Triangle Volume 98 Issue 3

Columbus North High School 1400 25th St. Columbus, IN

who we are Editors in Chief Madi Beck Hannah Long Suzanne Ward

Design Editor Emma Cooper

Content Editor Caitlin Davey

Photo Editor

Alyona Rosenthal

Web Editors

Hailey Andis Cailyn Goebel

Indepth Team

Salomé Cloteaux Coral Roberts Erica Song Kate Thomas

what’s important Students reflect on their daily mental and physical struggles

what’s inside

Social Media Editor Jasmine Austin

Staff Members Curtis Abendroth Xavier Allen-Barton Alyssa Ayers Lucy Beck Abby Bodart Kora Carter Katie Castaneda Val Castillo Lara Gracie Davis Paola Fernandez Dayana Franco Ruiz Riddhi Garg Angenzi Gonzalez Santiago Lauren Grider Sydnee Guthrie Willow Hatter Anna Hatton Zoey Horn Lily Hruban Alli Lay Eric Le Nadia Lomax Katie Long Alex Marsh Ruth Anne Mayer Aidan McAlister Jess McAninch Kerrianna McCloskey Jaxon McKay Nathaly Munnicha Thomas Neeley Kurt Nusterer Jalynn Perry Cheyenne Peters Owen Poindexter Zoe Preston Katie Richards Nela Riddle Ashley Sturgeon Braden Taylor Emy Tays

Advisers

Rachel McCarver Roth Lovins

news opinion sports student life

what we stand for Our Editorial Policy

The Triangle is the designated forum for student expression at Columbus North High School. The student staff chooses all content.

Signed columns published in The Triangle express the writer’s personal opinion and not the views of The Triangle, student body, BCSC, administration, board of trustees or faculty of Columbus North.

The Triangle practices ethical journalism by providing balanced and fair coverage as determined by community standards. The Triangle strives to achieve 100 percent accuracy by checking sources, spelling, and quotes and attaining multiple sources.

The Triangle encourages letters to the editor, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in

the letter. The Triangle will not edit for content, but reserves the right to edit for grammar and length.

Letters should be submitted to room 1507 or sent via e-mail to administrator@ cnhsmedia.com. All Letters much be signed by all persons involved in writing the letter, which the staff will check for validation. A letter sent via e-mail must be validated with a signature from the writer before The Triangle will publish it. If responding to a publication, letters must be turned in within one week of that publication’s distribution.

In the event of death, The Triangle will run a standard obituary. Pertaining to work submitted via social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), The Triangle will only accept written submissions from the original poster and owner and will only publish entries with the permission of the original poster and owner. The Triangle will not edit submissions for content and reserves the right not

to publish them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple submissions of the same topic, vulgar or incendiary content. The Triangle will not publish photographs from Facebook. Posts on The Triangle’s social media pages by readers are owned by the readers and do not necessarily express the views or opinions of the staff. The Triangle is not responsible for their content and reserves the right to delete and report any inappropriate and unnecessary posts. By posting on The Triangle’s social media pages, the poster grants The Triangle permission to publish the contents of that post.

In cases when a source’s information may bring ridicule or incrimination upon himself or herself, the editorial board reserves the right to cite the source as anonymous. The Triangle will never use composite sources and pass them off as anonymous sources.

what’s going on on the cover Fabio Navarro and Arleth Landero pose in fourth period AP Spanish with the skeleton cutouts that they created for their Dia de los Muertos celebration.

nov. 2

The Avenue of Architects is a photography exhibit of Fifth Street in Columbus. It goes until the end of the month.

nov. 6

The midterm elections take place city wide. Check for a polling place closest to you on vote.org.

nov. 7

Senior class meeting takes place during fourth period. The meeting concerns caps and gowns.

CONTENTS

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exercising a right What you need to know about the upcoming election

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by ruth anne mayor design by hannah long and kurt nusterer his week, 18-year-olds from all across the nation are preparing to vote for their first time. On Nov. 6, students at CNHS will be choosing candidates to fill national, state, and local offices. Many students are ready to give their input by voting, including senior Sydney Geckler.

“I think it’s important because it’s a fundamental right that every citizen over 18 years old has and I think that they should take advantage of this,” Geckler said.

“It’s a privilege that we have, and I think that it’s really important to make your voice heard in politics and in the United States.”

Voting is the only direct way for citizens to make a difference, but some choose not to exercise their right to vote.

“[Voting is] a privilege that we have, and I think that it’s really important to make your voice heard.”

senior sydney geckler

According to brookings.edu, millennials represented almost 50 percent of the entire voter population in the 2016 election.

However, according to usatoday. com, only 19 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 voted during the 2016 election.

Some people choose not to vote because they believe that their vote does not matter, but senior Sam Lay has a different opinion.

“Every election, every vote matters because you can get an election where it can just be decided by a few hundred votes,” Lay said.

In past years, several elections have come down to just a few votes.

For instance, in 2009, Minnesota Senator Al Franken won his election by just 312 votes.

