2.23.12 Issue

FEB. 23, 2012 I VOL. 76 I ISSUE 7 CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL I 520 E. MAIN ST. I CARMEL, IN I WWW.HILITE.ORG

* Carmel High School’s student newsmagazine

SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS Despite its role in recent political events, Mormonism remains an oft-misunderstood religion to many Americans

Acumen: The Health Issue - See insert

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PAGE 2 | TABLE OF CONTENTS | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

Offbeat

cover story

A brief glance at Dance Marathon, an annual CHS tradition

Mormonism in the Mainstream

Riley

Despite the prominence of the Mormon religion for current and past Republican presidential candidates, Mormon students here still do not see themselves and their religion as fully accepted in mainstream society Page 16

Back to Basics

• When: Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m.

• Where: freshman cafeteria, varsity gym, fieldhouse • Who: any CHS student • What to bring: all fundraising money

Step Up the Success

Each year, CHS student government has raised more money for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis than it did the year before.

250

news

200

CHS ready to adopt new merit-based teacher evaluation system 4

150 100

11 20

10 20

09 20

08 20 07 20

50

*Values are expressed in thousands and are approximate figures.

Behind the Beards

feature

Feature reporters delve into some of the more obscure clubs at CHS 8

entertainment Performing arts groups prepare for upcoming competitions 20

6

20

sports Mo Issa, speaker of the House “Sophomore year, two seniors, Kevin Kidd and Stephen Joest, grew out their beards for Dance Marathon, and it’s just a tradition that we kept going.”

CHS softball team looks to repeat last year’s State championship win 24

perspectives

Presidential candidates should not be defined solely by their religions 28

Senior Zeen Abed Ali

“I decided to grow the beard out because it helps awareness about Dance Marathon since people always ask me why I’m growing my beard out.”

MELINDA SONG / GRAPHIC

15 minutes

Freshman Anna Lasbury is a movie actress 32

8

24 CONNER GORDON / COVER PHOTO

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | JUST A MINUTE | PAGE 3

From tree to box: how palm oil is produced 1. Many of the trees that produce palm oil grow on plantations in tropical regions of Southeastern Asia.

Girl Scout cookies’ carbon footprint Palm oil, an important ingredient in the popular treats, contributes to deforestation Every year, Indonesia cuts down around 7,000 square miles of forests in order to build businesses such as palm oil plantations.

Currently, all flavors of Girl Scout cookies contain palm oil.

2. Farmers harvest the ripe palm fruits in bunches.

Palm fruit 3. The fruits are cooked under steam pressure to sterilize them.

4. They are then mashed, pressed and centrifuged, causing the oil to float to the top.

Since 2007, Girl Scouts Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen have worked to convince the bakers of Girl Scout cookies to stop using palm oil in their recipes.

Bakers began to use palm oil in Girl Scout cookies in order to replace trans fats and make them healthier.

The area affected annually is roughly the size of Hawaii.

s:

ient red l g n i I mo pal

oil fruit mash

5. The oil goes through clarification. It is heated and filtered to remove fibers and purify the oil.

In 2012 the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) began to print a Green Palm logo on boxes and pledged to reduce its use of palm oil and move to more sustainable resources by 2015.

TIME, GIRLSCOUTS.ORG / SOURCES

6. Once the oil is bottled, it is sent to various manufacturers or sold for home use.

7. Some of the palm oil is used in food products such as Girl Scout Cookies.

CAMBRIDGE.ORG, FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM / SOURCES

Girl Scout cookie booths will run through March 10.

In the meantime, here are some facts to munch on:

Fifty percent of all food contain palm oil.

Ninety percent of the world’s palm oil is from Indonesia or Malaysia.

Today, only six percent of palm oil production is sustainable.

GIRLSCOUTSOFINDIANA.ORG / SOURCE THE ECONOMIST / SOURCE CAROLINE ZHANG / GRAPHICS

PAGE 4 | NEWS | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

NEWS

SUBMITNEWS@HILITE.ORG | TWITTER.COM/HILITE_NEWS

News Briefs

Updates on clubs, activities and events in the school.

Yanying Chen, president of the Astronomy Club and sophomore, said its planetarium show will take place tomorrow at . Chen said that the show will be about exoplanets, or planets outside of the solar system.

Sarah Wolff, sponsor and coach of Coquettes and Charisma, said that the Coquettes’ season will be coming to an end tomorrow, with the men’s basketball senior night.

German Club will attend the German State Competition, Staatskongress, at Ball State University on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The event will include both the cultural and academic competition.

Dine on a Dime, an event that teaches teens how to make foods at home that they would usually buy at restaurants, is on Wednesday from anytime after school to 5 p.m. in the program room of the Carmel Clay Public Library.

The media staff introduced their Have a Heart amnesty on Feb. 21 and will continue through March 9, according to media department chair Bonnie Grimble.

The amnesty, operating in recognition of and conjunction with Heart Health month, will remove overdue fines for each canned food or toiletry brought by students.

DECA members will be participating in the DECA state competition, taking place on March 11, 12 and 13 in Indianapolis.

The call-out meeting for next year’s juniors and seniors to apply to be GKOMs is on March 12 in the freshman cafeteria.

Applications will start being available online on March 9, and they will be due by 3:30 p.m. on March 16.

According to sponsor Tracy Hadden, Model U.N. members will be participating in the IUPUI Model U.N. conference on March 12 and 13.

Dates to remember: Saturday: Dance Marathon March 1: National Nutrition Month begins March 5: Food Service Staff Recognition week March 16: Winter Recognition Convocation

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Scan this QR code to read about curriculum changes being made at CHS

RISE and Shine?

Students and teachers show mixed reactions to merit pay system

BY DAVID CHOE AND TAYLOR ACTON dchoe@hilite.org and tacton@hilite.org

A

aspects of the new system.

“I believe for any job you should be held accountable for what they’re teaching, how they’re teaching and how effective they are as teachers,” Perdun said. “The concern is: how do you fairly rate a teacher when they aren’t the only ones responsible for the learning? What if you have CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE students who don’t pay attention, don’t

long with the Gradual Release of Responsibility model (GRR), this school’s administration plans to adopt the Research-based Inclusive System of Evaluation (RISE), another model that includes student achievement and engagement in its judging criteria, this fall.

According to Principal John Williams, the merit pay system will go through some tweaks and fixes before its implementation next school year.

“I think it’s like anything else,” Williams said. “It makes people nervous. It makes me nervous. It’s a huge responsibility to fairly evaluate a lot of folks. I think just the scope of it.

So many different things. Just a lot of planning and looking at it. There will be some training for all of us.”

The RISE merit pay system will have teachers, administrators and counselors evaluated for the areas of planning, instruction, teacher leadership and professionalism.

According to Williams, all teachers, administrators and counselors will be evaluated and categorized as: highly effective, effective, not effective and needs improvement. Staff members who are in the lower two won’t receive any raises, and at some point, the fate of their jobs could be affected.

“Of course, our goal is for all our teachers to be in the top two (effective or highly effective) and set up a system that will give teachers the opportunity to meet that criteria,” Williams said. “Our teachers are already effective and highly effective, so it’s just that structure that is in place where there is evidence of it, documentation of it. As we go into next year, we can evaluate that. Again, not just teachers, but administrators and counselors also.”

There are, however, some concerns KATHLEEN BERTSCH / PHOTO regarding the new system which is this STUDENTS FIRST: Math teacher Dan Perdun teaches his Algebra II connection of pay with performance. class. Under the RISE merit pay system, teachers like Perdun would Math teacher Dan Perdun said although he supports merit pay system, be evaluated based on the categories of planning, instruction, teacher he is concerned about some of the leadership and professionalism.

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | NEWS | PAGE 5 do their homework and don’t show up? Should a teacher be judged on that when a student doesn’t learn anything? That’s where I have difficulties with merit pay because how will I be assessed on those factors that the students bring in?”

On the other hand, Senior Class president Hannah Larson said she supports a standardized way to judge performance, which means that pay performance of teachers should be based on standardized test scores rather than high grades.

“If one class is easier than the other, it’s comparing apples to oranges for the students,” she said.

For Larson, she said she is worried some teachers may make their classes easier or make the curriculum, through the CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

medium of tests and quizzes, less difficult for the students when the merit pay system is established.

“If a teacher is really passionate about teaching and kids learning, it’s not about test scores. They shouldn’t do it based on their money. They should also teach; it’s their job,” Larson said. “Maybe this program won’t make better teachers, just easier classes.”

Perdun said that although the new merit pay system may have a selection of cons, one aspect that he said he agrees with is the removal of unfairness surrounding the salary of teachers.

“Do I think it’s fair that any teacher could walk into a classroom and get paid the same? Well, I don’t know.

That doesn’t happen in business. Why should it happen in education?” Perdun said. “When you say my pay is affected

by how well I teach, I can tell you right now that I will probably work a little harder.”

Perdun, however, said there are several concerns and issues to the system.

“I didn’t really go into teaching for the money. So what will be taken out of the classroom when you put my pay to how well my students are learning? When I’m in class right now and random topics come up that are related to what I’m teaching that are fun and interesting, I like to go into those,” Perdun said. “I’m fearful we are going to get teachers that are not going to endorse this freedom of learning.

There’s that unwritten curriculum that teachers bring into a classroom, their shared experiences. I’m afraid we are going to become like robots. I’m scared you are going to lose some of the freedom of teaching.”

Sales tax on Amazon products begins in 2014

BY ROCHELLE BRUAL AND ERIC HE rbrual@hilite.org and ehe@hilite.org Although senior Carter Grove buys the necessities from brick and mortar businesses, he only has to turn to his computer screen for everything else. He purchases many items online, ranging from books to RC helicopters, on the online retailer Amazon about twice a month. Grove said he prefers to shop on Amazon because it offers a variety of items, which means he doesn’t have to run between different stores. According to Grove, Amazon’s biggest asset is its ability to offer lower prices than those of brick and mortar businesses.

However, starting in 2014 for Indiana residents, a 7 percent sales tax will increase the cost of Amazon purchases.

Previously, since Amazon didn’t have a physical presence in Indiana, it didn’t have to collect sales tax from customers.

Simon Property Group, an Indianapolis-based shopping mall owner, filed a lawsuit against the state because it said online retailers have an unfair price advantage. According to the State Budget Agency, the amount of uncollected online sales tax is estimated to be $75 million, but according to Sen. Luke Kenley, this number could actually climb up to $250 million.

Business department chair Debbie Lesjak said, “Well, I think if you are comparing an item that you can buy at a local store, and that you’re comparing an online item, (students) might’ve been more persuaded to buy from Amazon previously because you would have not had to pay the tax, which at 7 percent can amount to quite a bit of difference. Now, though, with Amazon having to pay taxes, then it’s kind of going to make it so that you’re more likely to buy at a more local establishment.”

Grove said the Indiana sales tax won’t stop him from using Amazon. However, he said he would stop using Amazon if it made its products more expensive because he only buys products whenever he has extra spending money.

According to Lesjak, Amazon has more leeway on its prices because it is a large retailer like Wal-Mart; Amazon buys in a much larger bulk than smaller stores and can therefore offer lower prices.

Although Amazon shoppers in Indiana don’t have to pay a sales tax yet, they must add shipping and handling to their purchases, which includes the highest applicable pershipping cost and all per-item costs. Once the sales tax is applied in 2014, the combined cost of the item, shipping and sales tax can make local stores more attractive to customers in terms of price.

According to Lesjak, brick and mortar retailers have the

States with a sales tax on items shipped from Amazon

From sales tax on Amazon, Indiana expects to collect

$20 to 25 million

States without an Amazon tax States with an Amazon tax INDYSTAR, AMAZON AND NY TIMES / SOURCE JIVA CAPULONG / GRAPHIC

advantage of allowing customers to hold and manipulate products before buying them. However, Grove said price consideration is the biggest factor in his shopping decisions, and shipping doesn’t affect him because he usually doesn’t pay for it. Grove signed up for a free sixmonth trial for Amazon Prime, whose members receive free two-day shipping.

According to Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana is asking Congress to require a state sales tax for all online retailers.

Besides Amazon, Grove uses online electronics retailer Newegg, and he has also bought one item from eBay, online shopping and auctioning site. Stacy Lu, founder and creator of Illume Apparel, sells clothing items such as graphic T-shirts and crewnecks through the online distribution system Big Cartel.

“Mostly I sell online because selling in stores is more expensive. You have to pay rent fees to sell in stores, and it’s hard to find a store that will be accepting of a teenager

From 2009 to 2010, New York collected in sales tax from all online retailers around

$70 million

who is selling clothes,” Lu said. “The internet also allows for a wider market for someone to sell something, and from a business perspective, it allows for better sales.”

If Indiana imposes a sales tax on online retailers other than Amazon, Lu said the added amount has the potential to lessen her sales. However, many of Lu’s customers come from cities in California, New York and Texas. She said these customers wouldn’t care as much.

Lu said she thinks the sales tax could have positive results because of all the money that would be going to the government rather than to online stores, which could better benefit the state as a whole.

Lesjak said, “I think that as, you know, we look in the time where all states, they’re looking at their budgets, that they’re trying to gather as much revenue as possible. And so when you look at much money as Amazon sales equates to, it really is a lot that the state leaps on collected. So states are going to have to be more comfortable and their tax collections.”

PAGE 6 | NEWS | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

Sinking Costs Carmel Clay Schools set to lose funding over a program unused in Carmel galling, because we have zero students from the Carmel Clay School district who sought a voucher, and to my knowledge, only one student who is looking at taking advantage of an early graduation scholarship,” y the time freshman Morgan Montgomery Superintendent Jeff Swensson said. graduates from Carmel High School, she A copy of the memorandum, supplied by Swensson, will have endured eight semesters as a part said the deduction for the voucher program would of Carmel Clay Schools (CCS). As second occur at both times when state funding is sent, which is semester elapses, somewhere in the state of Indiana, February and November of each school year. another student is also in the second semester of his Both Swensson and Roger McMichael, assistant or her freshman year. The one difference is the second superintendent of business affairs, said the state student goes to a private school. never elaborated on how the amount of the funding Financially eligible students can decrease their deductions were formulated. private school tuition by $4,500 per school year with “As surprising as it may sound, we’re not totally sure the help of vouchers from the School Choice Indiana how the (state) is determining how much each district program, which was approved by the state last year. will give up in funding,” McMichael said.

According to a memo sent by the state to all public McMichael said he believes a possible determinant school districts, the funding that would otherwise may have to do with the fact that the general education go to CCS and students like Montgomery will now fund that the states used for funding previously paid be deducted in order to support the student using for students in public schools whereas now, with the a voucher. implementation of vouchers, those currently in private Montgomery said as a middle school student her schools are now a part of a funding equation that family considered sending her to a private school, but includes an unchanged amount of money. even now, she said they would have no intention of What Swensson said makes the deduction all the taking advantage of the voucher even if she is eligible. more confusing is that any student not going to a public “My parents always said I would go to Carmel,” school would have funding follow them.

Montgomery said.

