a solid role model in behavior and work ethic for the younger runners.”

So far this season, Millett has ran an incredible 17:11 5k (3.1 miles), placing 13th out of 196 in the race at Forest Park held by St. Louis Uni-

versity High School. Other times for his races this season include 17:33 at Spanish Lake Park held by Lutheran North High School, 17:49 at Queeny Park held by Ladue Horton Watkins High School, and 18:09 at Shaw Park held by our very own Clayton High School.

Although it may seem to be so, running is not all fun and games for Millett. As a result of using ankle weights to improve his skills, he was injured during his junior year and put up a fight with shin issues.

He recovered to have a solid track season, productive summer of training, and now an excellent cross country season.

The boys’ captain and varsity runner senior Jake Bernstein is impressed with the effort Millett put forth to improve.

“With some other runners, he ran daily over the winter and during the track season in the spring; however, his summer work ethic was above and beyond,” Bernstein said. “He did not only run once a day, but for much of the summer, two times a day. The fact that he could run twice a day meant that everyone else could at least get up and run once.”

Aside from being a role model for young runners, when it comes to positively influenc-

ing his fellow varsity teammates, Millett is successful as well.

“Millett is an inspiration to me because of his work ethic in practice,” Bernstein said.

“He works hard every single interval and truly brings out the best of all of us.”

Millett was proud to place second out of the twelve teams in their division in the Forest Park Cross Country Festival, the first race of the season.

“My best cross country memory was probably Forest Park this year, where I realized what a competitive, fast team we could be,” Millett said.

Millett’s skill is the result of seasons filled with hard work and a strategic racing mentality.

“Usually I try to stick with a couple of our Clayton guys and pull away in the last bit," Millett said. "With exceptions, it seems to work well. What I think about in the race really depends on what happens during the day. I usually worry much more than I should. After hitting the second mile I always think to myself I only have a mile to go and should pick up the pace.

In the last 100-150 meters, I'm just taking step after step, knowing it will all be over soon so I can put all I have into it.”  PLAY BY PLAY

33

CUT TOO SHORT It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon at about half past two, and the St. Louis Priory School’s cross country team was out for a practice run near the 1200 block of Conway Road near Williamsburg Road.

Although it seemed like merely a routine practice, one misstep and fall had fatal consequences when seventh grader Brandon Hsueh fell into the road, where he was almost immediately run over by a woman driving an SUV.

BY MEREDITH MCMAHON 34

PLAY BY PLAY

IN MEMORY OF

Although Brandon was immediately rushed to the hospital, his situation was already dire.

Two days later, Brandon died on September 30 at 12:50 a.m.

The situation was one of the nightmares of coaches and parents of athletes alike—it was one where a child simply fell into the road, and there was nothing a driver in an oncoming car could do to prevent themselves from hitting him or her. The driver of the SUV was not distracted or speeding—there was just no way she could have stopped her vehicle in time.

Brandon was an optimistic kid, interested in video games, cello, piano, karate and tennis.

According to the Monday Morning Highlights at Priory on Oct. 3, “Most of all, during his all-too-short a time with us here at Priory, he was known for a smile that was big enough and bright enough to light his way down the hallway.”

However, the Brandon’s death remains present in hearts and minds of many, not only as a tragic accident, but also as a reminder and les-

son. According to Kurt Werner, the head cross country coach at CHS, such an incident can be very traumatic.

“It [Brandon’s death] terrified me as a coach because that’s like the ultimate . . . worst case scenario, a kid just stumbles out in the middle of the road and a car has no chance of stopping,” Werner said.

Fortunately, the junior cross country team at Wydown Middle School only runs in very safe areas along Wydown Blvd. or Forsyth from Hanley to Skinker, where there is a wide running path, as well as on the track near Concordia Seminary.

For the CHS cross country team, about 75 percent of cross country practices happen in Shaw Park for the CHS cross country team according to Werner, but the team does venture out for longer runs on congested roads like Forest Park Parkway, Brentwood, Forsyth, Maryland and Ladue Avenue. CHS cross country runners must sign safety contracts at the beginning of season that include precautions such as

BRANDON HSUEH Photo by Andrea Stiffelman

running on sidewalks when available and running on the left side of the road, facing traffic. Unfortunately, because Clayton is landlocked there’s not much opportunity to run in safer, rural areas.

“The students are well aware of [the congestion], but at the same time they do it on a daily basis and they are aware of the cars and the people,” Werner said.

The closest call Werner has had was at the intersection of Brentwood Blvd. and Forest Park Parkway, when the team was headed towards Meramac Elementary School.