Senior Destiny Benefiel also agrees with Lay. “Every vote counts, especially for the younger generation because [we account] for half of the voting [population], and we are such a diverse group that we could really put in the change for our future,” Benefiel said. “Every vote goes to something that matters.”

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speak out

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by cheyenne peters design by katie richards

ne in three adolescents will be involved in an unhealthy relationship, according to loveisrepsect.org. At the beginning of a relationship, some people may like to do nice things for their significant other, like getting them a gift. But not all relationships are good the whole time, and they could turn into something bad for the people involved.

“He would do big elaborate things for me, talk to my parents, walk me to class, before we were even dating.

It got to the point where we were really close friends. He asked my parents before he asked me out to make sure it was okay with them. He brought me flowers, and he would do really nice stuff for me,” an anonymous senior girl said.

In new relationships, victims of abuse may be misled into thinking the abuser is perfect because of the nice things they do for them.

“I thought it was this perfect thing, and this went on for about five months. Everything was totally fine, and he was amazing, and it was the best five months that I’ve had,” she said.

In any given relationships there may be a few arguments or fights here and there, but some may turn out worse than others.

“Our first fight, I can’t even remember what is was about, but I had done something wrong. I came to school the next morning, and he totally ignored me all day. He wouldn’t answer my text messages. When he would usually walk me to class, he wasn’t there, so I would be waiting. He wouldn’t say hi to me, and he would totally just pretend that I didn’t exist. I went home with him and his mom after school and then we were in his bedroom,” she said.

“Suddenly something snapped. He blew up at me, and he started yelling at me, screaming, and telling me that I was awful and careless, and that I didn’t care enough about him. He punched a wall. After that, he would grab my wrist and ask me what I did wrong, so I would tell him everything I did wrong. Then it would go back to normal.”

The abuser may blame it on the victim to try to get the victim to feel a certain way about themselves.

“He would want me to feel sad. He would ignore me, and then I would ask him about it. I would build up the courage, and then he would blow up at me. Then we would hug and makeup, and it would be fine. That went on for about a year and half,” she said.

The things people say to someone can be just as damaging as physically the hurting the person.

“He would make me do things to prove that I cared about him,” she said. “It got to the point towards the end of the relationship, that he was like ‘if you feel bad about it, I want you to hurt yourself. Show me that you hurt yourself, so I know you feel bad.’ I developed really unhealthy

Senior girl shares about a past relationship during Domestic Violence Awareness month

habits with him because I felt like I had to,” she said.

In unhealthy relationships, sometimes the best thing to do to change the situation is to break up with the abuser.

“I broke up with him over a text message. He was gone, so I worked up the courage to say ‘it’s over. Don’t ever talk to me again.’ He had already graduated by that time, so he was long gone,” she said.

Talking to people who care can help victims of abuse get advice on how to deal with the situation.

“After asking my friends and my family on what to do they said to just do it cut him off,” she said.

When getting into a new relationship, one doesn’t always know what the other person has gone through.

“He was struggling with something way before he met me, and I think he wanted me to fix him in a way. He thought that I was gonna help him fix all of his problems, and when I didn’t live up those expectations, then he would go off on me,” she said.

Another sign of an unhealthy relationship is if someone is controlling what the other person does.

“I felt trapped, and I felt like I couldn’t talk to anybody.

A part of me almost thought of this as normal,” she said.

Even if the person suffering from abuse does not think there is a problem, there might be a chance they are just unaware of it.

“It wasn’t until that I broke up with him that I realized this was unhealthy, and I told my friend,” she said.

If anybody thinks they may be in an unhealthy relationship, it is important to talk to somebody about it.

“It is incredibly important to have another set of eyes on the relationship. I know that seems taboo, and it seems that you’re letting people into something intimate, but that’s not the case. If it’s an unhealthy relationship, you need someone,” she said.

To learn more about how to get help in a unhealthy relationship, go to CNHSMEDIA to see an interview with Turning Point’s Sarah Flores artwork by katie richards

NEWS

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earthly impact Keeping our cool in a world that is heating up by katie richards design by kurt nusterer

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wo-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef has been damaged. According to the June 2016 National Geographic, penguin colonies in northern Antarctica have decreased by eighty percent in just thirty years.

NASA research says that for the past twenty-three years, Greenland has lost an average of 281 tons of ice annually. Global climate change is the cause of these daunting statistics, scientists at NASA confirm.

The Earth’s surface temperature is rising, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA). According to the NOAA, the majority of the increase in temperature has occurred in the last 20 years.

“There will be five to six degrees of warming expected by mid-century,” teacher and mentor of the Climate Restoration Team at St. Bartholomew, Bridget Steele said.

The four hottest years on record have been the last four years, NOAA data shows. The warming of the Earth has caused the melting of glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice, reducing many organisms’ habitats and rising sea levels, NASA said.

“Climate change is caused by several factors, some of which are the use of fossil fuels that increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, deforestation, overflowing landfills,” senior and member of the Environmental Club Mimi Chon said.