For students at CHS, the per-student funding Now, according to a memorandum sent on Sept. amount is approximately $5,500, among the lowest in 2 by the state to public school districts, each district, the state, according to Swensson. If each voucher pays beginning in the second semester of the 2011-2012 for approximately $4,500 of tuition, there appears to school year, will face a deduction in funding in order to be $1,000 unspent. On top of that, new deductions in support the state’s private school voucher program. The funding, at least $97,000 per semester from CCS alone, total for CCS this semester is $97,000, and at least that seem to leave a gap between what funding is withheld amount in each successive semester. versus what goes to vouchers.

“For us to receive (the deduction) is particularly Requests to speak with Melissa Ambre, state director of school finance and the one who signed the memorandum, were forwarded to Alex Damron, press secretary for the Indiana Department of Education. Damron said to his understanding, funding for the voucher program is solely under a “money follows the student” principle.

“School corporations will not lose funding for kids who do not leave their schools,” Damron said.

In regard to the September memorandum, Damron said although the memorandum was sent, it was retracted and “the information conveyed was not correct.”

“There was certainly a memo sent out originally that did not correctly convey the way in which STUART JACKSON / PHOTO the program would work, and we do our best to be MONEY MATTERS: Roger McMichael, assistant superintendent of business transparent and proactive in affairs, discusses the effect the deduction will have on Carmel Clay Schools. our communications with the According to McMichael, CCS will lose $97,000 per semester.

BY PATRICK BRYANT pbryant@hilite.org

B

Losses Without Gains

$4,500 x

0

private school tuition deducted each year number of students in CCS who use vouchers

$0

CCS loses $97,000 amount each semester

x

2

number of deductions during each school year

$194,000

JEFF SWENSSON / SOURCE

field,” Damron said. “After we sent that memo out, we did receive feedback from the field alerting us to their concerns, and we took a look at the memo and realized the information we conveyed was not correct, so we did send out a memo rectifying the situation and including more information as to how the payment schedule would work.”

Damron said the September memorandum was retracted immediately, and he supplied the documentation which stated the retraction. McMichael said from what he understands, the retraction was simply a deferral of the deduction until this month.

On two separate occasions, Damron said he didn’t “have the language” in front of him in order to say how the program would be funded without the deduction that was spoken of initially in September.

Numerous attempts to speak with Tony Bennett, state superintendent of public instruction, were met with no response.

Of the cuts in funding, McMichael said the toughest part is dealing with the short period of time in which districts can make necessary adjustments to the budget.

Considering the deduction will be recurring for each successive semester, McMichael used the word “detrimental” when looking towards what the expense will cost in the long run.

“It’s painful enough, but when you’re given essentially no notice of (the funding deduction), and when the vast majority of your expenses are CONTINUED under contract, that makes it even ON NEXT PAGE

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | NEWS | PAGE 7 more of a problem,” McMichael said. “We’re not in a position to reduce our expenses (by) $100,000 overnight.”

Although some may argue money isn’t what makes a school more or less successful, Montgomery said regardless, schools operate on money. Once Montgomery graduates in 2015, CCS will have missed out on approximately $700,000, assuming the funding adjustment process does not change.

“If we had that extra (funding), we could make (the schools) that much better,” she said.

Swensson said the adjustment in funding will definitely have an impact on CCS, especially looking to the coming years.

“So the $97,000 comes out of the general fund,” Swensson said. “Well, the general fund is the way we pay for teacher salaries. Say we have roughly $200,000 per year that will disappear, or at least won’t be sent to us, and now we just won’t get it.

“At some point, not this year, but as we look into the future, if this continues to happen, and we lose at least $200,000 every year, contrary to what people may believe, I don’t have a secret basket under my desk where I simply pull out $100,000.

We’re very concerned.”

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

TechHOUNDS team enters competition season with confidence

BY MELINDA SONG msong@hilite.org

work on some stuff that held us back during the first couple qualification matches at both Wisconsin and at Purdue,” he said. “This year, we hope to go into the competition at 100 percent readiness so we can hit the practice field multiple times.”

According to Wilmes, he and other veteran members learned valuable lessons from past disappointing experiences. He said one key aspect the team has improved on is the design of the robot and ensuring that its different systems work together mechanically before parts are manufactured.

Though the six-week build season in January and early February was the peak of TechHOUNDS activity, with approximately 15 hours of practice a week,

From March 15 to 17, TechHOUNDS will travel to Purdue University to compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Regional competition against 45 other high school teams in Indiana.

A week later, the same group, Team 868, will go to Milwaukee to compete in another Regional competition against 40 other teams.

According to club sponsor George Giltner, the competitions will evaluate the team’s success in this year’s challenge, “Rebound Rumble.”

“You have to win a Regional competition in order to qualify for (the National competition).

The more Regionals you sign up for, the more opportunities you have to win,” Giltner said.

In 2009 and 2010, the TechHOUNDS team earned two consecutive competition victories at Purdue but was unable to repeat the same success last year.

Ryan Wilmes, twoyear student team leader and senior, said the team hopes to combat a repeat HAILEY MEYER / PHOTO of last year’s performance.

GEAR UP: Freshman Eileen Chou prepares for the “Rebound “Last year, we had Rumble” challenge.

TechHOUNDS members undergo six intensive some problems out of weeks of building before Regionals. the gate, where we had to

Wilmes said he has strived to include and teach new members from the beginning of the pre-season in August.

“We learned from last weeks year that we needed to train of building our new members better,” Wilmes said. “In nearly every hours division, you can see a new of practice member working alongside a per week veteran member.” chances According to Giltner, the to qualify for team’s preparation efforts during pre-season paved Nationals the path for rapid progress during the time-sensitive competing building season. teams Both Giltner and Wilmes said they are confident about the team’s success in competitions this year. winner According to Giltner, Team 868 is one of the top five GEORGE GILTNER / SOURCE teams in the state.

Regarding the specifics of that success, Giltner said the team’s goal this year is to win a Regional competition and qualify for Nationals.

“I want to win a Regional and then be very competitive at Nationals to show others what we can do,” he said. “If we can be competitive at Nationals, I’d think that’d be a great success.”

For Wilmes, he said his personal motto and motivating phrase for others is “be ready.”

Depending on where he is needed, Wilmes scouts teams and collects data about their performances, works in the pit to maintain the robot and completes tasks that will help the team earn the coveted first place title.

By the Numbers

6 15 2 46 1

PAGE 8 | FEATURE | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

FEATURE Running in the Shadows Did you know?

SUBMITFEATURE@HILITE.ORG | TWITTER.COM/HILITE_NEWS

About 3.1 Do Something Clubs are created each day, and there are over 1,400 in the nation.

Scan This

For the 2011-2012 CHS Clubs and Activities Handbook and list of CHS clubs.

A look at some of Carmel’s clubs, from the most popular to the most obscure

A

t a school of over 4,500 students, it seems easy to get lost in the shuffle. In fact, according to the 2011-2012 Carmel High School Activities Handbook, “The phrase ‘You can make a big school small, but you can’t make a small school big’ is heard frequently at Carmel and similar schools. Although (Carmel is) a large school, the opportunity to participate in activities gives students the chance to ‘make a big school small’ by forming closer relationships with other students.” This is where clubs come in.

This issue, the HiLite Feature Staff has compiled information about three of the clubs and extracurricular activities offered here. The clubs we chose, however, are not the big name clubs (Big Game, Hip Hop Club) that everyone knows about.

Instead, we have put the spotlight on clubs that very few people know about, and that have fallen into the folds that make up Carmel High School. It is our goal to give you a peek behind the curtain at these clubs, and we hope next time the opportunity presents itself, you will jump right in yourself. By Ryan Zukerman

Fans of ‘My Little Pony’ show collaborate, form MLPC My Little Pony Club (MLPC) meets every Tuesday after school to discuss events that have happened in a recent episode of the TV show “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic,” watch fan videos or engage in an activity such as trivia or a drawing contest.

Although MLPC is simply a club for people who are fans of the show “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” many misconceptions have formed about the club, according to Andrew Riley, MLPC president and senior.

“I got into the show over the summer, and I thought to myself, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if I could just get a club together at the school for all the other people that I know who are fans of the show?’” Riley said. “But, I feel like a lot of people just think it’s girly and stuff. It actually goes beyond the fact the franchise goes toward that demographic.”

Mark Sangiorgio, MLPC member and junior, said he agrees and has felt that many people perceive the club in a false light.

Sangiorgio said at the beginning of the club, many people thought MLPC was a secret football club that was under a pen name, and others thought that the members were all homosexual or all male.

Sangiorgio said although the majority of the members are JULIE XU / PHOTO male, female members exist, and FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC: Senior Andrew Riley hangs up pictures a majority of the members are not colored by the My Little Pony Club (MLPC). According to Riley, he football members. formed MLPC after he started watching the show over the summer.

Sangiorgio said, “I just watch a

TV show a lot like any other fan would do.”

Allyson Riley, club sponsor and mother of the MLPC president, agrees and said the club primarily promotes the show.

Allyson said, “I think the misconceptions about the club is that it’s all about the cartoon as opposed to the message and moral that the cartoon tries to teach. It’s not like a club like Invisible Children, where they have a mission, per se. They are just trying to get other students interested in the show and spread the message of the show, which is love and tolerance.”

Sangiorgio agrees and said one reason why he became interested in the show is because of the inspirational messages the show presents.

“There is kind of a magic to the show. It is a children’s show, but there is more to it. They tackle issues that children’s shows don’t usually really do,” Sangiorgio said. “In one episode, they tacked if whether there was a god or not, and successfully after a half-hour. (The show) concluded that it doesn’t matter, just as long that you accept other people’s beliefs. It just handles mature subjects so well and entertains at the same time.”

Andrew also said he enjoyed watching the show due to such messages, but humor was another factor in why he became interested in the show.

Andrew said, “I thought the humor was original and witty, and I thought the characters were just really entertaining. It’s actually a really good quality show with a bunch of high quality workers, animation and writing.” By Julie Xu

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | FEATURE | PAGE 9

Do Something Club works to provide community service opportunities During his sophomore year, junior Hunter Leonard, like many of his classmates, was assigned three hours of community service for his interpersonal relations class. He turned to Do Something Club when his friend suggested that Leonard accompany him to the call-out meeting.

Since then, Leonard has risen as a vital member of the club. After volunteering at many of the club’s events, he saw in the spring that the president position was available.

After applying, Leonard, along with junior Silvia Lee, was given the chance to manage Do Something Club as the new president.

According to sponsor James Ziegler, Do Something Club is a community service-based organization that orchestrates fundraisers as well as events in the community. Created three years ago by former students Darlene Pham and Viviane Linos, the club has grown to sponsor local as well

as international charities and frequently visits nursing homes and homeless shelters.

“On the books, we have approximately 30 people,” Ziegler said, “but as for the regular attendees, we have between 12 to 15 people who come on a weekly basis to our meetings.”

When asked how the club differed from others at Carmel, Leonard said, “Compared to Key Club, there is no minimum hour requirement and no fee to be part of the club.”

In addition, he said he also gets to know the members a lot better than the officers of large clubs would with their members.

Ziegler said, “Our door is always open. Any student who wants to help the community is always welcome to join us.” By Sheen Zheng

Did Something Previous Do Something Club events • Bake sale for Thirst Relief International • UNICEF-Haiti Fund: UNICEF-Tsunami Relief (Japan); UNICEF-Famine in Somalia • Tied fleece blankets for Joy’s House • Pay-and-Play sports tournaments (last year as well as this year, they teamed up with Four Square Club and had competitions) JAMES ZIEGLER / SOURCE

Sustainable Living Club seeks to raise environmental awareness When sophomore Katie Gao’s older sister came home from college with news about her participation in the Purdue Green Committee, a club devoted to promoting sustainable living, Gao said she saw a way to bring her interest in that cause to this school.

“Sustainable living is not just about food and agriculture,” Gao said. “It’s also about the daily, small decisions that (students) make.”

According to Gao, sustainable living encompasses everything from reducing, reusing and recycling to supporting the “slow foods movement,” which promotes local and organic produce.

Gao said she tries to emphasize the environmental impact of students’ lifestyles through the Sustainable Living Club (SLC), which she created in the fall of this school year and now has nearly 30 members.

According to club sponsor Erin Odya, she and cosponsor Kathy Hallett mainly guide discussions and help club members execute their ideas. Odya said she agreed to sponsor the club because of what she learned about the importance of sustainable living while teaching AP Environmental Science.

“SLC isn’t about running out, buying a hybrid car and installing solar panels on your roof. It’s about the easy-todo things we all can do that are often overlooked,” Odya said via email.

According to Gao, the club hosts monthly events, but primarily screens documentaries about sustainable living.

Other months, she said, club members take field trips to the Carmel Farmers Market or listen to guest speakers.

The last SLC event, for example, was a presentation on

HAFSA RAZI / PHOTO

SAVE THE WORLD: Katie Gao, Sustainable Living Club (SLC) founder and sophomore, interviews a SLC officer candidate after a SLC meeting. According to Gao, SLC is about food and agriculture as well as the daily decisions that students make.

Feb. 22 by Nathan Claus, an advocate for sustainable living.

According to Gao, she also wants club members to have long-term goals each year. This year, their project is building a school vegetable garden, in which students can participate in growing and harvesting indigenous crops.

However, she said, this idea is still in its early stages, and

club members still need to research and make a formal proposal to the administration before they will be able to proceed.

“It is our first year,” Gao said. “(The school garden) is a bit ambitious, but we wanted to start with a bang.” By Hafsa Razi

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | FEATURE | PAGE 11

Students adjust to disabilities A combination of self advocacy and school resources allow students with visual and aural impairments to excel in and out of the classroom

BY VICTOR XU vxu@hilite.org

C

ompounded with the endurance and psychological challenges associated with swimming, senior Kayla Fearrin faces another difficulty when she dives into the pool every morning: occasionally not being able to hear her coach or the buzzer. Before practice, Fearrin needs to remove her hearing aids, which she has been using since the first grade to facilitate her trouble with hearing acutely.

“I wear hearing aids, so I’m not completely deaf. I can still hear without them,” she said. “My family noticed that when they yelled my name, I wouldn’t respond, and that was one of the first times they noticed that I might need hearing aids.”

Yet, Fearrin is one of many students who excel in a regular schooling environment despite difficulties with hearing or seeing. While the number of visually and hearing impaired people has decreased in the last half-century, the disabilities continue to be prevalent across the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14.9 percent of children and adolescents have low- or high-frequency hearing loss. Additionally, 1.1 percent of those under the age of 18 have severe vision impairment, defined as blindness in at least one eye, according to Lighthouse International, an organization dedicated to fighting vision loss.

Vicki Johnson, a speech and language pathologist, works with the visually- and hearing-impaired students at CHS to accommodate them into the regular schooling environment. She said the number of students with such disabilities has increased this year.

“We’ve always accommodated students with special needs, as we have to follow the IDEA law and the Individuals with Disabilities federal law,” Johnson said. “They’re in (general education), and you probably wouldn’t recognize them from other students. They’re integrated into our regular classes as long as they’re cognitively able.”

According to Dorothy Lenard, Disabilities Services Coordinator at IU, planning in advance and independence are key factors in overcoming the challenges presented by hearing and visual impairments, especially in preparation for a college learning environment.