“I had one car turning onto Brentwood.. .[making] a right hand turn looking left the whole time, not even looking on the sidewalk,” Werner said. “[And] even though we had the little walk guy, straight up and beeping and everything else telling us to go, I just grabbed some of the kids, and, sure enough, he made the turn and went right on past. He probably would’ve hit about four of us. So it does happen once in a while, and it’s always good that

the coaches are usually out on the runs with our surroundings,” junior and member of the students. I generally tend to definitely go on varsity cross country team Matthew Garrett runs with the newer runners, freshmen in par- said. “Coach Werner cautioned us about safe ticular when we start hitting roads.” running behavior, and he is very displeased Although Brandon’s coach was only 10 ft. when a runner attempts take a shortcut that behind him when he fell into traffic, there’s a has not been approved, and reprimands them large difference between the CHS and Priory for it. We haven’t changed our routes, but we’re team. now even more aware of the dangers present “I have about 45 to 50 on my team when while running.” we’re at maximum Overall, Brandon’s It terrified me as a coach because capacity, but at death was not only was that’s like the ultimate...worst-case a closure of life, but the Priory, where you have to do a sport, scenario. opening of discussion you can have anyabout more safety reguwhere from probaKurt Werner lations for cross counbly 75 to 100 boys try teams.

Cross country coach on their team, Brandon also helped which is a lot for a couple coaches to look over,” save lives posthumously by donating his orWerner said. gans, an incredibly generous act that possibly The death of Brandon Hsueh has affected saved the lives of many. According to the MonCHS cross country runners as well. day Morning Highlights at Priory on October “I think it’s a tragedy, and it’s had a big im- 3, “A simple gesture of straightforward givpact on safety regulations and awareness of ing…but it is pure Brandon.”  UPFRONT PLAY BY PLAY

19 35

WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW

Still in the midst of fall, the four Winter Sports teams begin practice.

Boys’ Wrestling

The Outlook 2010 Record: 4-6-1 Goal: Have a winning duel meet record, place as a team in multiple tournaments this year, and to qualify at least 4 wrestlers for the state tournament.

To make a state run: Continue to work hard in every single practice.

Edward Davis, junior: 2010 state qualifier and looks for another excellent season.

Caleb Grady, senior: 2010 state qualifier and looks to be in great shape after running cross country.

MJ Milbourn, Delvon Anderson: each attended several camps this summer and much is expected.

2010 Record: 22-7 Goal: Continue the streak of winning records and score a second straight district championship.

To make a state run: Work hard in November to get in shape and play a disiciplined offensive game in order to compensate for losing 45 points per game to graduation.

Charlie Harned, senior: Floor general looks to build off junior season.

Clayton Buchanon, senior: The Hounds count on Buchanon to score more this year.

Tyler Walker, junior: An Allaround athlete who looks to contribute more on the offensive end.

Key Losses: Cecily Lane and Elizabeth Sikora to graduation Goal: To qualify more swimmers to participate in the Missouri State swim meet. The team hopes to qualify a relay. A strong group of seniors may make this possible.

To make a state run: Be committed and work hard at practice daily.

Danielle Sikora, sophomore: School record holder and MVP as freshman, look for her to keep improving.

Julia Grasse, senior: Four-year swimmer and butterfly specialist.

Katherine Kirchoff, senior: 200 meter IM specialist, 100 meter backstroke

2010 Record: 10-17 Goal: Win districts for the first time since 1988.

To make a state run: The team needs to be ready to practice everyday. In order to play the up-tempo style as planned, players need to work hard be dedicated and work hard on the sets.

Haley Wartman, senior: 2010 2nd team all-league player for us last year, team leader.

Stephanie Avery, senior: Great rebounder who looks to have a presence in the post this year.

Ali and Carmen Planells: Sisters who look to have an increased role this year.

Boys’ Basketball

Girls’ Swimming

Players to Watch

Girls’ Basketball

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PLAY BY PLAY

Cardinal Fever Monumental days in the Cardinals’ 2011 season The situation

Rating

Snapshot

Chemistry teacher Nathan Peck has attended over 600 Cardinal games.

Game 6 was the best game he’s ever witnessed.

February 24 Bad News for Waino

GM John Mozeliak calls ace Adam Wainwright’s injury “significant” and there are rumors that Wainright is out for the season.

July 27 The Trade is Made

Ill-tempered Colby Rasmus is traded in a move that brings starting pitcher Edwin Jackson and bullpen depth to the Cardinals.

September 12 Sweeping the Braves The Cardinals gain three games on the Braves with their sweep Sept 9-11. Each of these games turn out to be pivotal as the Cards clich the Wild Card by little.

October 27 A Game 6 Miracle

The Cardinals stay alive in a miraculous game where the Rangers took the lead five times. David Freese was the hero with a walk-off homer in the 11th.

October 31 La Russa Calls it Quits

In a surprise move, Tony La Russa announces that he is retiring from baseball.

His Halloween shocker was trick, or treat for Cardinal fans.

Sports Science

What’s with those funky MLB-issue champagne goggles?

The popping corks from the champagne bottles pose a serious threat to eyeseight. At 12%, the alcohol content of champaign could possibly leave the recipient with a corneal abrasion which can linger 2-3 days.