In the same way heat is trapped inside of a greenhouse, heat is trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by certain gases, says the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). NRDC research shows that if the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere rises, so does the temperature. The most abundant of these greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide, which is released when we burn fossil fuels, says the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the National Geographic website, several deforestation tactics such as the slash-andburn method, in which huge masses of trees are burnt, also dramatically increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Because trees absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, cutting them down is problematic.

Temperature isn’t the only problem caused by increased carbon dioxide.

“If we don’t make a change, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will continue to grow at alarmingly increasing rates which leads to ocean acidification which has an incredibly negative impact on ocean ecosystems,” Chon said.

According to the Smithsonian Institute, the increase in carbon dioxide in the ocean causes a higher acidity level which hurts organisms like coral. Oysters, clams, sea urchins and countless other sea creatures are negatively impacted by ocean acidification. Billions of people rely on fish or shellfish as their main source of food.

Everyone on Earth contributes, in some part, to climate change. The amount of greenhouse gases, especially the carbon dioxide a person’s actions produce, is called their carbon footprint.

Columbus North High School students’ carbon footprints increase throughout the day as they drive to and from school, eat lunch, and use electronic devices. While producing carbon is inevitable and inescapable, steps can be taken to reduce the size of one’s carbon footprint.

“To reduce my carbon footprint, I take part in the school’s environmental club, recycle, use reusable containers and water bottles, carpool, remain aware of home water and energy usage, and stay conscious about the sustainability of the products I buy,” Chon said.

“We need to make an active effort to move to clean energy in our homes, consume less meat, use plastics much less, reduce idling and bike or walk more,” Steele said, “It is our responsibility to leave our planet in good shape for future generations.”

consumer causation

Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) save 25 percent more electricity than incandescent light bulbs (climatekids.nasa.gov )

One out of every two marine animals that ingest plastic die (strawlessocean.org)

If every student at CNHS chose not to use one straw per day, 300 pounds of plastic would be kept from polluting the ocean About 71 percent of seabirds and 30 percent of turtles have been found with plastic in their stomachs (strawlessocean.org)

NEWS

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CLASS OF 2019 GRAD ADS • Preserve special friendships • Showcase the seniors on the team • Buy a space all for yourself • Can include baby pictures, first day of school pictures, family photos and/or senior portraits!

• Reserve your Senior Ad in the 2019 Log yearbook BEFORE DEC. 21 • Pick up an order form from Mr. Lovins in room 1507 or in the main office

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STRUGGLES by erica song and salomĂŠ cloteaux design by coral roberts and kate thomas

The world is not always as it seems. A casual conversation could hide hearing loss. A pair of contacts could disguise an eye condition. Hours upon hours of studying could mask dyslexia. Even a smile could cover the depression, anxiety and PTSD underneath. However, with some deeper digging behind the facade, the truth can eventually surface. Giving a voice to those who face challenges in silence, six Bull Dogs have shared the truth about their invisible struggles.

INDEPTH

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cataracts that

cover the eye nable to see from his right eye, at the age of five, junior Luke Swain asked his mom, “What is my right eye for?” Soon after, Swain was diagnosed with degenerative myopia, a condition that makes him unable to see from his right eye, and his vision in his left eye is full of cataracts and astigmatisms, causing blurry vision. As a result, Swain has had to make changes in school, such as moving closer to the board, asking for electronic versions of assignments or copies with a larger font. He has also had to avoid sports played with balls, like tennis or soccer, where he could get hit.

“The biggest struggle is probably just not really knowing anyone else who has the same use condition that I could relate s ca t c a r to,” Swain said. “It is just hard s cata age m i not being able to connect with d t an someone else that shares the ligh ugh same experience that I have.” thro e om Although he has many friends to c ry and family members that blur support him, Swain has to rely on himself to get help when he myopia. Though the condition needs it and speak up for himself. limits his capability to participate “A lot of times I have to advocate for in certain activities, he has adapted myself,” Swain said. “That is one of the and made accommodations that biggest and most important parts of allow him to be independent. being disabled. You have to ask for help “Many people have the idea that yourself and you can’t wait on someone if you are blind you need a lot of else to do it.” help. When you see someone who Over the years, Swain has learned is blind walking down the street, to live his life with degenerative you automatically think they can’t

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andling homework, studying, sports and extracurricular activities can be tough, especially in high school.

Dealing with multiple mental disorders on top of that seems almost impossible for some students. For sophomore Candace Harden, who has PTSD, anxiety and depression, it is part of her daily life.

“There are a lot of struggles that I have to go through inside my head everyday,” Harden said.

“There is the process of realizing

“With time and the right people... it will get better” sophomore candace harden that you have (the disorder), the process of accepting it, realizing

make it to the other side. I think you should just know that it is okay and you should just let them do it by themselves,” Swain said. “I think that sometimes people are overly sympathetic, but it is never in a mean way. It is just human instinct to care about other people, but it is also important to know everybody is trying to figure out their own way.”

that you have to stay focused despite all of it and that you have to put it in the back of your mind for a little while, especially in school.”