“I think the biggest challenge for students is getting used to advocating for themselves,” Lenard said. “The fact is that things work very differently in college, with slightly less individual attention than in some high schools.”

Junior Alec Funke, like Fearrin, is another student who

faces challenges brought by impairment. He was born with a torn left retina, making him legally blind at a vision of 20/300. As a result, he utilizes corrective glasses for general sight and telescopes or magnifiers for reading smaller text.

According to Funke, his condition makes it difficult to read boards in classrooms, overhead projections and small text within books. Still, Funke said he has managed to adjust to his disability.

“It can get annoying sometimes when you can’t see the board, and you need to use a telescope to see it,” Funke said. “It gets a little irritating, but I’ve been doing this for 16 years, so it’s become an everyday routine. I’m used to it by now.”

While Fearrin sometimes encounters problems with hearing at school, she said she has learned to persevere and work through them much in the same way.

“It’s hard at times because I can’t always hear everything,” she said. “I need to have people tell me things more than once sometimes, and, with the sport that I do, I can’t wear hearing aids when I swim, so it’s also difficult.

When I was younger, I used to have to sit in the front of the classroom, but now that I’ve gotten used to it, it’s not much of a problem at school anymore. It’s not really a problem at home because my parents know how I am, so they make sure Vicki Johnson that I understand them.”

Speech and language Carmel’s special pathologist at CHS services program offers help in the form of prepared class notes, preferential seating, interpreter provisions and personalized classes on language concepts to all who ask, according to Johnson. Johnson emphasized making accommodations for impaired students in advance and notifying teachers and peers as critical to students’ academic and social success.

According to Lenard, the Disability Services Office at IU also gives extensive aid to those who request services in the form of text enlargement programs and audio or media files of lessons.

She said, “They have to identify themselves to us, which is different than in high school.”

Johnson cited technology as a major beneficial tool for hearing and visually impaired students. With the advent of programs that convert entire textbooks into large text versions, automatic screen readers and electronic closed captioning programs, people who have difficulty hearing and seeing have more methods of CONTINUED excelling in regular schooling ON NEXT PAGE

They’re in (general education), and you probably wouldn’t recognize them from other students. They’re integrated into our regular classes as long as they’re cognitively able.

By the Numbers General Impairment

One in every five people in the nation has some kind of disability or impairment.

20.6 percent of

Americans over the age of 15 struggle to perform at least one basic physical activity.

Fewer than 15 percent of people were born with their disabilities.

14.1 percent of people

between the ages of 16 and 64 have a disability.

58.5 percent of people over the age of 65 have a disability.

Visual Impairment

143 million adults wear some kind of prescription eyewear, including eyeglasses, contact lenses and prescription sunglasses.

One in four

children in the nation has a vision problem.

61 percent of people in the United

States need some sort of vision correction.

Hearing Impairment

Three to four million people

wear hearing aids; this is only 12 to 17 percent of the hearing-impaired population.

14 million

people only have hearing impairment on one side of their body.

This unilateral hearing loss, or single-sided deafness is often caused genetically.

JIVA CAPULONG, SHEEN ZHENG AND RYAN ZUKERMAN / GRAPHIC CENTER FOR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY / SOURCE

PAGE 12 | FEATURE | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012 CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

environments than ever before.

Fearrin said the support of loved ones and peers has been invaluable to her adjustment to her

At times, it does bother me, like for swimming, and I get frustrated at times. I just work through it because I know that I’m going to have tough times in the future. I would say, just be yourself.

Don’t let other people define who you are as a person based on your limitations.

Kayla Fearrin Senior

hearing impairment.

“My friends and family have been incredibly supportive,” she said. “Some of my good friends now don’t even notice that I wear the hearing aids anymore. They’ve just gotten accustomed to it. My parents were a little upset at the beginning, but they knew living with this hearing problem was something that I had to go through, so they were there to support me through it and assist me.”

According to Lenard, compassion and support from peers can be especially beneficial to impaired students who are attempting to adjust to a normal schooling environment.

“It’s probably good from the peer’s point of view to ask the impaired student about what they need,” Lenard said.

“I can tell you some of the things that are probably going to be necessary is to (communicate) with a hard of hearing student to make sure you’re facing them when speaking to them and not chewing gum or having something in our around your mouth…They each have their own strategies for maximizing their understanding… I think the biggest thing is not being afraid of them because they have a disability, but see what they’re like as a person just like you would anybody else.”

Funke said that while his visual condition prevents him from doing a few tasks, such as driving, he has been able to participate in most activities a person with normal vision can do, especially in the classroom.

Pinna

Ear Canal

Scan this to quiz your knowledge on disabilities and impairments.

Process of hearing

Ear Drum

2

Want More?

Sound On, Sound Off

Cochlea

1

“I have to sit at the front of the classroom all the time to see the board,” he said. “It makes playing video games and doing some tasks a little bit more difficult, but generally I’ve been able to do everything I’ve wanted to do.”

By adjusting to his impairment, Funke has been able to take classes like AP Chemistry that demand visual precision in both experimental procedures and class work.

Both Funke and Fearrin stressed that students with hearing or visual impairments can overcome their disabilities in the school atmosphere as long as they persevere, work diligently and do not succumb to the inevitable frustration.

“At times, it does bother me, like for swimming, and I get frustrated at times. I just work through it because I know that I’m going to have tough times in the future,” Fearrin said. “I would say, just be yourself. Don’t let other people define who you are as a person based on your limitations.”

3

Auditory nerve

Hammer, Anvil and Stirrup

1

The outer ear, called the pinna, helps us determine the location of sound source and funnels sound waves into the main ear canal.

2

The sounds waves travel into the ear canal and vibrate the ear drum, which is attached to three tiny bones: the hammer, anvil and stirrup.

3

Those bones transfer the vibrations to a fluid-filled structure called the cochlea. Tiny hairs in the cochlea are stimulated by the vibrations, creating an electrical current that the auditory nerve transmits to the brain.

Origins of hearing impairment There are two ways people can lose hearing: 1. Conductive hearing loss is the result of the sound not moving through the eardrum, ear canal or the three tiny inner ear bones. It can be caused by physical damage, genetic defects or infections.

This can be treated with surgery.

2. Sensorineural hearing loss is the result of damage to the cochlea and the hairs inside. It can be caused by a by-product of aging,

genetics, infections or exposure to intense sounds. A hearing aid can be used to treat this type of hearing loss because cochlear implants typically bypass the damaged hair cells by stimulating the auditory nerve directly.

IU.EDU, HEALTH.HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM / SOURCE TONY TAN AND HENRY ZHU / PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

PAGE 14 | STUDENT SECTION | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

STUDENT SECTION

What is the ‘Student Section?’

It’s a section that pulls stories from you. For a better explanation, scan this QR code.

STUDENTSECTION@HILITE.ORG | TWITTER.COM/HILITE_NEWS

MOHAMMAD

ISSA

speaker of the House and guest columnist

Dancing for those who can’t. Dance Marathon unites CHS students in an effort to save lives and help families.

In 2006, a couple hundred kids gathered to honor a lost student, sister and friend. That group was able to raise $35,000 for Riley Hospital for Children and introduce a new giving mindset to the student body. This first, now unrecognizable, Carmel Dance Marathon was the beginning of possibly the most impactful face of our student body’s philanthropy and compassion.

Much has changed over the years with Dance Marathon.

Numbers have shot up to 1,100 students and $230,000 were raised in 2011 and hopefully more in 2012. We have tailgates, food nights, movie showings and smoothie competitions to get everyone involved. However, questions have come up regarding Dance Marathon and its significance. Who is benefitting? Why Riley? What’s the point of Dance Marathon?

I’ll try to answer these questions for you while explaining what Dance Marathon means to me.

For the few who don’t know, Carmel Dance Marathon is an affiliate of IU Dance Marathon, which began in 1991.

Carmel became associated with Dance Marathon after the tragic death of alumnus Ashley Crouse in a car crash. Ashley

was never a Riley patient, nor did she even know one prior to Dance Marathon. However, she was, I have been told, an uncommonly kind individual and a devout participant of IU Dance Marathon. Carmel Dance Marathon was founded

by Ashley’s brother Casey and his friends as a tribute to her.

The tradition, led by Ashley’s friend and student government sponsor Sarah Wolff, has continued with unimaginable success.

I hear other students saying things like, “Give the money to another charity,” or, “Are you sure the money’s being used right?” You know what I say to that? Shut up.

Every cause is a noble cause in my mind, whether you’re solving world hunger or helping your local library. It just so happens that our cause is helping a children’s hospital.

Ashley’s passion was for IU Dance Marathon and the kids at Riley Hospital. Most if not all high school and college Dance Marathons around the nation benefit The Children’s Miracle Network. I love the fact that 1,000 kids will take time from their busy lives to come together for something meaningful.

We are helping those who can’t help themselves, kids helping

Tell Us Your Story: For every issue, the HiLite will ask questions on our Facebook page. Tell us your story, and we will feature you on the next Student Section.

This issue, we are featuring sophomore Kyle Weaver.

We asked: HiLite Online Do you have any special leap year traditions?

Answer and you may be featured in the next issue of the HiLite Jan. 20 at 7:09 p.m.

You answered: Kyle Weaver My birthday is actually on leap years, so I guess my tradition is my birthday.

Jan. 21 at 8:07 p.m.

kids. Those doorbells we ring, letters we send and six hours we stand on that Saturday in February may seem like such simple acts, but they could change lives.

I will quote Wolff to answer the second comment, “When you give someone a gift, do you have to know how they use it?” What we donate to Riley every year is our gift to them.

I don’t know what they use it for; I don’t care. Riley is a nonprofit organization that relies on contributions, and regardless of how much our donations contribute to the yearly budget, Riley knows every year it can count on Carmel High School for help. I lied; I’ve heard of what the money has been used for, and once it is revealed, I’m sure the question will be put to rest.

You can never give too much and never stop giving. High school kids have a reputation of being snot-nosed brats, and while I find that expression hilarious, I say it’s time for a change. Show that teenagers have hearts. Go to Dance Marathon and enjoy the experience. If you find that you are not passionate about Riley Hospital, then use what you learn and do something else. Help at a young age, and I am sure there will be a bright future.

More About Kyle: When is your birthday?

My date of birth is on Feb. 29, 1996. I’m 15 years old, but technically, I’m 3 years old since there have been only three leap years since 1996.

Do you do anything special for your birthdays?

On my birthday cakes, I saw the candles and cut them into fractions to match my age in leap years.

On years without Feb. 29, when do you usually celebrate your birthday?

I have always just celebrated it on March 1.

Would you consider changing your birthday if you could?

No, it doesn’t bother me. I like my birthday.

February February 2012 2008 1

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CONNIE CHU / GRAPHIC HENRY ZHU / PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | STUDENT SECTION | PAGE 15

The Face Behind the Tweets Each issue, we highlight a Tweeter from Carmel High School. And this time, it’s Jeremy Horner.

This issue’s Twitter account: @chschemcrazy

Who runs it: Chemistry teacher Jeremy Horner

Followers: 117

What it is: Random updates about classes and interesting science tweets. @chschemcrazy is the place to go if you love chemistry and randomness.

Describe yourself in 140 characters or fewer: I am an alumnus of Butler University who currently teaches chemistry and organic chemistry at Carmel High School.

Crazy for Chemistry Science teacher Jeremy Horner uses @chschemcrazy to communicate with teachers, update students about classes and to post interesting science tidbits

BY LINSU HAN lhan@hilite.org What are your Tweets generally about?

That ranges. It’ll be random updates from class to science news articles. Today, I just posted something about a schedule change to what we’re doing in class. I’ll tweet other teachers so there’s more of a professional conversation. I stay in touch with other teachers and what they’re doing through Twitter, which is interesting. And then every now and then, I post a random tweet or two, which is usually a science joke or something strange. A little bit of everything, so it covers the sort of funny to serious side of things.

Why did you decide to create a your Twitter page?

I started with my own personal Twitter, and that was more because friends and I were getting in touch, especially a lot of

my friends from college. It was a much quicker way for us to get in touch with each other. I started at school because I knew students had (Twitter), and I knew a lot of teachers that had them, so I used that to network with other teachers and to post things of general interest for classes as well.

When did you first create a Twitter page?

I’ve been tweeting for probably four years. I have had a Twitter page for school for at least two.

How often do you tweet?

Too much. On my school Twitter, I would say probably anywhere from five to 12 a day, depending on what’s going on. My personal Twitter, definitely more than that.

What do you like about Twitter?

I like that you can communicate a lot of information in 140 characters, which intrigues me in a communication standpoint. But it also mimics this idea of scientific

communication, that we should be as clear as possible and be maybe not as verbose as you would in your English writings.

For me, I’ve used it as a teaching tool even. Instead of writing this big long sentence, you would tell me what you would in a tweet, and that would be perfect. I like the idea of being able to communicate efficiently with as many people following you.

How did you come up with the Twitter name chschemcrazy?

That actually matches with my website. My website is chemcrazy.com, and that’s because I like chemistry and I like to think I’m a little too crazy.

Are there any goals you wish to achieve in the future pertaining to your Twitter page?

I wish I did a better job of staying caught up on class updates because I usually post news articles and other things I’m reading or random things that happen to me. I would like to use it in the future to network with more teachers.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner @rainaregan Exactly how I feel about the OSHA LAb Standard and high schools.

8 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner Tuesday morning. Nothing remarkable to report.

7 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner @indystar Correlation or causation? I think correlation because it mere reflects the overall community culture, not academic inclination.

8 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner @Google Docs. Allowing teachers to creepily monitor student writing. This is awesome!

6 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner student response to @Google Docs has been good so far. Unless people are lying to me!

7 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner @JulsSkogs And grading.

6 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner @21stcenturychem My thoughts exactly!

7 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner Finished making comments on OChem lab reports that had been updated since Friday.

6 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner @kfellers06 I have a Journal of Chem Ed article to show you. I was reading last night and it matched everything we talked about yesterday!

7 Feb.

chschemcrazy Jeremy Horner I love to see the writing/editing process happening on @Google Docs. My favorite moment may have been seeing students leaving comments.

7 Feb. SARAH YUN / PHOTO

PAGE 16 | COVER STORY | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

Mormonis

Mains

sm in the

stream

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | COVER STORY | PAGE 17

Two Mormons have campaigned for the Republican presidential candidacy, but Mormon students still do not feel that they are a part of mainstream society and encounter misconceptions regarding their religion and lifestyle

BY LINDSEY WALKER lwalker@hilite.org

“HEY, WHERE ARE YOUR HORNS?” A voice calls out to junior Matthew “Matt” Starnes upon hearing that Starnes is a Mormon. But Starnes just smiles good-naturedly and shakes his head at the ridiculous misconception.

This was not the first time Starnes had heard this, and it most likely will not be the last. According to Starnes, who has been Mormon all of his life, telling others of his religion does not always go over well.

“I’ve had random people ask me if I have horns or how many wives I’m going to have—people that I’ve never talked to before. I don’t even know where that stuff comes from,” Starnes said. “There’s a lot people that don’t know what Mormonism is about and I think that’s why there are so many misconceptions.”