In drinks with a higher alcohol content, mixing alcohol with the eye can scar the sclera.

Photos courtesy of MCT Campus

Sitting down with a season-ticket holder

The cork could cause a whole lot of damage, and they shoot like a gun.

John Holds, M.D.

Q: How many games did you attend this year?

A: I attended all of the post season games except game 5 of the NLCS when I was out of town. I went to about 30 -40 games.

Q:How does game 6 compare to the hundreds of other games you have attended?

A: It was probably the best game I’ve ever witnessed, the fact that it was an elimination game for us made it over the top exciting.

Q: How does this 2011 championship season compare with 2006?

I think this series was more dramatic and it was very satisfying to end the Brewers season in the NLCS, they were a bunch of cocky and mouthy wannabees.

Q: Will the Cardinals miss Tony La Russa next year?

A: I will miss his utter devotion to the game of baseball and I’m sure the Cards will miss him next year. TLR did things his own way and there were times when I loved TLR and also hated him in the same week of baseball.

Q: Sitting on the third base side for so many games, have you noted anything about Jose Oquendo?

Jose has a great chance to manage the ball club next year. He was Mr. Utility as a player and I think he’s a mature person who knows the game and should be a successful manager with us. I’m more worried about losing Dave Duncan, which I think is a likely scenario for next year.

PLAY BY PLAY

37

REVIEW

MONET MEETS THE ART MUSEUM The long-anticipated exhibition of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies is finally open.

MARIA MASSAD

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he new special exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum is entirely devoted to French Impressionist Claude Monet. Five magnificent oil paintings, including one of his most famous works, are currently on display in Monet’s Water Lilies.

Given Monet's status as a giant in the world of art, St. Louis has certainly been blessed to receive such famous works.

Inspired by his home garden in Giverny, France, Monet painted what is perhaps his most famous work: Agapanthus. He painted this triptych – or a set of three paintings – over the course of several years. Agapanthus is the main feature of the display. The triptych features reflections from Monet’s garden and, of course, his famous water lilies.

In Agapanthus, his use of color is absolutely incredible. Monet uses bright red paint to outline the lily pads, among many other unusual choices, but he combines colors in such a way that is genuinely pleasing to the eye.

Other paintings, including Water Lilies, Harmony in Blue, also showcase Monet’s genius.

Monet’s intense brushstrokes can clearly be observed in the oil paintings. Each one is deliberate, but, at the same time, Monet’s strokes seem to be somewhat spontaneous, which further adds to the grandeur of his artistry.

This masterpiece is finally presented as the artist intended for the first time in more than 30 years – together and connected as one, instead of each third of the painting separated at different art museums.

The Monet exhibit will be on display through Jan. 22, 2012. 

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REVIEW

Monet’s home garden in France.

Ellen Creager/Detroit Free Press/MCT

“Inspired by his home garden in Giverny, France, Monet painted what is perhaps his most famous work: Agapanthus.”

DID YOU KNOW? In school, Monet spent most of his time drawing ridiculous pictures of his teachers!

In 1883, Monet rented his house at Giverny, where he would live for the next 43 years.

When he was only 11, he studied at the Le Havre School of the Arts and would sell charcoal caricatures for 10 to 20 Francs.

Unlike many artists, he was famous even before he died. Now his house in Giverny is a museum.

‘50/50’ IS A 100 PERCENT SUCCESS NINA MUROV

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’ve always hated the word “dramedy” (a movie combining both drama and comedy). First of all, every time I watch a socalled dramedy, I end up disliking it. And second of all, a movie can either be a drama, with awkward comedy moments, or a comedy, with forced dramatic moments. However, “50/50” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt who also starred in “500 Days of Summer” and “Inception” and Seth Rogen who also starred in “Knocked Up” and “Pineapple Express” convinced me that a good dramedy can indeed exist.

Written by Will Reiser, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, “50/50” is the real life tale of Reiser’s battle with cancer. Rogen was by Reiser’s side the entire time, and after Reiser beat the disease, Rogen convinced Reiser to write a screenplay about it.

“50/50” centers around 27 year-old Adam Lerner (Gordon-Levitt) who learns that he has a rare form of spinal cancer. Adam has a

MCT Campus

50/50 chance of living and he is surprisingly calm about it. His girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) tries to be supportive, but ends up being the exact opposite. His overprotective mother (Anjelica Huston) won’t stop calling him, and only wants to talk about the bad things. But then there is Adam’s best friend Kyle (Rogen), who lightens up the dark times by making jokes about uncomfortable topics, smoking a lot of medical marijuana, and using Adam’s illness as a way to pick up women. Although he seems like a terrible friend, he is one of the only people who stands by Adam’s side. Adam also has to go to a therapist (Anna Kendrick), who is very awkward, but surprisingly helpful in the end.

The acting in “50/50” is terrific. It makes the characters’ emotions seem extremely believ-

able, making the movie even more realistic. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a great job of staying calm, yet still seeming very worried. He has that sweet little smile and those endearing eyes that make him enjoyable to watch.