Harden’s conditions can cause difficulty sleeping, panic and anxiety attacks, and sensitivity to certain triggers.

“Everybody who goes through this and is still here [is] strong, but they can be fragile sometimes,” Harden said. “They can be fragile in a way that their depression and anxiety can be triggered really easily. They can be fragile in the way that you can say one thing to them and they are going to break down completely.”

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n second grade, she failed her first test. In elementary and middle school, her grades kept fluctuating, and she took twice as long to complete her assignments. It wasn’t until eighth grade that senior Kat Steilberg was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). It was only two years later, during her sophomore year, that Steilberg met with a psychiatrist and got help for her condition, which causes inattention and distractibility.

“It is harder to focus and really tune in on something. I have to focus all my attention on one thing if I want to get it done. I always hear other things going on, like my mind is being pulled somewhere else,” Steilberg said.

After talking to her psychiatrist, Steilberg met with her guidance counselor and got a 504, a plan to ensure that she will receive accommodations because of her condition that will help her in school. Now, Steilberg is able to ask for more time to complete an assignment, get extra time on tests, including standardized tests, and listen to music during study time in class.

“It is just something that a lot of people have and I think there should be more awareness about it. If somebody had known earlier that I ADD, I would have been a much better student. A lot of people in my situation just didn’t it realize before,” Steilberg said. “For me, it was just a long journey to figure it all

Despite the added challenges and struggles Harden experiences, her PTSD, anxiety, and depression are not things she talks about a lot and share with many other people.

“Everybody that knows about it, they don’t treat me any different than they treat a normal person,” Harden said. “They know what that is like and know that if you have depression or anxiety, you don’t want to be treated different than anybody else. You want to forget about it.”

out. It has been a huge learning curve for me. I pretty much had to relearn everything in order to be successful. A lot of people never do, and they can’t really progress with their life. It’s withholding them from what they could be.”

Steilberg’s condition is not unique.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 percent of American children are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Despite the large number of Americans with ADD, there are many misconceptions about the disorder.

“Some people think that it doesn’t exist. Sometimes people think you’re just stupid. I thought I was stupid for a long time. I thought, ‘I just can’t figure it out.

I’m dumb.’ People beat themselves up a lot, but they don’t realize it could be an actual problem,” Steilberg said. “That is true for a lot of disabilities, when you can’t see them. There is no obvious sign for it. Nobody can tell when they look at you. I think mental illnesses and mental disabilities receive a lot less sympathy.”

Unlike most physical disabilities, mental illnesses are often invisible to outsiders; struggles go unnoticed, and as a result, outside help seems unnecessary.

“When people have physical disabilities, it is easier to help them. If somebody is in a wheelchair, you open the door for them,” Steilberg said. “If somebody has ADD, and they are struggling in a math class, you just think, ‘This is so easy’. It is harder to understand or be able to help because you don’t know how.”

Mental illnesses affect each person differently, making it hard for others to sympathize them.

“They will never completely understand what is going through that person’s head when a panic attack or anxiety attack comes up, or you have a random sprout of depression,” Harden said. “If someone doesn’t talk about what is going through their head, it is not because they don’t trust who they are talking to, they just

know that even if they talk about it, nobody is ever going to really get it.”

Despite feeling that others cannot fully grasp the scope of her challenges, Harden believes that she can work through the difficulties.

“With time and the right people, it won’t completely go away, but it will get better.

It won’t get better in a way that they are going to completely forget that it is there, but it will be easier to handle and cope with,” Harden said.

DID YOU KNOW?

more boys than girls get diagnosed with ADD

people are diagnosed with ADHD/ADD

PTSD, anxiety, and depression affect the prefrontal cortex

INDEPTH

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is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/ or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.

Dyslexia affects the development of the left temporal lobe in the of people who have dyslexia also have

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brain that controls language, which lies just behind the ear

ADHD

ruising down the road on his way home, he saw a sign; gas was $5.11 a gallon.

He blinked and shook his head.

The numbers on the sign rearranged themselves into the correct order: $1.51. Because of his dyslexia, earth and space science teacher Wayne Britton confuse the order of letters and numbers.

“They just don’t line up evenly for me. It slowed me down, and it slowed down my ability to read at a regular rate,” Britton said.

“I just really couldn’t keep up at times. I’d stay up later and had to work harder, and there were times I’d give up quicker because I just couldn’t get through the reading.”

From a young age, Britton experienced the consequences of his dyslexia. Others viewed him as incapable because he struggled with spelling.

“I was definitely told that my spelling made me inadequate,” Britton said. “I would end up in tears as a kid because the other kids would make fun of me, and of course, I had all these barriers I built up in my own mind about it, and it got worse and harder.”

Throughout elementary school, teachers could not understand Britton’s condition and assumed his difficulty with spelling reflected his intelligence.

“As a kid, I definitely felt disadvantaged. It wasn’t [until] seventh grade that I had a teacher pull me aside, and she was like, ‘You can do all these other things.

You understand all this other stuff.