In this, Starnes is not alone. A 2012 study conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that 46 percent of Mormons say there is a lot of discrimination against CONTINUED them in the United States today.

ON NEXT PAGE

CONNER GORDON / PHOTO

PAGE 18 | COVER STORY | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

The Mormon Moment

A Pew survey elucidates a disconnect between American society and Mormons

Stagnant 29%

Acceptance of Mormonism is...

Rising 63%

Falling 5%

How much do Americans know about Mormonism?

Almost nothing 62%

Great deal or some 37% CONNER GORDON / PHOTOS

PEW RESEARCH CENTER / SOURCE

The reason why so little is known about the Mormon faith most likely stems from the fact that only about 2 percent of the U.S. citizens are Mormon, according to the 2006 Church Almanac. The Mormon religion was also created fewer than 200 years ago. According to Dr. Jan Shipps, professor emeritus of religious studies at IUPUI who specializes in the Mormon religion, Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in 1820 as a restoration of what he believed was the true church on earth.

Mormons, who are synonymously called Latter Day Saints (LDS), follow both a translated version of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They do not drink alcohol, coffee or tea or use tobacco or illegal drugs. Dressing modestly and remaining chaste until marriage are also important parts of living in the Mormon faith.

“When you look at the Mormon religion you can see a certain distinction from really any other religion,” Shipps said. “On one hand they are considered Christians because they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior; however, on the other hand they are a Judeo-Christian religion, and therefore they are technically just as Jewish as they are Christian.”

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

MORAL MORMONS: On left, junior Matt Starnes cleans up a food distribution warehouse that works with Mormon churches throughout Indiana—volunteering is integral to the Mormon faith. On right, the model of a Mormon temple in Salt Lake City rests in Carmel’s Mormon church. Despite a long history in America and involvement in mainstream society, U.S. Mormons say they do not see themselves as part of it.

Under the Religious Spotlight

In recent years, Mormonism has been thrust into the spotlight of American attention, more often than not for negative reasons. According to Shipps, one of the major misconceptions about members of the LDS faith is that they practice polygamy.

While this was true when the Mormon faith was first being developed, the Mormon Church no longer promotes the practice. Those who do still practice polygamy are called fundamental Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a branch that has splintered off from the LDS Church today.

In 2008 the FLDS Church made headlines when the Texas Child Protective Services removed 416 children from the FLDS YFZ Ranch, a 1,700-acre community in Texas where polygamy was widely practiced. Leader Warren Jeffs was convicted of sexual abuse in August 2011. Because many do not understand the distinction between the FLDS and the LDS, the whole Mormon Church took a hard blow with that incident.

Since then, the Mormon faith has also garnered attention from the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon,” and from Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney and former candidate Jon Huntsman, who are both Mormons.

According to Randall Roper, the bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

in Carmel, all of the attention on Mormonism, whether it is positive or negative, can be turned into a learning experience for others.

“What (polygamists) are portraying is not a part of the LDS faith and it’s unfortunate. But it also can be something that can be positive because if people bring it up, it gives us opportunities to share what our beliefs really are,” Roper said.

Roper, who works full-time as a genetics professor at IUPUI and has practiced Mormonism his whole life, was called to be a bishop about a year ago.

“Before I was called to be the bishop, I worked with the youth. Because we have a lay ministry, meaning that everybody in the church has their normal job and then also a function in the church, one Sunday you can be teaching young kids and the next Sunday you can be called to be the bishop,” Roper said. “Being called to do something occurs through inspiration from God and leaders that are over us who call particular individuals.”

Changing Misconceptions

Roper, like Starnes, also said he believes that a lot of the misconceptions about Mormons may come from people not knowing a lot about them.

According to the same Pew Research Center study on Mormons in America, 63 percent of Mormons

Because people don’t know a lot about Mormon faith, and I have found that (Mormons) often tend to prefer to socialize inside of their culture, misconstrued ideas have formed around the Church. The more people learn about the religion, though, the better it will be.

Jan Shipps

IUPUI professor emeritus of religious studies and specialist in the Mormon religion

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | COVER STORY | PAGE 19

Outlook

Percent of people who are satisfied with the way things are going in their lives.

87%

Beliefs and Practices 75%

Many, but not all, Mormons follow some guidelines in recreation, culture and religion. Contrary to popular belief, Mormons do dance.

SOUP

U.S. Mormons

General Public

Regular family evenings spent at home

TV and Movie Portrayal

Percent of Mormons who say that TV and movie portrayal of Mormons...

54

12

Hurts society’s view of Mormons

Helps society’s view of Mormons

surveyed say that they believe the American people know little or nothing about Mormonism.

Mormon and senior Kenneth Griffey said he has heard outlandish misconceptions about Mormons, including that they burn Christmas trees or have magic underwear. Griffey said his religion can be a point of harassment by his peers as well.

“One time some kids were goofing off in class and the teacher was trying to talk and I was like, ‘Hey, be quiet’ to those kids, and one goes, ‘Oh just shut up, you’re Mormon. You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Like thanks for reminding me what my religion is?” Griffey said.

Both Griffey and Starnes say they have dealt with others being ignorant or intolerant toward them for all of their life and try to not let it bother them anymore.

“I’ve kind of just grown up used to it. People bash on me all the time, but I don’t really mind now. Even my friends, but it’s not so bad because you know they’re just joking. When it’s strangers…

I just don’t really get that,” Starnes said. “But I’ve kind of had to learn to live with it.”

However, despite the Pew Research Center’s findings that Mormons feel misunderstood, discriminated against and unaccepted by other Americans, a majority of Mormons also say that they feel that acceptance of Mormonism in the United States is rising.

According to Roper, he personally has never had to deal with people directly accusing him of erroneous beliefs or discriminating against him or his family.

“I really haven’t dealt with (people having misconceptions) a lot. I find that most people respect me for being LDS. They respect my beliefs and they will actually make sure I’m comfortable

Working and volunteering to help the poor

By the Numbers

28 82

percent of Mormons who believe others see Mormonism as mainstream percent of Mormons who say their religion is very important in their lives

Politics

Many U.S. Mormons support the Republican party and are more conservative in comparison to the general public.

Not drinking coffee or tea

R

74%

Not watching R-rated movies Daily prayer and weekly religious services

with what’s going on,” Roper said.

As the Church continues to grow and expand, with upwards of 14 million members worldwide, many false impressions associated with the LDS faith will likely fade as well, according to Shipps.

“Because people don’t know a lot about Mormon faith, and I have found that (Mormons) often tend to prefer to socialize inside of their culture, misconstrued ideas have formed around the Church,” Shipps said. “The more people learn about the religion, though, the better it will be.”

Local Growth

A signal that the Mormon Church is growing, not only worldwide but within Indiana as well, is the plan that was revealed last year to build the first Mormon temple in Indiana, on the corner of 116th Street and Springmill Road in Carmel.

“We think it will take about three years to build, after a groundbreaking sometime soon, and we’re really looking forward to it,” Roper said. “Right now we travel to Louisville to go to the temple, which is a two-and-a-half hour drive, and we go four to five times a year to do work there. Once we have a temple here, we will be able to go much more often.”

The difference between a Mormon temple and a Mormon church is actually quite substantial.

According to Roper, anyone is allowed to attend worship services in a Mormon church. However, to attend the temple one must acquire an official recommendation from a church leader by answering religious questions and demonstrating one’s worthiness to enter the temple.

“In the temple we perform sacred ordinances, some of which have to do with bringing families to be bound together eternally. We believe that the

17%

9%

Republican Democrat Indepedent/ Don’t know PEW RESEARCH CENTER / SOURCE CONNIE CHU / GRAPHIC

family unit can be together forever,” Roper said.

The Mormon temples can also be contributing factors to the degree of mystery shrouding the faith because of their restricted access to anyone outside of the Mormon faith. However, Roper said that everyone is invited to the temple as well as the church, as long as they are willing to follow God’s commandments within the Mormon religion.

Despite the misconceptions and harassment that Starnes is forced to deal with on nearly a daily basis, he said he remains open to teaching others about his religion so they may understand it better. The next time someone asks Starnes about his horns, and there will certainly be a next time, Starnes said he will let it roll off his shoulders and try to find humor in light of the situation, just like he has a hundred times before. And it’s not just from students. In middle school Starnes had a teacher who declared that she was anti-Mormon and that her pastor had taught her growing up that Mormons were evil. For both Starnes and Griffey, though, proclamations from others like this are far from unusual.

“I don’t even think that it’s that people don’t like us so much as they don’t know enough about us to like us,” Griffey said.

Roper, who said that he has frequently worked with the youth in order to help them understand situations with discrimination at school or among their peers, echoes Griffey’s beliefs.

“Most people rub shoulders with members of the LDS church everyday, and they don’t realize it.

Find someone who’s Mormon and talk to him or her. Just sit down and have a chat with them and you’ll find out that they aren’t that much different than yourself,” Roper said. “Don’t shun us just because we’re a different religion.”

PAGE 20 | ENTERTAINMENT | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

ENTERTAINMENT SUBMITENTERTAINMENT@HILITE.ORG | TWITTER.COM/HILITE_NEWS

Upcoming choir competitions: •Ambassadors- Feb. 18, March 10 & 17 •Accents- March 10 & 17 •Both compete on same days in March

Spring Showers Bring Shows As the season changes, performing arts students practice and prepare for their upcoming performances. Photos compiled by Mikaela George and Amira Malcom

Band prepares for Jazz at the Ritz

JAZZ HANDS: Band director Seth Davis works with one of the jazz bands. According to Nicholas Kniola, member of Jazz 2 and junior, there are four different jazz bands, which means members of the bands are able to take breaks for dancing.

For the 26th year, Carmel jazz bands will perform at an event which includes music, dancing and food, according to jazz band director Andy Cook. However, the tradition has changed for the upcoming show.

This year the event, which has typically taken place at the Indiana Roof Ballroom and was called Jazz at the Roof, will instead be at the Ritz Charles in Carmel on March 16.

In addition to the change in venues, the title has also changed. The new title is Jazz at the Ritz. The change of the name needed to match the venue change, which Cook said was necessary.

“It started to be really expensive to go all the way down to the Roof. We went to the Fountains two years ago, and last year we went to the Ritz. It’s a good location because it’s close and we’re not losing money like we started to with the Roof,” he said.

Nicholas Kniola, member of Jazz 2 and junior, said he likes the new location and setup of the Ritz Charles. This is his third year in jazz band, and he said jazz music is fun to play since it differs drastically from concert music.

While Kniola enjoys playing, he said his favorite part of the event is the dancing. According to Kniola, many jazz band members are also part of the CHS Swing Dance Club, and he has learned dance moves from the club members over the years. Although the band members must play, they also get breaks to dance.

“Since there’s four jazz bands, we get to dance while the others are playing. It’s just a really fun night,” Kniola said.

In addition to Jazz at the Ritz, some members of jazz band will also participate in Ball State University’s Dimensions in Jazz Festival, which will take place on March 3.

According to Cook, this is the first time for jazz bands to attend a convention like this one. He said it should be a good opportunity for the students to attend a festival focused on jazz music.

Kniola said, “This is the first time we’ve gone to a jazz band event outside of school. I’m excited to learn more about jazz music at the festival.”

Cook said the festival will help prepare the students for their performance at Jazz at the Ritz. He said CHS students and members of the community can buy tickets to Jazz at the Ritz in the CHS bookstore, and in addition to music and dancing, there will also be hors d’oeuvres and finger foods.

According to Cook, doors will open at 6 p.m. and music will start at 7 p.m. By Olivia Weprich

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | ENTERTAINMENT | PAGE 21

Comedy Sportz features upcoming performances According to 11-year Comedy Sportz sponsor Jim Peterson, the team has been rehearsing every Friday after school since September.

The season started on Feb. 17, with more matches scheduled for March 12 and April 13.

“To prepare for the season we have been learning about the match, and what types of games there are.

We also support what’s happening downtown (the adult league) and learn the different skills they do,” Peterson said.

Comedy Sportz is a team that consists of six players. Four players participate at a time while the other two players are alternates or also known as ‘Mr. Voice’ or ‘Mr. Sound Effect.’ The players on the team are not allowed to use a script to help aid their performance. The basic gist of Comedy Sportz is that

the players play games, which are centered around acting. There is a game where the referee will take suggestions from the audience and the teams have to incorporate the suggestion selected into the scene.

“What I love about Comedy Sportz is the team aspect. It’s great to work together. Also I love playing games and that’s basically all we do. My favorite game is ‘5 Things.’

Everyone hates it, but I think it’s a test of all the things, you know, for improv. What I’m looking forward to is finally getting to be on stage,” senior Jillian MacNulty, who has been on the team for two years, said.

“The auditions are always fun and I get some fun students on the team,” said Peterson. Tickets for the matches are on sale at the bookstore for $5. By Kayla Walker

COMEDIC TIMING: Peter “Pete” Marshall, Comedy Sportz member and senior, and William “Bill” Pfohl, Comedy Sportz member and sophomore, practice a skit after school. According to the posters displayed across this school, the next competition is on March 9.

After lengthy preparation, choirs start competitions

SHOW-OFF: Members of the Accents show choir practice their routine at an after-school rehearsal. Their competitions start on March 10.

It’s no understatement to say that Accent and junior Jordan Smith lives and breathes show choir. After months of during-and-after school rehearsals, she, along with the rest of the Accents, will kick off the competition season on March 10, while the Ambassadors already started their season last Saturday at Homestead High School. “(The Accents) have threehour practices every Monday and Wednesday in addition to our hourand-a-half practices in class every other day. It’s a lot but I think it’ll be worth it when the lights go up for the competition,” Smith said.

According to Lamonte Kuskye, the director of the Ambassadors, the Ambassadors will have three competitions this season on Feb. 18, March 10 and March 17, and the Accents will have two on March 10 and March 17. All of the competitions will take place at high schools in the state of Indiana. Additionally, there will be a choral showcase at this school on March 21 for the community to watch both show choirs perform their competition sets.

“Normally all of the Accents and Ambassadors go to the same competitions. However, this year,

because director (Ann) Conrad was gone first semester with her cancer, the Accents are going to wait until the second competition to join the Ambassadors in competing and the Ambassadors will go out three weeks early on their own,” Kuskye said.

Conrad has since returned to school this semester to direct the Accents. The Ambassadors, a mixed gender choir, have five numbers in their set, and the Accents, an all-female choir, have four.

The Accents have been competing as a group for the past nine years, and, after a 20-year absence, the Ambassadors rejoined the show choir competition circuit in March 2007 and now have been competing annually for the past six years.

“We usually try to run about a 15 to 20-minute show, which is right about where we’re at,” Kuskye said. “We’re getting excited and we’re right on track with rehearsals for where we should be to be ready (for the competitions) in time.”

Smith, who, like many of the other Accents, has never competed before, said, “I’m equally excited for both competitions because this is my first year being in show choir. I can’t wait to see what it’s like.” By Lindsey Walker

PAGE 22 | ENTERTAINMENT | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

Move to the Music:

Footwork (Basic) Footwork is a broad term for dance moves performed on the ground. Dancers utilize mostly their feet.

Toprock (Basic) This is a simple move done standing up that usually initiates the breakdancing.