Anna Kendrick and Anjelica Huston both are a wonderful addition to the cast. Kendrick’s character is the awkward but loving therapist, and Huston’s character is the awfully devoted mother. But the surprisingly best performance was Rogen. He made the movie more fun to watch than sad, with his dark, but charming humor.

I don’t know if it was the fact that the story was a real life tale, but “50/50” is both moving and very funny. I am now a true believer in dramady’s, and odds are, you’ll love “50/50.” 

‘NEW GIRL’ PROMISES LAUGHS AND SWEET SIMPLICITY JACKIE LEONG

I

f you weren’t living under a rock during the summer, you probably saw one of the slew of promotional clips for Fox’s new comedy, “New Girl,” in which, after a messy breakup—to make a long story short—Zooey Deschanel is one of the guys.

Naturally, I was excited. Not because Zooey was her usual hilarious self, or because the premise of the story in itself seemed interesting, but because the entire plot seemed like cheerful disaster just waiting to happen. And that’s what we all know and love as comedy, correct?

The premise of the show is simple and what you’d expect. Deschanel is Jess Day, a quirky 20-something who’s just moved in with three guys with a spare room posted on Craigslist. The guys turn out to be equally quirky, each in their own slightly stereotypical way—the athlete, the playboy, and the insecure. Hilarity ensues

Hopefully, anyway.

So I set out, hoping that the show I had high hopes for this year didn’t disappoint. Past my initial (grudging) misgivings, it made the cut, as it more than did so on the national level.

The pilot episode, as expected, was basically a loosely fleshed-out version of the trailer, and barely twenty minutes long, but don’t let that deter you.

As it turns out, it didn’t need to be longer.

The show snagged the rights to be called a smash hit when Fox requested a total of 24 episodes after just a couple of weeks in.

But back to the cast and motley crew. The characters themselves are figures we’ve all seen before, in other sitcoms, movies, and novels.

It’s how they blend together that makes the show. Deschanel is refreshing as a female lead who stands on her own. Awkward at times, cheerful during others, and lovable whatever she happens to be doing, she plays Jess’ character perfectly, which may break into song at random times. Other actresses would butcher

the role, but Deschanel makes it seem natural, not at all forced.

As I steadily made my way through the queue of the released episodes (the size of which was pretty scant, since the show was put on a short hiatus), I saw that we are not subjected to a laser-focus on her cutesy character. I was happy to see that the show didn’t leave the remaining cast of guys (and girl, Jess’ model friend) out to flounder as perpetual backup dancers. Not too much, but just enough attention was paid to the others, who seem acceptably three-dimensional.

“New Girl” endears itself not because it’s original, or overly hilarious, but simply because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It doesn’t need to be too witty. And thankfully it doesn’t have a laugh track like most otehr shows of its kind.

So the stage is set. The few released episodes show major promise, but can “New Girl” hold a top spot? We’ll see. Until then, I’ll be enjoying the ride.  REVIEW

39

‘THE X FACTOR’ PROMISES SUCCESS CHRIS CHO

MCT Campus

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REVIEW

MCT Campus

H

aving been so successful and appealing in England, America has been captivated by such success and built its own version of the show “The X Factor.”

“The X Factor” provides competition to those interested in expressing their singing talents. The goal is to win the competition and receive the 5 million dollar grand prize and a recording contract with one of the more famous companies in the singing market.

Providing the stardom in this competition is not only the talented singers, but also the already renowned judges. Simon Cowell, alum of “American Idol”, has come to provide the viewers with his sharp, yet comical, criticism. Paula Abdul, also from “American Idol,” provides subtlety and consistency when judging the contestants. New to judging are three accomplished singers and producers; Cheryl Cole, a singer and songwriter, Nicole Sherzinger, a singer from The Pussycat Dolls, and producer L.A. Reid, all of whom will judge alongside Cowell and Abdul.

Now airing on Fox on Wednesdays and Thursdays, viewers highly regarded the show as the new “American Idol”. Cowell expected the show to receive up to 20 million viewers by the first show-- however, this number was not attained.

Cowell referred to that situation as humbling.

He later stated in an interview with Access Hollywood that he fully expects his new show to flourish in the midst of a slow start. Moving coast to coast, from Los Angeles to Miami, “X Factor” will travel to six cities across America in hopes of choosing the most talented contestants to reach the finals. “The X Factor” has already provided viewers with jaw-dropping performances and eye-raising ones as well.

Contestants range anywhere from 15 to 61 years old, and the various acts make it impos-

sible to predict what might happen next. CHS students were asked whether they also enjoyed this new variety show. After taking a survey of about 50 CHS students, the overwhelming consensus was a yes. 48 of these students convincingly reiterated that “The X Factor” was their new “American Idol”. Many of these students were torn as to why they love the new show, but in the end they all agreed to one idea; “The X Factor” is more entertaining and unique than “American Idol.”