It’s just your spelling. You’re not stupid,’” Britton said. “And that was the first time I got moved from mid-tier into higher-end courses, where I was actually challenged and really learned things and was pushed. And at that point, I really started to like school.”

“One of the worst things you can do is run from your problem,” science teacher wayne britton In college, Britton’s struggles with dyslexia continued, especially in his foreign language classes.

“Being dyslexic and trying to learn [Latin] was so hard for me. To spell in English was hard

of people have

dyslexia enough, but to try and learn to spell in another language, where the sounds are different from the letters and sounds you know, was overwhelming for me,” Britton said. “Luckily, one of my really good friends helped me study, and I went from barely getting a C to making straight A’s in Latin. It just took persistence.”

Today, rather than treating dyslexia as a disadvantage, Britton views it as a useful tool.

“If I’m very careful and read every word, my comprehension is really high. Usually, I get almost everything out of an article the first time I read it. It’s [also] made me more empathetic to students who have poor handwriting. I’m willing to slow down and carefully reread it,” Britton said. “If I hadn’t embraced [my dyslexia], and I had fought against it, I’d just be angry and frustrated by it, instead of using it as a tool.”

Overall, through a lifetime of ever-present challenges, dyslexia has taught Britton a life lesson that he continues to carry through his daily life.

“One of the worst things you can do is run from your problem,” Britton said. “The more you embrace it and talk about it and make it your own, the less power it has over you and the more power you have over it.”

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the case for podcasts

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Senior Kate Thomas discusses the rise in popularity of podcasts odcasts have been around for more than a decade, and audiobooks and other formats even longer. But, in the last few years, podcasts have turned from being something your grandma listens to in her car on the way to the grocery store to a trendy and efficient new way to consume media. So what has caused this switch?

Most people spend hours a day scrolling through YouTube or flipping through channels on their TV. After a while, the constant search for media becomes exhausting. Podcasts offer something that your screen can not compete with: You only have to listen. By taking out the visual stimuli, your brain can relax a little bit. Isolating media to only sound makes podcasts convenient and easy to consume.

attack of the airpods

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Sophomore Braden Taylor reviews Apple’s bluetooth headphones

have had my AirPods for about three months now, and they are the best pair of headphones I have ever had.

They are super small and compact, so you can carry them around easily and not worry about your headphones being too bulky. The sound quality is really good as well, which makes it worth the price.

Yes, the price is a little steep at $180, but in my eyes it is worth it. Rarely do I go a day without using them because they are just so easy to carry around and use.

One of the features of the AirPods has is being able to assign each AirPod to do

something when you double tap it. For example, you can assign the right AirPod to skip the current song you’re listening to. Another cool feature it has is pausing automatically as soon as you take it out of your ear. This feature is super nice, because you can easily stop your music and talk to someone simultaneously.

In my opinion, AirPods are the way to go. If you are looking for a nice pair of headphones, I highly suggest them. They really are insanely nice and make my music listening experiences so much easier and better.

by braden taylor

You can listen to podcasts while you do other things at work, at home or during your commute.

Another factor is the increasing quality of podcasts. As a handful of creators initially showed that it could be a lucrative opportunity, the floodgates opened for all other types of creators. Now it seems like everyone, including top influencers and YouTubers, are jumping on the podcast bandwagon. Because there is more variety, there is a podcast out there for just about anyone.

The convenience and personability of podcasts have led them to become extremely popular. Unlike other trends, podcasts have quality and depth. This simple medium of storytelling can be quite impactful and emotional. Some of my favorite podcasts include This American Life, S-Town, and Freakonomics.

by kate thomas

value of voting As the election revs into action, The Triangle staff contemplates the importance of voting

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staggering 470 seats are up for election in Congress on November 6th. As candidates eagerly campaign, and the polls across BCSC open, staff members on Triangle begin to wonder about the importance of voting. Does one vote truly have an impact? In the past, close elections have come down to only a few votes. Looking to these examples, some of us see the value in each vote. We could be the tipping point between one candidate winning over another.

However, others still believe our vote is unimpactful, because the electoral system only looks to the majority when deciding who to give the state’s electoral votes. Thus, individuals not residing in the majority doubt whether their vote is counting. Additionally, it is easy for

them to see their vote as one out of millions. However, when looking at the bigger picture, many recognize the impact made by contributing to a larger sum. By voting, each one of us adds to a sum of votes in commonality with ours. Alone, our vote is unimpactful. However, in combination with the larger sum, our vote holds power and can create change. Yet, in the face of doubt, many still believe each vote is significant. On the contrary, individuals who do not identify as citizens of the United States find themselves unaffected by the issues of voting overall, because they are unable to hold the right.

Seeing the inability to vote so some however only reminds the many of us who can vote of the privilege voting is. One thing agreed upon is the fact that voting

seasonal scuffle

gives us the power to elect our leaders. Voting is the foundation of our democracy. Although we debate about the impact of a single vote, the impact of our collective votes is monumental. Voting is what allows us to impact our government and make our voices heard. It is up to us whether we take up that privilege in the face of doubt.