Growing

Nike (Medium) This one-handed handstand, or kick, is so named because it mimics the Nike logo.

Side chair (Advanced) To do this move, the dancer balances their body on the elbow of their arm.

MOVEMENT

LIANE YUE /GRAPHIC OMEED MALEKMARZBAN /PHOTOS UIC.EDU /SOURCE

More students at this school become involved in the Hip Hop club and lifestyle

BY SHAYAN AHMAD sahmad@hilite.org For many, the modern day definition of hip hop is associated with the rap music of radio airwaves and inner city youths. For junior Leo Kim, hip hop is much more personal.

Kim said he began breakdancing– or ‘b-boying’, as he and others of the hip hop culture call it– about two and a half years ago after joining the CHS Hip Hop Club his freshman year. Although he said at the time it was simply a hobby, breakdancing has since grown to become much more.

“There were probably a lot of factors which initially drew me: the fact that I thought it looked cool, that I’d been shown a glimpse by a friend before,” Kim said. “But once that all faded, what really made me stay was the community and the love of the dance.”

After becoming more involved in his newfound passion of dancing, Kim said he began to branch out into the hip hop community.

At first, he said he visited hip hop outlets in downtown Indianapolis, such as the Naptown Hip Hop Congress, and other high schools in the downtown area. Beyond this, however, Kim said he began to connect to hip hop globally.

“I have family in Korea and work an internship there, so I visit there almost every summer; and since Korea is such a Mecca of dancing, I was able to meet people everywhere from Russia to Jordan,” Kim said. “(My trips) let me connect with dancers from all over the world and gave me a perspective of how much room I still had left for improvement.”

Brandon “Edge” Haines, a professional hip hop dancer in the process of opening a dance studio in central Indianapolis, also said he believes community to connections to be the driving essence of hip hop.

“You become a true hip hop dancer by just hopping in with other dancers. I mean, I’ve traveled all across the U.S., from Atlanta to Chicago to New York to Florida, just to

battle dancers and teach workshops,” Haines said. “All the eyes, they become happy. I dance because I wanna the dancers in our community are all about love. That’s make other people happy.” what hip hop is; it’s all about the community.”

Phan said that for he and Kim, the reasoning for Around the same time Kim picked up hip hop dancing, dancing is also related to not only their own love, but also his friend and senior Richard Phan did too. Phan said he the effect it has on their spectators. also has been dancing for several years but believes that “We try to get involved and show our dance moves in popular perception of hip hop has been distorted. public as much as possible,” he said. “That way we can “People often times misconceive hip hop as pop music entertain people, just by doing what we love.” and just mainly music. I can reassure anyone that hip hop is just more than music,” Phan said. “It is a way of life, and there are many elements of hip hop that people may have forgotten about.”

Kim also said he finds that in modern interpretations of the art, many lose the sense of unity with which hip hop was created. He said that he believes the concept of unity is a key element in regard to hip hop culture.

“Personally, hip hop for me is just one love,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you believe in; in the hip hop community, everyone’s in it together.”

Haines said he believes that the sense of affecting a community and those around him is where he derives his enjoyment and love of dancing and hip hop.

OMEED MALEKMARZBAN / PHOTO “For me dancing is always BREAK IT DOWN: Leo Kim, member of the CHS Hip Hop Club and number one; it’s what I do, junior, demonstrates his dance moves after school at a club meeting what I am. I dance to give while others watch. Kim said he began “b-boying” about two and a people a physical injection of enjoyment,” he said. “Through half years ago.

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | ENTERTAINMENT | PAGE 23

The Mozart Effect Recent studies show that students who participate in musical activities receive better grades than their peers who lack musical ambition

BY CAROLINE HARBOUR charbour@hilite.org Stage lights, sheet music, dance steps. While these might not be the first thoughts that come to mind when someone thinks of a high school, they are as essential to education as any other class, according to studies done by the New England Center for the Performing Arts.

According to 2011 research from Americans for the Arts, an organization that supports arts programs in schools and communities in the United States, students who participate in performing arts programs for at least a year are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement in their schools. They are also three times more likely to be elected as class officers or receive an award for school attendance and four times more likely to participate in a math or science fair or receive an award for an essay or poem.

Young artists are likely to attend music, art and dance classes three times more frequently than their peers. They participate in youth groups and perform community service four times as frequently and read for pleasure twice as frequently. And to top it all off, performing arts and music participants score between 40 and 60 points higher on the SAT tests on average.

Despite all these benefits, the percentage of students in U.S. public schools with access to music and performing arts programs has been on the decline in the past five years. The loss of support and funding for these programs can have a negative effect on the students as well as the schools who participate in them. This can deprive schools of elements essential to a high school atmosphere, such as school productions, choir and orchestra concerts and pep band performances at school sporting events.

CHS has an extensive performing arts program that benefits the faculty and students such as Jenna Wiegand, tech theatre and concert band participant and sophomore.

“I started playing trumpet in fourth grade in Pittsburgh and I’ve played it ever since,” Wiegand said.

CHS has not only four concert bands and a tech theatre department, but also an extensive choir program, drama department, jazz band, orchestra, show choir and marching band.

Principal John Williams said, “We emphasize all areas that serve our kids.”

Not all schools are so lucky. Forty percent of responders to a survey conducted by the California Department of Education cut music and art classes. According to Williams, Carmel would never let budget cuts get in the way of pursuing the students’ interests and passions. “(Even if there were budget cuts) we’d still be trying to do what we do,” Williams said.

Performing arts programs have inspired some students to branch out and try new things. “(I got involved in tech theatre because) my sister was a lead in her eighth grade musical when I was in fifth grade and I was always fascinated by how things mysteriously moved themselves,” Weigand said. “Once my sister explained it to me, I realized that it sounded super fun and I wanted to try it. I fell in love with it and I’m still doing it today.”

HENRY ZHU / PHOTOS

HIT THE HIGH NOTES: Members of the CHS Band practice during their class. According to recent studies, students that participate in musical activities perform community service four times more than those who don’t.

That inspiration doesn’t stop with high school. With some, it even leads to a career.

Richard Saucedo, performing arts chair and head band director at this school, said, “I’ve been a band director at Carmel for 29 years. I’ve always loved music.

I got into band at junior high, and the director gave me a chance to get up in front of the class and conduct and I was hooked.”

Another benefit of performing arts programs is that they provide a special relationship between the different aspects of school activities, from football to concert band, basketball to dance class show choir to tech theatre.

“It’s a family, and families support each other. One of the things I’m most proud of is that our programs support each other. We’re all Carmel Greyhounds, and we’re all proud of what each other accomplishes,” Williams said.

Music and art classes can help maintain that feeling of family, especially for the students who participate in them.

“(Performing arts programs) bring a sense of belonging; it makes people feel more at home. That’s one of the special things about Carmel. They give students an opportunity to develop their full potential, to counterbalance academics so they are developing their academic self and emotional self,” Saucedo said.

Perhaps one of the reasons that CHS places a strong emphasis on performing arts programs because Williams said that they add much to the school academically and on a creative basis. “(The performing arts) add so much to education academically, the kids who are involved in performing arts cognitively aid the learning process,” Williams said.

“On top of that, all the discipline, add that to the whole person and then add the person to your school and look at the success that you have. Our school takes pride in our performing arts programs.”

Wiegand said that she agrees with Williams’ stance. “I don’t know where I would be without them.”

PAGE 24 | SPORTS | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

SPORTS Repeat in the Works?

Did you know?

SUBMITSPORTS@HILITE.ORG | TWITTER.COM/GMN_SPORTS

The men’s golf team won Carmel High School’s first State Championship in 1970.

Want to stay up-to-date with all of the sports at CHS? For live tweets from CHS sporting events, follow @GMN_Sports on Twitter.

After winning their first State Championship since 1994, softball team members say they feel more confident, relaxed entering 2012 season

BY CHARLIE BROWNING cbrowning@hilite.org

A

t the beginning of last season, the softball team found itself in the heart of a State Championship drought that lasted 16 years. This year though, the team will enter the season with a much different feeling. After winning last year’s class 4A IHSAA State Title, the team finds itself in a spot that it has not been in since 1994 – reigning State Champions.

Senior player Katie Bosler said that although the team very much enjoyed its State Championship last year, it plans to approach everything this year the exact same way. The one thing that is different about the team’s mentality towards this year? It is much more relaxed.

“Our approach to this season will be the same, with State as our primary goal,” Bosler said. “But I don’t think we will have as much pressure on us (this year) because we just won one, and now we know what it takes to be a State Champion.

I think we all feel more prepared than ever going into this season, like we have a weight off of our chest.”

Head Coach Emily Good said she agrees with Bosler that the team will not approach this season any differently.

“Not necessarily,” Good said. “I believe our returning athletes know what takes to be successful. It will be important to focus on taking one game at a time, concentrate on the process, and be prepared to play at the highest level towards the end of our regular season.”

Bosler distinctly remembers the feeling she experience last June, and she said she believes that the team knows how to get that feeling back again this year.

“Winning State was a dream come true,” Bosler said.

“Since we were freshman, my class has been focused on winning State, and to finally be able to win it after many years of heartbreak was awesome. I would say that we are definitely more motivated this year because we want that amazing feeling back.”

Even though the team might not feel as much pressure as it normally would entering a season, that doesn’t mean that the players are any less motivated to win another State Championship.

Senior Katherine Stout, who is entering her third year as a varsity player, said the seniors on the team are keeping the players motivated and excited for the season.

“We are definitely still as motivated as we were the day of the State Championship last year,” Stout said.

Good agreed with Stout, saying that the team is more focused and confident than ever after winning State.

“The target on us will be a little bigger this year,” Good said. “However, with our schedule, we are familiar with getting our opponents ‘A’ game. It’s our job as a staff to help to create an atmosphere where our athletes are confident regardless of the situation.”

Stout said that Good makes sure to constantly remind the team that they are the ones being chased this year.

“We are definitely on our guard,” Stout said. “Coach Good always says ‘We have a huge target on our back this year’ which I think sums it up really well.”

As for expectations, Bosler said she knows that they will be just as high, if not higher, than they always are.

“Everyone always asks us if we are going to win back-toback State Championships,” she said. “I know that we are going to try our best to get back to the championship.”

Our approach to this season will be the same, with State as our primary goal. But I don’t think we will have as much pressure on us because we just won one, and now we know what it takes to be a State Champion.

Katie Bosler

Senior softball player

Program History Here’s a look at how the softball team has fared over the last 20 years Sectional • 10 Sectional Championships since 1991.

• Won Sectional Championship last year.

• 1997 was the last time the team won back-to-back Sectional Championships.

MARY BROOKE JOHNSON / PHOTO

LISTEN UP: Head Coach Emily Good talks to players during a preseason workout. The team hopes to win a State Championship again this year.

State • Won State Championship twice since 1991 (1994 and 2011).

• State runners up once (1997).

CARMELGREYHOUNDS.COM / SOURCE

MARY BROOKE JOHNSON / PHOTO

FIRE AWAY: Senior Katie Bosler winds up to throw a ball during a preseason workout. Bosler said the team is just as motivated this year as it was last year.

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | SPORTS | PAGE 25

As college basketball season concludes, students anticipate ‘March Madness’ the first round.”

Johnson said he agrees with Brown.

“You need to have time (before the games) to do your bracketology, which is the art of making brackets,” Johnson said. “You also need time to study up and For students like junior Chris Johnson, the month of March watch SportsCenter to learn which teams are best and is considered one of the best of the year. March is the end where the upsets might be.” of winter, and as temperatures rise, students begin the Brown and Johnson countdown to summer vacation. both participate in multiple However, for Johnson, March bracket competitions with means something else. While the their friends and family, and warm weather is nice, he loves both say they are expecting March due to the fact that it is to be crowned champions of the month in which the NCAA Want to participate in March their respective pools. men’s basketball tournament, Madness this year? Once “I’m expecting to win my commonly known as “March the NCAA family pool and also the pool Madness,” takes place. tournament I do with my friends,” Brown “I love March Madness. I field is set, said. “I just feel great about love the atmosphere, the upsets,” scan the my chances.”

Johnson said. “It’s awesome to QR code to There will be an see the big teams go down. I’m opportunity from the HiLite enter the expecting Indiana University to for any members of CHS make a big run this year.”

HiLite March to participate in a bracket Unfortunately for Johnson Madness challenge. This will be an and many other students at contest. Just pick who you opportunity to discover who CHS, the first two days of the think is going to win and what can make the best picks out of tournament take place during the score will be for a chance the entire school. school, so students are unable to win a prize.

Johnson said he believes to watch the first round of he will win the schoolgames. Sophomore Jake Brown, wide pool as well. To his another avid March Madness competitors, Johnson said, fan, said that he believes “Don’t even bother registering because I’m obviously students should get a day off of school for one of the first going to win. I checked the odds; I can’t lose.” days of the tournament.

On the other hand, Brown believes that he will be “I absolutely think there should be no school,” Brown crowned school-wide champion. “The way I see it,” said. “A bunch of kids skip school anyways, so I think we Brown said. “The more people who enter, the more should just get the day off. Also, if you are in school, you people I get to say that I beat.” miss most of the upsets because they usually happen in

BY BOBBY BROWNING bbrowning@hilite.org

Enter our Contest

NATALIE

MAIER

entertainment editor / nmaier@hilite.org After the Superbowl, will the city of Indianapolis really benefit?

As millions of fans recently left the city, Indy is left wondering what the effects of hosting the most prominent sport event really are.

Of course, it seems like this is a no-brainer. Millions of fans were here in our capital city, appreciating the famous Hoosier hospitality and enjoying a good time. Events went smoothly, with the exception of large and sometimes stagnant crowds. The local economy soared for many hotels, restaurants and shops.

However, Indianapolis still has a reputation to fight.

Many of us still refer to our location lovingly on Twitter as “Naptown.” Now, the city uses this in promotional radio ads about how far it’s come in the past years. The ads refer to Kurt Vonnegut, famed author and Indy native, who mentioned that the city wakes up once a year for the Indy 500.

It’s clear that we have a love for the city we grew up in. For many of us, our parents work there, we took numerous field trips downtown and journeys to Indians games are part of the summer routine. But compared to prominent cities like New York and Boston, what does Indianapolis have to offer?

Well, actually, a lot. It has people that will take the time to help each other out. It has underrated Midwestern values. Not to knock on New Englanders, but they’re not exactly known for their kindness and caring approach to others.

If you get past the abstract characteristics For the rest of Indy, it can still stack of Natalie’s up against other cities. column, The city itself is pretty scan the easy to navigate, and QR Code has the famous Circle to the left at its heart.

Winter / Spring Sports Scoreboard Men’s Basketball

Men’s Swimming and Diving

Baseball

Men’s Track and Field

Record: 14-4* Upcoming: Home v. Brebeuf (Tomorrow)

Record: 12-0* Upcoming: State Prelims hosted by IUPUI natatorium (Feb. 25)*

Last season: Lost in Sectional Upcoming: First game v.

Hamilton Heights (March 26)

Last season: Finished 5th at State meet Upcoming: MIC Indoor Meet at Depauw (March 2)

Women’s Basketball Record: 11-11 Upcoming: Season completed - lost in Sectional to North Central *Records and upcoming events accurate up to press deadline (2/17) but subject to change between that date and distribution date (2/23).