“The contestants on ‘The X Factor’ have been much more talented than the contestants on ‘American Idol,’” junior Greg Ginos said. “The quality of the voices has gone from sub-par to outstanding.”

A vast majority had one reason as to why “The X Factor” was more appealing: Simon Cowell. Influential, charismatic, and successful are all characteristics that Cowell possesses. CHS students were particularly swayed by the efforts Cowell put into Idol and the amazing results he produced. “‘American Idol’ was one of my more favorite shows when Simon Cowell played a prominent role in it,” junior Matthew Milbourn said.

“However, ‘The X Factor’ has gone above and beyond recruiting their judges.”

“American Idol” is now becoming far less relevant because of its less superior quality of judges and contestants on the show. Also, while “American Idol” restricts its competition to solo singers, “The X Factor” welcomes group singers to the stage. Contestants will also be singing in front of thousands of fans on a stage for the audition in “The X Factor”, while “Idol” contestants sing in a small, compact hotel room. This change may attract contestants looking for their first taste of stardom.

It seems “X Factor” may very well dethrone “American Idol” as the king of singing competitions. 

‘ABDUCTION’ IS ACTION PACKED, THRILLING NEIL DOCHERTY

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ou’re in high school, living a normal life when one day you stumble upon a picture of yourself on a missing child website. Then before you know it, strangers are trying to capture you and kill your family and friends. What do you do? You run.

And that’s exactly what seventeen-year-old Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) does in the film “Abduction,” directed by John Singleton.

Running from home to find answers about his life, Nathan is joined by his long time crush Karen (Lily Collins). As the chase continues, the couple realizes that not just the bad guys are after them, but also the CIA. With only instructions to trust no one from Nathan’s psychiatrist (Sigourney Weaver) and little information, the two teens stay on the run, dodging obstacles at every turn. In Nathan’s quest for answers he soon discovers a list of encrypted names, which are the cause of his ordeal. Now with a path to follow Nathan and Karen stay on the move and the movie stays action packed and gripping until the end.

For Taylor Lautner fans, you won’t be let down by this film. With plenty of romantic scenes involving Lautner, Lautner fans are sure to get their money’s worth. But “Abduction” is not to be confused with Lautner’s most famous movie, “New Moon.” “Abduction” offers the audience not just a romantic movie, but also an action filled plot that is sure to entertain girls and boys of all ages. So if you love action, Taylor Lautner, or both, then this is the perfect movie for you. 

COMMENTARY

Students walk around the quad, which, by the end of the day, is usually littered with garbage.

Photo by Jack Holds

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Trash in the quad is a disgrace to our new building and the Clayton character.

STAFF EDITORIAL It’s about 3:30 p.m., and Omar the Custodian is making his rounds. He meticulously walks across the quad, tugging a rolling yellow trashcan along with him. After a few steps he stoops down. He is picking up trash – lots of it.

It was a sad sight to see when, on the first day that the lush, green grass was opened to students, it was almost immediately littered with plastic bags, bottles, papers and cans. Every day, there accumulates an ungodly amount of debris in the quad. It is puzzling that so few have bothered to care.

This is, of course, entirely typical of the Clayton student. Given so much privilege – a brand new $30 million wing, a beautiful park in the center of the campus – the Clayton student elects to blatantly insult every self-respecting taxpayer by carelessly leaving his trash on tables, chairs, and the ground.

This littering phenomenon shows an utter lack of regard for any of the time, effort and

money spent to create this outrageously deca- small number of students are responsible. But dent school. It is almost as if Clayton students in a school of 850 students, it is pathetic that don’t realize that their abandoned garbage has so few take the time to pick up trash, even if it to be picked up by someone, and that it is all is not theirs. Littering is just a symptom of the too often custodians like Omar, making their greater disease: the ideals of community and rounds after school, who are left to do the dirty shared responsibility have gone completely out work. the window.

All of this is made even more ridiculous by This seems to be the perfect initiative for the fact that there are trash cans galore in the Green Club or Community Service Club, but quad, so that one would barely have to walk 20 neither has taken action. This seems to be somefeet before encounthing that the adtering some sort of In a school of 850 students, it is ministration would bin. Laziness is simpathetic that so few take the time to find disgusting, but ply not an excuse. it has yet to find a sopick up trash, even if it is not theirs. lution. For now, it is What would happen if Omar stopped up to the custodians making his rounds? How much trash would ac- to clean up our mess, to pick up the remnants cumulate before anyone took action? How long of our disrespect and youthful idiocy. But that would it take? A week? Two weeks? A month? just isn’t the way it should be. Until Omar can Let’s not wait that long. The good thing put his rolling yellow trashcan to rest, this staff about littering is that it is so easy to fix. It is will continue to be deeply concerned about the an option, a simple choice between carelessness cleanliness of our school and, most importantand character, between disrespect and morals. ly, the poor health of the Clayton character and This is not a widespread problem – a relatively the Clayton community.  COMMENTARY

41

PROBAMA

Obama is a pioneer in increasing government transparency. He has delivered on his commitment to change.

allow civil rights to more citizens regardless of their sexual identities.