82% of The

Triangle staff believe their vote counts

by thomas neeley

OPINION

15

cross country

customs Members of the North XC team explain the Semi-state and State traditions and importance

“Mentally the night

before I try to do some meditation to calm myself.”

sophomore ella anderson

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n the journey to Semi-state and State yet again, North’s cross country team set out to secure North another state title since 2011. State and Semi-state are two of the most important meets for the cross country team.

“State and Semi-state have more pressure because sectionals and regionals are more about our score.

But at state and semi-state we have a more tough competition and they are a lot closer together. So it’s more about beating other people,” sophomore Ella Anderson said.

As a senior on the team, Paxton Rush has experienced many of the cross country team’s unique traditions.

“Having a dress up day on Friday is kind of important, because it unifies us and makes sure we’re having fun. Friday before meets we always have a pasta party at a senior’s house,” Rush said.

Rush explains how the traditions of the cross country team set North apart from other schools.

“How we do our warm-up and the drills is a big part of what we do. Sending twelve [runners] up to state is a pretty strong tradition and is kind of the goal for us, and so is going to team camp,” Rush said. “In mid-July we always go to Brown County and camp out and run, which is also is a big part of our team.”

As for the younger end of the team, freshman Abby Jacobi is the only freshman competing at state.

She has set a routine she follows every morning on the day of a race to get into the ideal mindset and prepare for the meet.

“It’s really nerve-wracking,” Jacobi said. “But, I just want to do good so badly, so that the team will do well.” by riddhi garg design by eric le and emma cooper

final serve Senior Kevin Lin’s last year on the Bull Dog men’s tennis team concludes with a swing at the State Quarterfinals

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his year, the Columbus North boys tennis team played in the IHSAA Semi-state tournament for the first time in 10 years under senior Kevin Lin’s leadership in his role as team captain. “[We made it to] Semi-state and regionals, [which] is really impressive for us to do as a tennis team,” sophomore Joseph Kloepfer said.

Their achievement is the result of hard work, and in the time leading up to the season during the summer, Kevin trained as much as he could with his younger brothers, and practiced tennis almost every day.

“We would wake up at seven in the morning, and we would be [at the courts] six to seven or eight hours a day just playing tennis,” Kevin said.

Besides improving his individual athletic performance, Kevin opted to lead his team through his positive attitude, as well.

One of his goals was to have fun during the season, and his optimism was infectious.

“When he gets hyped, everyone gets hyped,” sophomore Joseph Kloepfer said.

Kevin maintained his positivity and determination even through the challenges he faced during the season, and he worked to push his team to new heights. “[Kevin] pushed us, even though he had back pain,” freshman Nathan Lin said, Kevin’s younger brother.

Kevin’s efforts, along with the team’s perseverance, led them to their final match of the season in the quarterfinals at Semi-state. When they arrived at Semi-state, they felt a surge of emotions.

“It felt amazing having the chance to play against some of the top kids in the state,” Kevin said.

Now that their season has come to an end, Kevin’s teammates are sad that he will be graduating, but they hope to come back stronger than ever using the experiences they forged with Kevin as team captain. “[Kevin] being the captain of the tennis team helped us make good memories [throughout the season],” Nathan said.

by kora carter design by eric le

SPORTS

17

quick change by braden taylor design by zoey horn

Students talk about their personal experiences with transitioning between sports was en I ually h W “ act er, I etball g n u yo bask he liked but as t t i , e mor went by the s f year . Part o to d d e e g d chan n I deci was o reas playing idn’t stop I just d nd ha use beca t as muc orth i w like wasn’t ort.” t ff s e it ju and e m i ior the t

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omo soph

Triangle archived photos

mor o h p so bode n i t s au

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he number of high school students playing sports is officially at an all time high.

According to the NFHS there is a record high of over 7 million high school students participating in sports this year. Students juggle class work, practices, games, meets and other activities that pop up in day to day life.

Some athletes even play three or more sports in a year which can really put a lot of stress on students. Some athletes drop a sport they are playing while others manage to play all of the sports they participate in. Sophomore Austin Bode who is a Louisville baseball commit decided that juggling baseball and basketball just was not something he really wanted to do.

“I need to focus on baseball and staying healthy for baseball,’’ Bode said. “There is a lot of pressure for me not to get injured because it could be a major setback.’’

Austin started playing basketball at the age of three so it was a tough decision for him to stop playing.

Senior Agustina Fainguersch plays varsity volleyball at CNHS but also used to play basketball at CNHS as well. Fainguersch decided to stop playing basketball and focus on volleyball.

“I always knew volleyball was my main sport, and the way volleyball season works is that as soon as it’s over in October you already start club volleyball in the offseason.

The club I played for plays in Plainfield which is an hour away and that was three times a week.”

As she got older she noticed that her life got very hectic while playing the two sports and she decided to stop playing basketball.

“There was a lot of conflict between the two sports and junior year academics got harder and I decided that I needed to choose one for my own state of mind.