Women’s Swimming and Diving Record: 11-0 Upcoming: Season completed - won State Championship Wrestling Record: 14-9 Upcoming: Season completed - finished 4th in Zionsville Sectional

Softball Last season: Won State Championship Upcoming: First game v.

Chatard (March 21) Men’s Golf Last season: Lost in Sectional Upcoming: First match v.

Hamilton Southeastern and Westfield (March 27)

Women’s Track and Field Last season: Finished 9th at State meet Upcoming: MIC Indoor Meet at Depauw (March 2) Women’s Tennis Last season: Won State Championship Upcoming: First match v.

Heritage Christian (April 10)

PAGE 26 | SPORTS | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

Complexity of Creatine Despite health risks, use of creatine, a nutritional supplement that builds muscle, continues to increase nationwide as well as in Carmel

BY ARUNI RANAWEERA aranaweera@hilite.org

T

oward the end of his freshman year, junior Austin Pfenninger said he was not feeling very well.

“I put on ten pounds in a short amount of time just mostly from water, I think, because I was having to drink so much…I was kind of getting more sick from it, and I didn’t feel good,” he said.

Pfenninger said these ailments were the side effects of taking creatine, a legal supplement intended to help athletes work longer and harder during workouts.

Pfenninger, who plays football, baseball and runs track, said he took creatine to improve his speed and strength in these sports.

According to a study by the University of Maryland, creatine is growing in popularity among teen athletes, with Americans spending approximately $14 million per year on the product. Despite this popularity, some studies have shown that creatine may not have many benefits to athletes and may even cause negative side effects, as in Pfenninger’s case.

According to Aaron Bosket, strength and conditioning coach, creatine supplements are designed to help athletes’ bodies recover more quickly during workouts.

“It replenishes the muscle stores of creatine which helps you recover faster between bouts of exercise in the same workout,” Bosket said. “I can maybe do extra sprints if I take creatine supplement. (At least) that’s the theory behind it.”

In addition to the effects Bosket mentioned, the University of Maryland study showed development in muscle mass with the use of creatine, especially during high-intensity exercises like weightlifting. It also showed that the supplement was most effective in young participants around the age of 20.

While creatine may have benefits, the supplement has been reported to have several negative side effects.

According to creatine-monohydrate.org, side effects of the supplement may include upset stomach, cramps, vomiting and, most commonly, dehydration. In the most severe cases, creatine has caused kidney problems, anxiety and gastrointestinal complications.

Pfenninger said his conflicts with creatine during his freshman year were caused by drinking too much water in an attempt to counteract dehydration from the product.

However, despite his bad experience, Pfenninger said he has started using the product again, but this time with a different brand. “(The new brand is) micronized so the dosages are a lot smaller, so you don’t have to drink much water with it,” he said. “It’s absorbed a lot quicker so you don’t have to drink that much water after you CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE take it.”

Side effects of creatine use Creatine does not just improve muscle recovery and size.

Although many of these symptoms are rare, these are eight possible side effects of repeated creatine use.

Brain • Possible stroke when combined with caffeine or other stimulants

Heart • Irregular heartbeat

Kidney

3

Muscle I • Increased strength • Muscle growth

• Kidney stones

Muscle II Stomach • • • •

Cramps Aches Nausea Diarrhea

Skin • Skin rash know as pigmented purpuric dermatosis

JAMES BENEDICT / GRAPHIC WEBMD / SOURCE

• Muscle cramps • “Charlie Horses”

Muscle III • Muscle cells fill with water, causing dehydration

Overall • Dehydration • Weight gain • Negative interaction with other medication

There’s just no substitute for just plain old hard work. And I know we all want the magic pill; I mean, I do, everybody does, but if you just do what’s right, eat the right things, eat regularly, eat enough, there’s just no substitute for hard work.

Aaron Bosket

Strength and conditioning coach

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | SPORTS | PAGE 27 Unlike Pfenninger, Donald Patterson, football player and junior, said he is strongly opposed to the use of creatine and would not use it. Patterson said he does think creatine works, but believes the health risks outweigh the benefits.

“I would never ever take it,” Patterson said. “I don’t trust it. I’ve heard (it causes) kidney stones, that stuff I do not want. I’m not going to risk taking it just to look bigger or something.”

Bosket, however, said while he sees symptoms like dehydration as a risk of creatine, he is critical of studies that warn of more severe health risks with the product such as kidney stones and the possibility of stroke. He said he believes creatine will not severely damage the body unless taken in extreme doses.

“The body makes creatine anyway, so it’s not like we’re introducing something that is foreign to the body,” Bosket said. “But again, the way scientific studies work is they’ll throw buckets and buckets of creatine down people and then do studies…I don’t know how much of them I would trust.”

Bosket said he disapproves of creatine not because of

health risks, but because of a lack of need for it. He said in most cases creatine is already abundant in the body naturally and through the intake of food; therefore, additional supplementation is an unnecessary expense.

“For me, it comes back to, ‘Let’s first just make sure that we’re eating that balanced diet,’ because I think that you get enough creatine as it is if you just eat a good balanced diet,” Bosket said.

“You’re paying a lot of money for I would never ever take it, I don’t trust it. (supplements) that I don’t think I’m not going to risk taking it just to look bigger. you need. There’s other ways, Junior Donald Patterson cheaper ways, to get it.”

Patterson said he agreed with CONNER GORDON / PHOTO Bosket in a financial aspect. He said he thinks creatine is not worth the price, with a three month’s supply of the brand give me some kidney problem.”

Pfenninger buys costing around $40.

The study done by the University of Maryland also “That stuff ’s expensive,” Patterson said. “I wouldn’t reflects what Bosket said in a biological aspect. It showed waste my money buying it just to get stuff that’s going to that those who benefited most from creatine were those who had natural deficiencies in the chemical.

Bosket said the best way to determine if creatine supplements would be beneficial is to get an individual analysis from a medical professional.

“I would tend to listen more to a physician or dietitian relationship to determine who really needs it and why you need it before we start talking about the supplement Dawn Weatherwax: Dietitian (RD, CSSD, LD, ATC, CSCS) at Sports Nutrition 2 Go use.” Bosket said. “To me, everybody’s body is different, and your level of training is different as far as what you component, and then if it’s appropriate, Before Starting will adapt to and what you won’t.” consider adding that to the regimen. Most If the nutrition component isn’t ideal, then The Carmel High School athletic policy toward teenagers are pretty healthy, but if you do any type of supplementation really isn’t supplements also advises students to consult a health have somebody who may have some type professional before taking any products. going to work optimally. The first priority is of medical issue, they should definitely The policy in the student athletic handbook states, nutrient timing; eating the right fix of nu“Carmel High School does not encourage or endorse consult a physician. Especially, if they trients at the right time has to come first. the use of any type of nutritional supplement. The use have some kind of kidney or liver problem.

Once they do that, if they want to consider of products such as protein supplements, amino acid looking at creatine, then we’ll take a look. supplements, creatine, weight gain and/or loss products, Is it worth it? etc. is a decision to be made by the student/athlete If their nutrition is not ideal, then it’s a Fighting the Side Effects and their parents. This decision should be made in waste of money. I wouldn’t even touch it.

Some will say it might have some negative consultation with a physician.”

(It also depends on) how old they are and effects, but the biggest thing with creatine Pfenninger said he did not have assistance from a how developed they are. If they’re someis that you have to make sure that you’re health professional when using creatine, but he does try body who’s really underweight and undervery hydrated. (Creatine) causes water to to stay safe by researching what he buys. developed, I wouldn’t even touch it. If it’s go from outside the cell to inside the cell, “I try to research a lot of the stuff before I take it online, someone who’s close to 16, 17, 18 but that can cause issues, (such as) cramping like, see how it affected other people before I buy it,” he they’re 6 foot and 200 lbs, then you have or issues like that. You’re going to have to said. “If I think it’s a safe product, then I’ll take it based on somebody totally different on your hands be very hydrated when you’re taking it, and what other people reviewed on it.” (than) someone who might be chronically you have to be taking it in the right dosages Pfenninger said he feels safe enough with the product underweight. If somebody is considering and you have to be in the right part of your to continue using it. He said he has had good experiences (creatine), they’re way better spending half training. The goal is to hydrate half of your with creatine aside from the problems he had with it his an hour consult with a sports dietitian or weight in fluid ounces a day; plus activity, freshman year. a licensed professional before they take you’ll generally need a little bit more. I don’t “I haven’t had any (other) negative effects with it. I feel something so they can understand if they see it as much of a danger unless they like I don’t fatigue as quickly when I’m working out, and are ideal to take it, and what products (to don’t take it properly, the product is a poor I can lift longer and go harder,” Pfenninger said. “I think take) because not all products are the product, their nutrition is really poor, they’re that if you’re safe with it and you take the recommended same. dosage, then you should be fine.” not hydrating properly or they have some Bosket said despite any benefits that creatine may (conflicting) medical condition. have, he believes natural methods are the best and safest When to use it? way to go.

(They should use it) usually in the off-season Who should use it?

According to Bosket, “I know that (supplements are) when they’re lifting really hard and their goal It’s always good (idea) if you’re under 18 out there, everybody wants an edge, and the biggest is to put on lean weight. (Use should be) reto consult a physician. To me, you should thing that it usually comes back to is that there’s just no ally more around the time you’re trying to put definitely work with a sports dietitian or substitute for just plain old hard work. And I know we all on muscle and with heavy lifting. someone in the medical industry who want the magic pill; I mean, I do, everybody does, but if knows that you’re optimizing the nutrition you just do what’s right, eat the right things, eat regularly, eat enough, there’s just no substitute for hard work.”

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

In her words

PAGE 28 | PERSPECTIVES | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

PERSPECTIVES SUBMITPERSPECTIVES@HILITE.ORG | TWITTER.COM/HILITE_NEWS

GAME TIME: Scan this QR code to see Matt Barnthouse’s video game blog at hilite.org.

Who’s that politician?

Staff perspective

Voters should not define politicians by their religious affiliation Just four years before, Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith may have served as a red flag to average Americans.

They would have labeled him “an untrue American,” ill-equipped to serve as a politician for the United States. They would have deemed him an outsider. In fact, many did.

But recently, circumstances have changed as some Americans have embraced his religion and regarded it as irrelevant when considering the bigger picture.

But while Romney seems to be two steps ahead of the next Republican candidate, his faith is still alarming to other voters.

It is understandable that one would lean on religion as a deciding factor when voting. After all, religion humanizes a candidate and assures that he has your best interests at heart. But to a certain degree, a candidate’s faith can blind voters from the true job description of a commander in chief.

Religion should serve as a stepping-stone to a candidate’s policies. It’s a worthy starting point to explore, for a candidate’s temperament can stem from his faith.

But ultimately, the decision should rest with a candidate’s policies and what he plans to carry out in office.

According to a recent article from the New York Times, Mitt Romney was predicted to have a fighting chance in South Carolina, despite the state’s heavy influence of Christianity. Only one percent of the state belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the formal name of the Mormon Church. But as Romney’s campaign has stated, “Today, Christian conservatives are supporting Mitt Romney because he shares their values- the sanctity of life, the sacredness of marriage and the importance of the family.”

In the end, religion almost always leads to two debates: abortion and gay rights. Hate fueled by

Speak Up!

opposing viewpoints has led to division in the past, even becoming labels for a candidate. Four years ago, President Barack Obama attracted his own hate group when he expressed his position on abortion as pro-choice.

Even during election season, when advertisements roll onto the TV screen, these issues are mentioned.

At times, they’re the highlight of the commercial. In 2008, republican candidate John McCain released a commercial with the video of an ultrasound, followed by words of hopes and dreams the fetus might grow to have, indicating McCain’s pro-life stance. Then the white words appear against the black screen, “Don’t vote for a murderer.”

But the fact of the matter is, once a candidate reaches office, those issues sink to the bottom of his list of worries.

His alarming concern? In this economy, it would probably point to creating jobs for those without any.

In a November poll conducted by Time Magazine, the young and the old, the Democrats and the Republicans, the male and the females, have all come to an agreement that employment is the issue they now consider most. 69 percent of the Millennial Generation, ranging from 18 to 30 years of age, placed employment at the top of their list, while 52 percent of the Silent Generation, ranging from 66 to 83 years of age, did the same.

Although religion plays a role in a voter’s decision, it should not be the ultimate concern. What may result is a voter blurring the lines between faith as an aspect and faith as the only aspect. It comes down to the question: Does religious conviction play a factor in a candidate’s values, or is it the pure deciding factor?

Religion should open a window to a presidential candidate’s character. But never should it define him.

Guess which presidential candidate believes what.

?

• Invest in clean energy jobs • Pro-choice • Reduce military spending • Stop war on drugs

?

• Environment policy is more harmful than good • States have power to decide on abortion laws • Military should be defensive, not offensive

?

• Against marijuana legalization • Pro-life opinion will affect how he elects Supreme Court judges • Increase spending on defense

Still stumped? Type “politician quiz” into the www.hilite.org search bar to see the answers.

COMPILED BY NATALIE MAIER

How much does a candidate’s religion influence your opinion of their political ability?

If they inject their religion into their policies, then I wouldn’t vote for them.

Religion is important, but I don’t think we should judge a candidate only on religion.

SENIOR DENISE FUNK

JUNIOR MITCH SOBEK

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | PERSPECTIVES | PAGE 29

Graphic perspective

OMEED

MALEKMARZBAN omalekmarzban@hilite.org

GAVIN

COLAVITO

More Let it be. danger,

gcolavito@hilite.org

more ??? press.

When does graphic become too graphic?

In 2005, The Meth Project, an anti-meth campaign, began producing emotional and disturbing commercials to communicate the risks of meth use. Columnists Omeed Malekmarzban and Gavin Colavito debate the necessity of these graphic television ads.

Grotesque but necessary.

Despite society’s constant attempts to cleanse people of addiction, it is still a prevalent issue. One of the most common and dangerous in this country today is meth addiction.

A series of anti-meth commercials by Darren Aronofsky have been under the spotlight from the moment they first aired on public airwaves in 2007.

To say the least, the commercials are disturbing, and to some, even sickening. Yet sadly, they grossly depict the dirty truth. To some, the commercials may be over-the-top for television. However, it is compulsory to reveal the truth to our youth about meth usage instead of sugar-coating the facts.

Young people need to know how horrifying these situations are, and they need to know that saying “I’m doing meth just once” will almost never end happily, as depicted by many of Aronofsky’s PSAs. Many anti-meth groups such as the Arizona, Idaho and Colorado Meth Projects have publicly supported Aronofsky’s commercials and say that they will continue to support any additional anti-meth commercials in the future. Thomas Siebel, founder of the National Meth Project, said to Forbes magazine, “(The Meth Project and its commercials) have greatly affected the national drugcontrol policy.” The Meth Project continues to thrive and therefore receives more donations, which it uses to invest in more commercials.

I believe that Aronofsky’s commercials are quintessential to the termination of widespread meth use, and that by ridding them we would be doing a great disservice to those at risk for future meth usage.