Obama’s support of the repeal indicates his President Barack Obama has taken his fair progressive mindset, a quality that is crucial in share of flak with criticism from both Democratic championing further reforms that may be seen as and Republican sides of the aisle. more “radical,” a willingness to challenge the status This malignant reaction, however, threatens to quo. obscure the brighter points of his presidency, the Aside from his many successes, the heaviest efforts of a tireless reformer and bipartisan leader. criticism of Obama has centered on two main Post-Watergate, government transparency has points: his management of an admittedly depresstaken on increasing importance, though in the ing economic recession and the landmark Patient eyes of many it has been taken for granted. Un- Protection and Affordable Care Act that he passed, til recently, the legacy of Executive Order 13233, colloquially known as and henceforth referred to issued by President as “Obamacare.”

George W. Bush, While it is true In terms of health care, the passage that the economy blocked public access of Obamacare further underscores is functioning at a to old presidential records. the president’s strong committment to significantly lower Obama revoked his campaign for change. level than the early 13233 and went a 2000s, most critics step further, instructunderstand that the ing officials to record information to aid in poten- recession (or crisis, depending on the critic) was tial Freedom of Information Act inquiries. precipitated during the waning years of Bush’s Another area of progress in Obama’s presi- presidency. dency is civil rights. One of the most high-profile Thus, Obama essentially inherited an unenviadvances is the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, in able situation and was tasked with preventing a place since 1993. financial meltdown.

The law was a cause célèbre for equal-rights By all accounts it must be noted that he sucgroups, and its repeal resulted in a widespread ceeded in preventing what the media hyped could sense of liberty for homosexual service members. be the “second Great Depression” and a doubleThe impact lies not only in its stated goals, dip recession through his extension of the Keynesbut also in relation to the battle for civil rights for ian bailout policy.

LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) As anti-Keynesian as the conservative ranks are people. at the moment, there was a time, the early 2000s, The overturn of such landmark legislation sets when Republicans were fiercely Keynesian in view. a presidential precedent for a future willingness to Republicans now also fail to mention that the

SHUYANG LI

42

COMMENTARY

additional bailout bills were passed with bipartisan support. All this goes to show that when it comes to threatening situations, economic affiliations and labels mean precisely squat.

Obama, Democrats, and Republicans alike passed bills they thought necessary for stabilizing a receding economy.

Though some insist the bailout allowed companies to escape any consequences for their financial irresponsibility, Obama showed remarkable resilience and strategy when he forced GM to restructure before taking government ownership of the automotive manufacturer.

While naysayers warned and grumbled at the time, the result was the automotive corporation’s striking, triumphant emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In terms of health care, the passage of Obamacare further underscores the president’s commitment to his campaign platform of change.

He was unafraid to direct numerous revisions to the 1000+ page bill and forged on through unanimous Republican opposition.

Obama promised change and he delivered on that promise, despite the impressive obstacles that stood in his way.

Needless to say, Obama’s decisions, more often than not, cannot be evaluated by pure binary contrast.

It would be a mistake to condemn a man that has forged a new direction for America for a few disagreeable decisions or for situations beyond his control.

As the election approaches, it would be wise to remember that Barack Obama showed us change is not just possible, but probable. 

NOBAMA

He is a partisan politician who has concentrated on propping up his electorate instead of building up America.

MCT Campus

JONATHAN SHUMWAY It had been 65 years since the landing of the Allies on the Normandy shores on June 6, 2009.

WWII veterans gathered from across the world to join in this historical moment to celebrate the beginning of the fall of Hitler. I was there with my grandpa who landed on D-Day, as was President Obama.

Every major Western leader was in attendance to show their respect on this epic day.

The media attention, however, was on President Barack Obama. I pushed my way through a thick crowd to simply catch a short glimpse of the famous man as he departed in Marine One. The expectations of the world were high for him. There was a palpable fervor present that he would “change” the world for the better.

He would resurrect the crumbling world economy. He would restore American’s confidence in themselves and in their nation. He would be different—he would bring “change.”

Now three years later, we have learned that President Obama is not the hoped-for “change.”

He is a Washington politician. He has engaged in backroom deals, supported bipartisanship only when convenient; he has increased the intrusiveness and scope of the federal government. He trusts government over believing in people.

What has been done in the President Obama’s presidency? The unemployment rate persists above 9 percent. China continues to refuse to float its currency to market value or respect intellectual property—resulting in in-

balanced trade favored towards China.

He has spent over 4 trillion dollars—increasing the federal debt to over 14 trillion dollars (almost as much as Bush spent in two terms).

He has made tepid efforts to cut the deficit and ignored the root cause of unsustainable entitlement programs—eligibility ages are too low. It has been estimated that by 2030, entitlements will take up 70 percent of the budget, according to the New York Times. The government can’t do everything for its people.