Basketball at North, the years I played, we were like top of the state, where as in volleyball we were not at that level yet so there was a lot more pressure.”

Fainguersch said.

Overlapping sport seasons are also a huge reason why some athletes decide to stop playing one of their sports. Sophomore Reese Harmon plays basketball in the winter and baseball in the Spring.

Harmon often has to miss a practice

or conditioning to participate in the other sport.

“Usually during the preseason for basketball, there is baseball and basketball conditioning and practices” Harmon said. “I feel like I communicate with the coaches very well so my coaches usually understand. I don’t feel worn out and I’m a pretty active person so it doesn’t really wear me out a ton.”

According to Ohio University, managing stress is a lot harder to do while playing more than one sport and can also lead to being burnt out. The stress and pressure of playing multiple sports can sometimes catch up to athletes and sometimes even end an athletes career in a certain sport.

“There was a lot of conflict between the two sports and I decided that I needed to choose one for my own state of mind.” senior agustina fainguersch

Pregnancy Services STI Testing & Treatment

ClarityCares.org 2 locations to serve you here in Columbus

SPORTS

19

flying

SOLO

Senior Jared Carroll shares how he learned to fly

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hether it’s carving pumpkins, big Thanksgiving dinners or decorating Christmas cookies, most families have traditions. These traditions are something the whole family gets involved in and loves to do.

For Senior Jared Carroll, one of his family traditions is flying airplanes.

“When I was four, I was living in Hawaii and that was the first time I went up in a glider. My grandpa, my dad and most of my relatives fly, so it’s what I do,” Carroll said. “In sixth grade I started doing lessons and then my grandpa said ‘Dude, you should fly.’”

To be able to fly, there are many requirements and skills you must completed throughout a course.

Carroll said that just like there are time requirements for a driver’s license, there were time requirements to get your pilots license.

“The requirements are about 40 hours for flying and training. 10 of those [hours] being by yourself, three hours at night, three hours of instrument time and a couple other requirements,” Carroll said. “I did that over the course of about a year and a half. Then there is knowledge test, so I took a class at Ivy Tech [to prepare] for that.”

While people may be comfortable with flying in a large airplane with other people, flying an airplane on your own is drastically different. As

part of his training, Carroll said he had to fly certain distances on his own with only a paper map.

“One requirement was 50 miles and another was 150 miles,” Carroll said. “The 150 one wasn’t direct, it was more round trip, so I went down to Huntersburg, then Bedford, and then back to North Vernon. My 50 mile one was up to Richmond.”

During his first solo cross country flight, Carroll said it was boring because there was no one to talk to.

However, Carroll is set to continue his family’s tradition and pursue a career as a commercial airline pilot.

“Flying is my career, dude,” Carroll said. “Hopefully, I’ll be going to Purdue to get all my ratings and to become a commercial pilot.”

by madi beck and hannah long

North students share what got them interested in creating videos to share with the world

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by nadia lomax design by lucy beck

he words echo through freshman William Thompson’s ears: “You saved my life.”

A friend told him that after school one day.

“I made them laugh on a day they said they were going to harm themselves,” Thompson said.

This was only the beginning of his video making journey.

“That made me want to help people feel happy so I made a video and it went off from there,” Thompson said.

He started with game, then progressed to vlogs and eventually skits.

“I create my own skits. They all usually have their own topic,” Thompson said.

These humor skits are based on things that happened or that he thinks of over time.

However, there came a time when this wasn’t always fun.

“I realized I was kind of lost when I noticed I was doing things, because other people wanted me to,” Thompson said.

This same thing helped him to get back to his usual self and rediscover his love for creating content.

“The videos helped because I remembered when and why I did them,” Thompson said. “That helped guide me back to a place of more comfort in my own skin and mind.”

He’s since stopped about a year ago, because people more enjoyed his skits, which is his main focus now.

“I kind of miss it because it lets me get stuff off my chest, but skits let me express myself by creating my own small play,” Thompson said.

Creating videos has the same therapeutic sense as any other form of art. This is a shared view between Thompson and junior Gabby Genth.

“I think making videos is definitely therapeutic. It distracts me from my problems and things I just don’t need to be worried about at the time,” Genth said.

On Christmas of 2017, Genth received a GoPro and starting filming all of her vacations.

“My content is basically me going to an event or on a trip and videoing a bunch of stuff we do and then taking my favorite parts and putting them all together,” Genth said.

She travels on breaks to places such as Mexico and Destin, Florida.

After getting footage on trips, Genth enjoys putting the video together.

“My favorite part about making the videos is after I get all the videos snippets I want in order and in place, then I get to pick a song,” Genth said. “Once I put the song into the video, everything starts falling into place.”

Inspired by Indy Blue on YouTube, Genth wants to have an occupation in marine biology while also continuing with film after high school.

“It combines my love for marine life and videography. I just want to entertain people while entertaining myself,” said Genth.