Reveal the truth to our youth instead of sugarcoating the facts.

Too far and inappropriate.

To put it lightly, these ads are absolutely horrifying. They should have never been put on the air.

They made their way into the mainstream through outlets like YouTube, attached to videos that viewers might stumble upon. I don’t agree with these commercials for one major reason: these commercials were airing on television when there were smaller children watching. If I had nightmares for one night, imagine what might happen to a young child who watched them.

Now, I understand that these ads were supposed to be a scare tactic to get teenagers not to try meth, and yes, I understand that there are a lot of graphic shows on television, but there is a line where “graphic” becomes “so-terrifying-thatit-gives-me-nightmares.”

These commercials don’t just cross the line; they destroy it.

Too The Meth Project FoundaGraphic? tion could have done someYou thing a little less harsh to try decide. to prevent methamphetamine Scan this usage. For instance, they QR code could have several popular to see one musicians and bands come of the ads together and have a concert to Gavin and help raise funds to build and Omeed support rehab centers around the country. discussed, These ads are absolutely titled “Deep appalling, and they shouldn’t End.” have been aired on television because there are definitely better ways to try to prevent meth use in teens.

There are better ways to try to prevent meth use in teens.

Check out Omeed and Gavin’s full columns at www.hilite.org.

CONNIE CHU / GRAPHIC

PAGE 30 | PERSPECTIVES | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

MATT

BARNTHOUSE online sports editor / mbarnthouse@hilite.org

Virtually awesome.

“Don’t play that; your brain will turn to mush.” “Why don’t you go read a book?” “I wish you would not play so many video games.”

Most gamers have heard these lectures from their parents at one time or another. For some reason, the general non-video game playing public seems to think that video games are mindless jibber-jabber that do not provide any constructive manner to spend time. They say you cannot learn anything from a video game. They do not believe video games are good for you. I am here to tell you they are all wrong. In fact, I might go as far to say that you can learn as much from video games as you can in school. In fact, many studies have come to show the benefits of video games.

However, many people do not acknowledge the potential and usefulness of the medium.

Video games can be beneficial to people of all ages.

According to the Ready to Learn (RTL) Initiative study based on children aged four to five, a digital-based curriculum that included video games showed increases in letter recognition, sounds association with letters and understanding basic

Changing the game. Video games actually are good for you, despite common misconceptions. concepts about stories and print. Not only small children benefit from the playing of video games. A study published in Archives of Surgery, a medical journal, showed that surgeons who regularly played video games are generally more skilled at performing laparoscopic surgery. Playing video games can save somebody’s life. Video games have also been shown to increase multitasking skills and increase perceptual and cognitive ability by as much as two percent compared to nongame players. The facts show it. Video games are good for you.

For example, a game that taught me more about human emotion than any class has ever taught me was L.A. Noire. At first glance, L.A. Noire just seems like another violent game that uses shock tactics for cheap thrills. In reality, the game is a deep experience that gives you a look at the corruption and crime of 1947 Los Angeles. What L.A. Noire taught me the most though, was how to read facial expressions. One of the main facets of the game is interrogating suspects to figure out their motives and what information they can give you. However, the suspects lie a lot. You have to read their facial expressions to determine the truthfulness of the answers

they give you. I suffer from Asperger Syndrome, a mild form of autism. I cannot naturally read facial expressions and figure out the emotions people are expressing. L.A. Noire taught me what to look for in facial expressions to know what emotions people emit. In the game, if I ask a question wrong, or accuse a witness wrongly, I may fail the case. I had to learn the hard way, but in the long run, L.A. Noire taught me how to read facial expressions and how significant choices can change your direction in life permanently.

Despite the low public opinion with the learning potential of video games, I think you can learn as much as or possibly more from a video game than you can from any other form of media. Only in video games can you physically interact with the world around you, with no real life consequences.

In video games, you control the world and learn that actions have rewards and consequences. That skill is one of the most important skills you can learn in life, and without video games, I would not have learned it. Before you knock on video games, just try them, and you might learn something about life.

GRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

JIVA CAPULONG/GRAPHIC

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | PERSPECTIVES | PAGE 31

YAMEEN

HAMEED AHMAD SHAYAN

Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no.

managing editor

reporter

Drink responsibly. Consumers should fully realize what they’re drinking and not just jump on the bandwagon.

With the recent rise of energy drinks and increased reliance on the more traditional coffee and tea, it’s important to take a step back and look at what they really do for us. Sure, drinks like these have their benefits. For most consumers, they can give off the intended effects of providing enough of the energy needed to get through the day. However, most energy drinks have brought up a variety of health concerns due to their large quantities of sugar and caffeine.

Their subsequent increase in heart rate has been, in the long run, linked to increase risk of both stroke and heart disease, along with more immediate effects of fatigue and dehydration.

Recently, a company called Neuro (stylized “neuro”) has been selling a line of drinks catering to specific needs, in contrast to regular energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster.

Of the nine diverse varieties, the three which the company alleges will have immediate impact are Neuro Bliss (which claims to reduce the drinker’s stress to enhance his mood), Neuro Sonic (which claims to provide mental energy to enhance performance) and Neuro Sleep (which claims to provide restful sleep in order to support healthy mental function), each with varying levels of effectiveness.

For the most part, Neuro drinks don’t have certifiably unhealthy side effects. The drinks hold only 35 calories per bottle and the active chemicals are mostly benign, with the chemical l-theanine proving to be naturally stress-relieving. However, phosphatadylserine, a component of both Neuro Bliss and Neuro Sonic have been shown to cause upset stomachs as well as insomnia. In addition, Neuro Sonic’s reservatrol may slow healing in general. Still, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved the drinks’ contents. It’s the statements about the drinks that haven’t been certified.

With these conditions, it’s easy for a company like Neuro to play up its products’ effects. They can make claims such as “supports healthy well being” and “supports memory” in order to gain popularity, with no repercussions yet for their exaggeration. It seems clear this is a marketing ploy, which is reasonable.

The more distressing fact about these products, though, is that they expand the purpose of simple energy drinks to every daily physical problem a consumer could encounter. Regardless of whether a buyer can’t stay awake, fall asleep or is too stressed, there is now a drink for that.

If a consumer were to become addicted to these products, it would quickly be deemed ridiculous and almost comical. However, in American society, equal reliance is a regular occurrence on similar drinks with less absurd marketing tactics.

According to the American Medical Association, over one-fourth of U.S. residents intake over 600 milligrams of caffeine on a daily basis– a consumption level the Mayo Clinic has labeled as far beyond suggested amounts and cause for side effects such as an upset stomach, fast heartbeat and muscle tremors. A survey conducted by Career Builder also found that one-third of U.S. workers admit that they “depend on coffee to make it through the day.”

And while a drink such as Neuro Sonic may seem unsafe, it actually has only 50 milligrams of caffeine in it. This is about one-twelfth of the heavy consumption that a quarter of Americans consume in an average day.

A generic brewed coffee can have up to 200 milligrams of caffeine and a Starbucks brewed cup contains 330.

With this in mind, we can easily see that while a daily reliance on Neuro Sonic to stay awake may be ridiculous, it is in fact far worse to be reliant on acceptable drinks such as coffee or tea.

The same goes for Neuro Sleep in comparison to a legitimate sleeping pill. And if daily consumption of Neuro Sleep and Sonic would be seen as unacceptable (which as far as we can tell by the reactions to us drinking them from our classmates, it would be) then so, too, should sleeping pills and regular use of caffeinated drinks.

The simple truth is, as much of a luxury these products can be, they are far from a necessity. The risk of becoming dependent on these drinks outweighs the temporary benefits, and allowing our bodies to handle the day naturally is a far better option. If we feel that isn’t enough, it would benefit us to try healthier, less processed alternatives.

With this in mind, we can easily see that while a daily reliance on Neuro Sonic to stay awake may be ridiculous, it is in fact far worse to be reliant on acceptable drinks such as coffee or tea.

Contact information Mailing Address: 520 E. Main St., Carmel, IN 46032 Phone: (317) 846-7721, Ext. 7143 Website: www.hilite.org E-mail: Staff members of the HiLite may be contacted by using their first initial and their last name appending @hilite.org. For example, Laura Peng will receive mail sent to lpeng@hilite.org.

Responding to the HiLite Letters to the editor will be accepted for the March 22 issue no later than March 8. Letters may be submitted to Room C147, placed in the mailbox of Jim Streisel, emailed to letters@hilite.org or mailed to school. All letters must be signed. Names will be published. (Letters sent via email will be taken to a student’s SRT for him to sign.) Letters may not contain personal attacks against an individual and may be edited.

Purpose

The HiLite is a student publication distributed to students, faculty and staff of Carmel High School, with a press run of 4,500. Copies are distributed to every school in the Carmel Clay district as well as the Chamber of Commerce, city hall and the Carmel Clay Public Library. The paper serves as a public forum and two-way communication for both the school and the community. Opinions expressed in the newspaper are not necessarily those of CHS nor the Carmel Clay system faculty, staff or administration.

Credentials

The HiLite belongs to the Indiana High School Press Association, Quill & Scroll and the National Scholastic Press Association.

Advertising

Businesses may advertise in the HiLite if their ads adhere to guidelines. The advertising policy is available in Room C147 or at www.hilite.org.

Editor in Chief Laura Peng Managing Editors Patrick Bryant

Monica Cheng

Yameen Hameed

Caroline Zhang Accountant Meghan Lindgren Acumen Rachel Boyd

Dhruti Patel Ads Team Ken Li

Matt Wehner 15 Minutes of Fame Henry Zhu Beats/Calendar Rochelle Brual

Claudia Huang

Aruni Ranaweera

Hafsa Razi

Katie Utken Business Manager Patrick Bryant Cover Story Victor Xu Entertainment Natalie Maier

Amira Malcom Feature Tony Tan

Ryan Zukerman Front Page Conner Gordon

Melinda Song Graphics Jiva Capulong

Connie Chu

Melinda Song

Liane Yue Media Liaison Stuart Jackson News Chris Li

Andy Yang Perspectives Kendall Harshberger

Adele Zhou Photography Conner Gordon

Mary Brooke Johnson

Special Projects Sports

Student Section Web Staff

Reporters Taylor Acton Shayan Ahmad Ben Anderson Nick Andrews Jacob Botkin Rochelle Brual Bobby Browning David Choe John Du Linsu Han Eric He Claudia Huang Tim Klein

Caitlin Muller Kim Qian Hafsa Razi Aruni Ranaweera Sean Truax Katie Utken Jacob Vahle Lindsey Walker Andrew Wang Matt Wehner Olivia Weprich Julie Xu Sheen Zheng

Photographers Kathleen Bertsch Gavin Colavito Makenzie Curtis Mikaela George Henry Jackson

Stuart Jackson Amira Malcom Omeed Malekmarzban Hailey Meyer Henry Zhu

Grayson Harbour James Benedict Charlie Browning Matt Barnthouse Sarah Yun Omeed Malekmarzban Nick McLaughlin Ray Qian Patrick Tan

Adviser Jim Streisel Principal John Williams Superintendent Jeff Swensson

PAGE 32 | 15 MINUTES OF FAME | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

15 MINUTES OF FAME Lights, Camera, Actress 15MINUTES@HILITE.ORG | TWITTER.COM/HILITE_NEWS

Freshman Anna Lasbury recently starred in an independent movie.

BY CLAUDIA HUANG chuang@hilite.org

What is the movie that you are in?

It’s called “The Sound of the Spirit,” and it’s about a girl who goes through all of these trials when her parents die. She lives with her relatives and they have religious disputes, so she has to go through a lot to get through that situation.

Who do you play in the movie?

I play Rivka Margolis. She is turning thirteen and she’s the one whose parents die. They are all Jewish, but she’s not a regular Jew. She is Messianic, which means that she believes that Christ is her savior. She has to live with her aunt and uncle, who don’t believe in that because they are regular Jews, so there’s a lot of trouble.

How does acting interfere with school?

It usually means that I have to make up a lot of schoolwork.

The theater I work at usually has ten shows a week, and we only get Mondays off. I have lot of matinee shows during the day and night shows, so I really have no time to get homework done. I literally work on my homework before I go on stage to go do a scene.

Want More?

Scan this QR code to read more and watch the trailer for The Sound of the Spirit.

HENRY ZHU / PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

Students pursue passions despite economic uncertainties Regardless of the odds against them in times of economic hardship, students like freshman Anna Lasbury still aspire to become actors in the future.

“I am definitely interested in pursuing acting as a career,” Lasbury said. “It is something I love, and I am extremely fortunate that I can continue to act for a profit in the future, even if it is difficult. It works out really nicely because you want to do something you love for a job.”

In times of economic hardship, teens are typically advised to look for careers with more economic stability. However, counselor Melinda Stephan said she encourages students like Lasbury, who have a passion for something, to chase their

ambitions despite any potential obstacles.

“I typically don’t want to squash people’s dreams. I usually tell students who are pursuing something that maybe doesn’t have a very good economic outlook or difficult to break into to just have a backup plan,” Stephan said. “But I think this is the time to try to follow your dream. When else are you going to do it?”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, actors suffer rejection frequently and undergo prolonged periods of unemployment. From her numerous experiences in the business, Lasbury has already witnessed the difficulties of profiting from acting, but she said

this has not deterred her from her plans.

“I honestly think that already, it’s really hard to make a living off of acting,” Lasbury said. “But I feel like since I love it, I’ll stick with it and have to do other jobs too, but use it as part of how I get my money.”

Stephan advises those who are pursuing acting to research and become well versed in the expectations of the industry.

“No matter what you do, acting or engineering, you want you gather information,” Stephan said. “It’s important to find out what the field is like, how you can break into it, where the connections are, and what you have to do to prepare yourself to do it.” By Claudia Huang

acumen FEB. 23, 2012 | VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 3

the health issue

Page 2 - Theme explanation Page 3 - Sleep debt Page 4 to 5 - Social stress Page 6 - Happiness Page 7 - Back pain Page 8 - Herbal medicine

PAGE 2 | ACUMEN | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

(acumen.)

Contact information

Mailing Address: 520 E. Main St., Carmel, IN 46032 Phone: (317) 846-7721, Ext. 7143 Website: www.hilite.org E-mail: Staff members of the HiLite may be contacted by using their first initial and their last name appending @hilite.org. For example, Laura Peng will receive mail sent to lpeng@hilite.org.

Commit to be fit With an emphasis being placed on healthy living in today’s society, various fitness trends have appeared

Purpose

Acumen is an occasional publication serving to supplement the HiLite.

Acumen is distributed to the students, faculty and staff of Carmel High School.

Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily representative of those held

by CHS, the Carmel Clay system faculty, staff or administration.

Staff Editors Reporters/Photographers

HiLite Editor in Chief HiLite Managing Editors

Principal Superintendent

Rachel Boyd Dhruti Patel Kathleen Bertsch Jiva Capulong David Choe Connie Chu Eric He Linsu Han Henry Jackson Helena Ma Hailey Meyer Julie Xu Laura Peng Patrick Bryant Monica Cheng Yameen Hameed Caroline Zhang John Williams Jeff Swensson

In This Issue

Dear readers,

What comes to mind when one hears the word “health”? Is it a cure for diseases, or the latest diets or even the newest workout? Is it mental wellness or physical endurance?