It’s a real problem when the US government has to borrow 36 cents for every dollar spent, according to the Washington Post.

In his 447 billion dollar jobs plan, Obama sought to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations. In his recent attempt to lower the deficit by three trillion dollars for the next ten years, he refused to rely on simply using spending cuts. Why does President Obama continue to deny the legitimacy of supply-side economics? Raising taxes is not the answer—we simply need fewer barriers to business creation and smaller government. Let us not destroy jobs by hurting the job-creators.

In what many view as President Obama’s most monumental legislation, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it is important to remember that it was a bill passed by not one Republican. President Obama and Congress could not reach across the aisle for a bill that will become so prevalent in the lives of all Americans; with no real consensus this legislation will be tied up in court for years to come.

In President Obama’s presidency there has been a surge in political polarity. The Tea Party

and Occupy Wall Street protests are examples of this civil anger. President Obama has divided America between red and blue; even the blue side is becoming disillusioned.

Obama has too often made decisions simply to keep his electorate. Years passed before he finally signed the free-trade agreements with South Korea, Columbia, and Panama—the freetrade agreement with South Korea estimated to bring 280,000 jobs and increase exports by 12 billion dollars, according to the Washington Post.

The basic reason why President Obama is a failure is that he has brought a “change” borne by inaction and lack of leadership and responsibility.

He has destroyed the hope of millions of Americans. He has been caught up in his liberal agenda, without looking to build a broad consensus between right and left. He should be above partisan politics. The super-committee though is a late start—a coalition of both Republicans and Democrats working to create a plan to reduce the federal budget by 1.5 trillion dollars for the next ten years.

Obama needs to be a leader and listen to his opposition, so America can get back on its feet.

As John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country?” Obama needs to create jobs, restore confidence, and stop “liberal” spending now. If the President cannot do this, he will join the bench of unelected incumbents.

Obama needs to “change” America for better, or the residents of the White House will certainly have to “change.”  COMMENTARY

43

LOSING SIGHT OF THE ENDZONE CHRISTOPHER SLECKMAN With cash incentives for personal gain, is fantasy football distracting NFL fans from the spirit of professional football?

F

antasy football is on the rise, and NFL teams are losing valuable fans because of it. There was a time when the only important statistic to a fan was the final score and whether it resulted in a win or loss. Fans watched for the love of the game, and all that mattered was the team that emerged victorious.

Now, as fantasy football has become increasingly popular, more people have begun watching to see how many yards their quarterback throws or how many touchdowns their running back scores.

Many fans care more about the accomplishments of an individual than the welfare of the team. Is this game changing football fans for the better?

Fantasy football is an online game where participants join a league with a group of 10 people, and then take turns selecting NFL players to be on their team.

Throughout the season, participants earn points based on how their players perform. Whoever has the most points at the end of the season wins.

The competition is fierce and many fantasy football fans have had their team spirit overtaken by a powerful force - cash.

Many fantasy football participants put in a certain amount of money at the beginning of the season and the winner gets the jackpot at the end. Fantasy footballers become so obsessed with the possible cash prize that it cuts into the love for their favorite team.

Players begin rooting for individuals even if it means rooting against their favorite team.

Although many fantasy football fans have been sucked in by the prospect of cash, there are still nearly 150 million people every weekend who tune into a football game at some point in the day, compared to the 20 million who play fantasy football.

The reality is, fantasy football is simply a virtual game and its increase in popularity has distracted people from the game itself.

Fantasy football has changed fans, it has turned them from loyal team enthusiasts to fair-weathered supporters that focus on statistics and individuals.Â ďƒź

44

COMMENTARY

SHADOWING A FUTURE

r Taylo

JAKE LEE

I

remember seeing scarlet blood oozing out of a silent body and guts being thrown onto a table. On TV, that is. In the past, I had always wondered if medical care was as gruesome as how television portrayed it. Though I clearly had little knowledge on how doctors dealt with patients in practice other than the few episodes of “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy” I had seen, I thought it would be a good idea to plunge right into the heart of medical practice: surgery.

When my father told me about an opportunity to shadow a family friend who was a world-traveling neurosurgeon and, at the time, practicing in Ethiopia, I thought it would be a great way to become aware of what doctors really do. Ever since I shadowed my first doctor in Ethiopia, I was confident that my calling was to be a doctor.

When I was in Ethiopia, my train of thought was only how doctors had the ability to cure.

Though my thought was not completely incorrect, it was extremely shallow. Recently, I shadowed a pediatrician and learned a whole new side to what it meant to be a doctor. Coming directly from school, I was in my casual school outfit and arrived at the pediatrician’s office.