Fast facts about the video streaming site

STUDENT LIFE

21

day of the DEAD

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ay of the Dead is a Mexican Holiday celebrated Nov. 1 through Nov. 2. This multi-day holiday honor the ancestors, deceased loved ones, and friends who have passed. The holiday gives spiritual guidance and prayers to the dead on the journey to the afterlife. It’s a celebration that means a lot to Mexican-Americans.

Many kids and teenagers celebrate it here in America with their families today. In America, Mexican-American families include their own alters with gifts and tributes to their loved ones.

Students explain Dia de los Muertos, a celebration of the deceased by willow hatter design by sydnee guthrie

“We find pictures of the family members that have passed and frame them. We make a shrine and put out candles, flowers, pan dulce, and hot chocolate,” Senior Rosa Hernandez said.

Day of the Dead also has a specific celebration per day. On October 31, children make alters for other children in celebration of the deceased kids and to invite them to play. On Nov. 1, adult spirits visit their loved ones. Nov. 2 is the day when families decorate the graves of loved ones. Each day also is tied in with Catholic influence due to Spanish influence in the 16th century.

“As a Mexican, it represents a lot to me. It is the days my deceased loved ones come to visit me,” BCSC linguist Wendolyn Jimenez said.

The celebration has a lot of emotional importance for those who celebrate. It is more than an ancient, Mexican tradition, it is an emotional connection to those who’ve been lost.

“For me, it means remembering [family] and telling stories. We cry and laugh about their stories,” Sophomore Maria Cena said. The holiday is a time of reconnecting with loved ones who aren’t on earth anymore. It is a time to cry, laugh, and reflect on the lives of family and friends.

an ofrenda: explained Picture of Ancestors Candles to light the way home Food for deceased loved ones on their return to home Cross as a reminder of faith and religion Colorful flowers to guide the way home Papel Picado to decorate the altar

looking forward Students discuss their decision to graduate early

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by kerrianna mccloskey design by lucy beck

ick, tock. There goes the clock. Another day closer to graduation for the juniors and seniors, who are counting down the days until they leave high school. These students take different routes after high school, whether it be going to college, trade school or starting a new career.

Graduating early is difficult, especially for juniors who only have six semesters to get all of their credits.

Juniors have to pile the required senior courses, such as Economics and U.S. Government, on top of their junior classes. They also have to complete their senior project.

“You’ve got to do double time on that [senior project].

If you didn’t get your job shadowing or service learning done, you have to get that done as well,” junior Ceairra Shelton said.

Shelton is graduating at the end of her junior year.

“Make sure you’re spending all the free time you get filling out any last minute forms you have to do.”

Graduating early isn’t an unknown concept among students, but the process of registering to graduate early is not widely talked about.

“I actually went through the principal. I went to Mr. Clarke,” Shelton said. “After that I was sent to the counselors office to get the six-semester graduation form, parent approval and then the counselors set up my classes for this year so I could graduate early.”

The requirements to graduate early are simple.

A student needs to maintain decent grades and attendance and complete enough courses to have enough credits to graduate.

“I got approval to graduate early because my grades

diploma data the class of 2018 received

million dollars in scholarships

were so good. I had all As and Bs,” Shelton said.

Whether they are influenced by peers, family or teachers, students’ reasons for graduating early are personal.

“I chose to graduate early because I didn’t want to still be in high school when I was nineteen years old,” Shelton said. “I kind of wanted to get a head start in life and make sure I’m moving forward pretty quickly because I like things to go fast paced for me.”

There are benefits to taking this path, like getting ahead in college classes or taking a year to discover what they truly want to do. Whatever the situation, planning is key. If she could start over, junior Elizabeth Krell would have done differently.

“I would decide to graduate early my freshman year instead of sophomore year, so I didn’t have to cram all my classes into this year,” Krell said.

Just like any big decisions, not everything can be perfect.

The class load can take a toll on students.

“I’m in classes with people I don’t really know because they are a year older,” Krell said. “ It can get lonely since none of my friends are doing ‘senior events.’”

The setbacks aren’t enough to stray students who are committed to their plans. The students may be overwhelmed as they finish up their last year at CNHS, but Krell said she does not regret this decision.

“In the long run, it’s a good choice for me,” Krell said.

A breakdown of the North graduating class of 2018

North was rated an

by the Indiana Department of Education

in the 2018 class

percent planned to go to a 4 year college

STUDENT LIFE

23

spooky stats

With over 179 million Americans celebrating Halloween, check out these statistics on this October holiday

The most popular Halloween costume for adults is a witch.

too corny?

North students

responded to a Twitter poll that asked about their feelings over candy corn.

39%

Love candy corn

17%

Energy behind the spirits?

Albert Einstein created a scientifically based theory for the existence of ghosts. He reasoned that because energy can’t be created or destroyed, perhaps ghosts are the manifestation of the energy left in people when they die.

44% Hate candy corn

Don’t have a preference

When looking for costumes, 10% consumers utilized Instagram for inspiration.

There are more than 30 varieties of pumpkins.

cuttingedgehauntedhouse.com and hiaonline.org

by emma cooper, kurt nusterer, lucy beck and madi beck