Gold

Immediately, I was frowned upon. The pediatri- and the hope to many. cian questioned what I was wearing, saying how As I carefully examined the pediatrician, I flip-flops and shorts were unacceptable to wear came to understand that helping her patients to her office. Embarrassed, I stood silently and was aiding her in relieving her own burden as made a mental note to wear khakis and loafers well as her patient’s suffering. Yet, I also undernext time. stood that a diagnosis of a fatal disease in a paWhen I walked into the pediatrician’s office, tient gives herself a burden as well as the family I was lost in a television episode. I had com- of the patient. Such was the case for when I met pletely forgotten one of the most basic factors the schizophrenic patient my first time shadfor doctors, and jobs in general. Being profes- owing the pediatrician. When the pediatrician sional is a necesrevealed the diagnosis, I sity for success. It Not only did I realize the basis could see the disturbance didn’t matter that of practice, but also the reality of in the father’s eyes. It was I wasn’t making a unfortunate, but it was the burden one carries with the reality. diagnosis and was there only to obShadowing is the only potential to cure. serve. In a setting way I could have come up where one is getting paid for a practice, being with this epiphany. It’s a must before one can professional creates a relationship between the even make a decision as to what career path one expert and the customer. Though these general wishes to follow. Though shadowing is a term behaviors seem so fundamental, it’s easy to for- mainly used for doctors, following any kind of get and act inappropriately. Shadowing remind- expert can always open you up to new ideas. ed me what it means to be a doctor.

Thus, I continue to shadow doctors from derNot only did I realize the basis of practice; in matologists to opthamologists to expand my addition, I understood the reality of the burden understandings of what it means to be a doctor. one carries with the potential to cure. Doctors Sometimes I question myself. Will I be able to are forced to carry the burden of the pain and carry the burden of my patients, or will I coldisease that patients endure. Doctors could be lapse? I can’t read the future, but I’m now prethe solutions to some, the enemies to others, pared for it.  COMMENTARY

45

CURTAIN CALL

S

THE FACE OF CLAYTON harmon Wilkinson is a 15-year veteran of the school district, but this is her first year as superintendent. She brings with her the confidence and determination to infuse the district with frank and honest discussion. The Globe’s Katherine Ren sat down with Dr. Wilkinson to discuss her experience and aspirations for Clayton.

How did you end up in this position?

motivates and inspires. It’s the students, parents, teachers, and the broader school community that makes Clayton a uniquely special place to be.

The board of education asked me in January if I would assume the responsibilities of interm superintendent after Dr. Mary Herman asked to be released from her contract. Then in spring, the school board asked if I would assume the role for two years because they felt that my knowledge of the district would provide some continuity during the transition period.

Are there any current challenges that the school is facing?

We are currently going through a visioning process where we are analyzing what we’ve valued in the past, where we are now, and where we want to be in the future. And we are using that to set strategic goals for the district. We are also looking to be fiscally responsible. Last year we deficit spent, and, although we still have a healthy fund balance, we want to pay more attention to finding the most effective and efficient ways to use our resources.

I have gotten the opportunity to see the district from a much more global perspective. I have gotten the chance to interact with our students, staff, constituents and stakeholders, and our community in general on a deeper level. I have also been able to attend a greater variety of events going on throughout the community. The biggest difference I would say is learning the difference now through a new lens.

What a typical day for you?

I’m not sure if my schedules now will be the same as in the long term, but I’m currently meeting and talking with different people through the lens of this role. Last month was heavily spent on getting involved within the community. I tried to make myself visible at common events because I want parents and members of the community to know who I am and be able to connect to me. As we’re thinking about who Clayton is as a community, I really want them to be comfortable with me and I want to be able to listen and hear what’s important to them.

Courtesy of Chris Tennill

How is this position different from your old position as Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Student Services?

In your opinion, what does it take to run a successful school district?

I would say it takes a board that is committed. It takes strong leadership and open, frank, honest conversation. So what that means is that there will be issues that we tackle where we all have our own vision of what the outcome should be. But we must move from the individual perspective to a collective vision because it’s our collective responsibility that will get the work done.

What are some of your hobbies?

I love the outdoors. I enjoy walking, reading, and spending time with my family. Some would say that my hobby is my work. I think as of now, I am dedicated and fully invested in this job.

This year’s theme is “I am Clayton.” What do you think defines Clayton?

Tell us a little about your past. What were your goals as a young adult?

Clayton is special because of its students. They are curious, inquisitive learners that are constantly seeking challenge. They are passionate and want us to provide them with the kind of education that when they leave here they will be equipped, knowledgeable, and able to tackle whatever they want. Clayton is defined by a community that supports education.

Parents move to this district because they want their children to have the best education possible. We have people and teachers in the district that genuinely care about each and every child, providing relationships that

My dream was to be involved in the business of education. I wanted to provide the opportunities and resources for students so that when they graduate, they would have the intellectual curiosity of believing that there is always something more to learn. At this district, we are constantly striving to cultivate that sense of curiosity so that knowledge is something you will always value. My dream was to help develop kids for the whole person—academically, athletically, and socially. And here in this district, we are doing just that. 

46

CURTAIN CALL

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