Health encompasses a wide range of topics from what we can do to make ourselves healthier to the best ways to cure ailments. This issue attempts to explain various areas of health, not just the concerns that immediately come to mind. We wanted to look beyond the obesity and physical health aspects that often dominate the health field, and explore the hidden sides of it and what unconventional methods have been introduced to the world of health, whether modern or traditional.

Acumen Editors, Rachel Boyd Dhruti Patel RACHEL BOYD / COVER DESIGN RACHEL BOYD / PHOTOS

Fitness Initiatives

Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play Nickelodeon turns off programming for one day to encourage kids to get more active. This past year was the eighth annual event and was held on Sept. 24 NFL Play 60 NFL’s campaign encourages kids to be active for 60 minutes a day in hopes of reversing the childhood obesity trend Let’s Move This initiative was launched by First Lady Michelle Obama and is based on a five pillar system

2012 Predicted Workout Trends • Strength Training: Incorporated into exercise routines to maintain or increase strength • Zumba: Latin rhythms with interval-type exercise and resistance training • Yoga: Different forms like Power Yoga, Yogalates and Hot Yoga have gained popularity • Spinning: Also called indoor cycling. Simulates riding uphill or through valleys by increasing or decreasing resistance of bike

Top Workout Songs of 2012 1. “Moves Like Jagger” Maroon Five 2. “Born This Way” Lady Gaga 3. “Party Rock Anthem” LMFAO 4. “Rolling in the Deep” Adele 5. “Just Can’t Get Enough” Black Eyed Peas

GRAPHIC / CONNIE CHU ACSM-HEALTHFITNESS.ORG, DAILYSPARK.COM, LETSMOVE.GOV, NFLRUSH.COM, NICK.COM / SOURCES

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | ACUMEN | PAGE 3

Running on Empty

Research shows sleeping more on weekends does not remedy chronic sleep loss HELENA MA hma@hilite.org

With homework, study sessions, volunteering and extracurricular activities including field hockey and viola, freshman Kinsey Erickson said she is only able to squeeze in around six hours of sleep per night. Her solution: repaying this so called “sleep debt” by sleeping extra on the weekends.

“The fact that we have a big workload and early hours makes it hard to sleep enough, which is a problem,” Erickson said. “I definitely could do more to stick to the same sleeping plan as the weekdays; I don’t think I can help but go to bed and wake up late on the weekends.”

However, Erickson said that she does not believe her sleep debt is truly repaid.

“Sleeping for 12 hours straight is great,” she said. “It almost makes me more tired when I know I can’t sleep this much every day.”

Erickson’s situation is a common one. According to the 2010 article “Sleep Debt Hard to Repay” in WebMD Health News, researchers have found that while one long night of sleep can temporarily hide the effects of sleep deprivation, this may lead to a hazardous situation in which individuals do not realize their degree of sleep deficiency. The lingering effect of chronic sleep deprivation is an increased risk of fatigue-related errors the longer the person stays awake.

According to a January 2010 study published in Science

Translational Medicine, sleep deprivation affects the brain sleep patterns in at least two different ways. One sleep regulatory process builds up over hours spent awake and another accumulates over days or weeks of not getting enough sleep. Consequently, though individuals try to catch up on short-term sleep deprivation with one good night of sleep, the effects of long-term sleep deprivation persist.

CHS Nurse Althea Albritton said that this is a persistent problem at this school due to academic, extracurricular and family demands.

“A lot of reasons that students come down (to the nurses office), I’ll say 25 percent, is because of fatigue, no breakfast and ‘I’ve been up all night,’” she said.

Albritton said the short-term effects include concentration, performance in school, paying attention to instructions and safety on the road. She said that the most profound long-term effect, however, is on the immune system.

“The body does not repair itself well; you need sleep to repair cells and muscles,” she said. “This is a main problem for your immune system.”

Erickson said she can feel the consequences when she pulls all-nighters in the forms of exhaustion, an increase in jumpiness, sickness and an aversion to bright lights.

Senior Harrison Kim said he experiences a similar dilemma. He said he sleeps as little as three hours on average during the weekdays and then spends 10 hours sleeping on the weekends. He said although he spends much of his time involved in orchestra and working on homework, he

also spends what he considers to be most of time social networking instead of sleeping. According to Kim, sites like Facebook often distract him from getting work done and cause him to lose sleep.

“Nowadays, it is just out of habit,” Kim said. “It started because of schoolwork, but now I just use the time for talking with other people or anything else I would do in my free time. I don’t think I can just stop.”

Unlike Erickson, Kim said he does believe that sleeping extra on the weekends is an effective solution.

“I think I am repaying the debt because I don’t think I could sleep so little if I didn’t have a couple days to catch up on sleep,” he said.

Albritton said she does not believe the validity of this solution mentioned by Kim. “My understanding of the need for sleep, especially for growing students, is that once you’re sleep deprived, there’s no such thing as catching up on sleep. There needs to be adequate amounts of sleep,” she said. “The only cure is to get consistently eight hours of sleep. However, I think students need to get even more than that.”

Nevertheless, with all the work on her shoulders, Erickson said she can not help but go to bed late on the weekdays and catch up on her sleep debt over the weekends, despite the negative riskiness of this habit.

“It’s wonderful, waking up on your own accord on the weekends rather than a horrible alarm clock,” she said.

“I just feel a bit bitter, knowing that my next sleep will probably be a lot shorter.”

RACHEL BOYD / PHOTO

HAILEY MEYER / PHOTO

GOT SLEEP: Senior Harrison Kim (left) practices violin for an upcoming concert. Freshman Kinsey Erickson (above) reviews a Bible story with a student at the Chinese Community Church of Indianapolis. Both Kim and Erickson said they experience sleep debt due to their extra-curricular activities.

PAGE 4 | ACUMEN | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

The Buzz about Blogging Studies show blogging reduces social anxiety, helps students cultivate creativity

BY ERIC HE ehe@hilite.org Along with many other students going through high school, sophomore Bailey Padgett experiences stress throughout the week. In contrast to those same students, Padgett finds an unique way to manage this stress: blogging.

“I have a blog on Tumblr, and it is a site where people can basically blog pictures, stories and quotes that relate to what they are feeling on that day and their mood,” Padgett said.

“I personally use it to express my feelings and occasionally relieve stress.”

Padgett is not alone. According to a study conducted by the American Psychological Association, a group of 161 students who admitted to being socially anxious were tested by dividing the group into those who would blog for 10 weeks and those who would not. After the 10-week period, the study showed that the group of bloggers expressed positive feelings in comparison to the group that did not blog.

Psychology teacher Peter O’Hara said, “There’s a lot of social stress involved with students’ lives. Here in Carmel, there is a difference in social stress as compared to other schools in academics and sports. Since the whole school excels in those, students are pressured to succeed in the two by both parents and peers.”

While he realizes the amount of stress that students can experience in high school, O’Hara said blogging may have both positive and negative effects on a person’s mentality.

“I could see some positive effects of blogging through my daughter and granddaughter,” O’Hara said. “They blog and it not only increases their awareness of technology, but also allows them to communicate easily with each other.”

Like O’Hara, Padgett said she views blogging as beneficial; however, she said she also agrees that blogging can have a negative side.

“I use blogging as a creative outlet and to keep up with the world around me,” Padgett said. “It can be both a source of entertainment and a social tool. Tumblr in specific allows me to connect with people around the world, allowing me

HENRY JACKSON / PHOTO

BLOG IT OUT: Senior Lauren “Lo” Odom works on a craft project for her blog. Odom said she uses blogging as a creative outlet and to relieve stress.

to meet different kinds of people while also keeping up with friends at school. Overall, it helps me relax and reduce stress.

But I think the extent to which blogging negatively affects you depends on how often you use it. Don’t make it your life.”

Although he said he believes blogging can have some positive effects, O’Hara said he does not see the benefit of

FRAME UP: These photo frames are one of the projects featured on Odom’s blog and were made for two of her friends for Christmas, according to Odom. Odom said she uses her blog to express her creativity.

LAUREN ODOM / SUBMITTED PHOTO

blogs themselves. He also said the increased implementation of social media allows for a new way to talk with other people, and, relative to the past, may create new opportunities for students to express their feelings and release stress.

“Venting, whether you do it through social media or on a person-to-person basis, is always going to be a way to release stress,” O’Hara said. “Social media can be a good way to vent and get stress out if you have certain pressures from life.”

Padgett said she agreed with O’Hara, saying that she uses blogging to relieve her stress and express her feelings when she feels the need.

“Many of the times when I’m stressed, I usually go to my friends first,” Padgett said. “If they can’t quite understand what I’m saying, or I can’t relate to them, I go to my blog. It’s easier for me to understand myself, and I think it is good for me to look back through my older posts and problems in the past and look at how I solved them to see how it could help in the future.”

Not only can blogs be used for relieving social stress but also for other creative outputs. For example, senior Lauren “Lo” Odom said she maintains a blog at www.losnewadventures.blogspot.com. Odom, who said she started blogging to do something productive with her spare time, uses the blog as a creative outlet for crafts or baking projects.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE “I decided as of 2012 that I

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | ACUMEN | PAGE 5

Fashion Police

Juniors Anna Brookie and Rachel Peterson created a fashion blog, The Stylish Insanity. Here’s what they said about their experiences.

What is the focus of your blog?

Brookie: Our blog is fashion-based. We posted pictures of various outfits we would put together. The inspiration to start a blog came from our newly discovered love of other fashion bloggers. We wanted to spread that creativity, too.

Why did you decide to create a blog?

Brookie: We decided to start it because this was the same time we started getting into fashion and reading other blogs. Some of our favorites are Amanda Brohman, Lehappy and The Stylish Wanderer.

Peterson: We love fashion. It has always been a huge part of my life. I love the art aspect and being able to show who I am through the way I present myself.

HENRY JACKSON / PHOTO LAUREN ODOM / SUBMITTED PHOTOS

CREATIVE CURE: Top and bottom left, Odom experiments with various projects, from melting crayons (top) to baking (bottom); right, Odom works on a vinyl record bowl, another project that she has featured on her blog.

Odom said she works on a new project every week for her blog.

wanted to do something new, so I decided that I would do a new craft or baking project every week and blog and give instructions on how I do it.

Getting to know how to do different things and crafts is fun because most of my room is full of things I’ve made or built,” Odom said.

Like Odom, Padgett said she also finds other uses for her blog besides a social media tool.

Padgett said, “I get on around three times a week for Tumblr. The main reason I actually got into blogging was because a friend referred it to me and one day I just created an account and started following people. I liked the pictures they posted, and my blog ended up becoming a source of entertainment for me as well as a social tool.”

Odom said she finds her blog has a positive effect on her life because of its potential use as a learning tool.

“I am definitely learning new things and preparing for my future, because when I’m in college I’m going to have to learn how to cook food,” she said. “It is also good that I’m learning on my own; I’m teaching myself useful things, and I think that is a personal character builder.”

Although O’Hara acknowledges the benefits of blogs, he said that social media tools like blogs and the Internet itself can also have a negative effect.

“Blogging can sometimes add stress because whatever you put out there is out there forever, and anyone can see it,” O’Hara said.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

According to Padgett, she does not make her blog very public to people because she considers her blog to be private. However, Padgett said she does appreciate when people read her blog.

“I don’t really like all the people I know reading my private thoughts, but I am not really as bothered as much by people around the world because it’s nice to know that people are listening to what I have to say,” Padgett said.

In light of the study, O’Hara said he believes students need some kind of outlet in order to release their stress such as blogs.

“There was stress in high schools even before the introduction of things like blogs. There are both positive and negative effects from blogs, but what I do know is that (high school) is a tough time because students grow and learn about the world, which creates an enormous amount of stress on students,” O’Hara said. “My advice is for (students) to learn, embrace high school, find out new things, challenge themselves and grow as a person.”

Stressed out?

Odom said she aims to update her blog every week. Scan this QR code to take a look at all of her projects.

How do you express yourself through your blog?

Brookie: For us, fashion in itself is more of a creative outlet than blogging about it. Knowing that you have the power to transform the perception others have of you just by what you put on that day makes life so much more entertaining.

Peterson: It was so nice to create art through self-expression. A lot of originality went into the blog–we had to make it our own. I liked the freedom of choosing the location, the clothes and the overall look we were going for. It all came together to create an art form.

STRIKE A POSE: Juniors Rachel Peterson (left) and Anna Brookie (right) model outfits for their fashion blog. Brookie and Peterson said they blog to express their love of fashion.

KATHERINE KATSAROPOULOS / SUBMITTED PHOTOS

PAGE 6 | ACUMEN | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

The Pursuit of Happiness Recent studies show the positive impact of maintaining a happy attitude on health

KATHLEEN BERTSCH / PHOTO

JUST KEEP SWIMMING: Sophomore Danielle Guthrie laughs with her teammates during swim practice.

According to Guthrie, she often feels happy from bonding with her other swimmers.

BY LINSU HAN lhan@hilite.org It was her birthday, but sophomore Parmida Mostafavi was still required to go to Farsi school, a religious school.

Although, she said she didn’t really have the intention to go to school on a birthday, she decided to attend anyhow.

When she arrived, she was surprised to find friends, family and many other members of the community celebrating her birthday and offering her food and cake.

“I didn’t expect it at all and it was like the entire Persian community. It was really fun, and I was really happy how an entire community would do something like that for me,” Mostafavi said.

In a similar context, “happy” is also how Mostafavi said she feels after doing exceptionally well on a test.

“Everyone kind of expects me to do well, but I know that’s not always the case, so it makes me smile when I get a good grade on something,” Mostafavi said.

What is it that creates this feeling of happiness, and how does it affect our everyday lives?

In the dictionary, “happiness” is defined as a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy, and it is what humans have been pursuing unconsciously since their very beginning.

But to what extent can such trivial feelings impact a person?

Some argue that it is nearly in line with survival itself. The American Declaration of Independence, in particular, places strong emphasis on “the pursuit of Happiness” and

includes it as one of the three “unalienable Rights” of people.

The document may be right, for a recent study reexamines the issue of happiness and how it should not be dismissed merely as a social concern.

In the study published Oct. 31, 2011 at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the world’s multidisciplinary scientific serial, a group of researchers assessed 3853 individuals based on their moods during the day. The subjects were asked to rate their feelings of positive

emotions described as the “positive effect” (PA) four times per day as researchers monitored them over a course of five years. With age, health and lifestyle factors in account, they concluded that the people who rated themselves the happiest had a 35 percent reduced risk of death in contrast to those who rated themselves the least happy. According to the researchers’ interpretation, the changes in emotions affect the levels of cortisol (a key stress hormone) as well as other regions of the brain that manage blood vessel function and inflammation.

With this compelling research in hand, there may be questions about what it takes to attain “happiness.”

According to counselor Stephanie Aikins, there are several factors that galvanized the feelings of happiness. One of the predominant factors is being authentic to oneself—that is, conforming to one’s personal values and core beliefs.

“When people are congruent to whom they are, they are happy,” she said. “Also doing things that one truly enjoys and truly gets something out of makes that person feel happy and fulfilled. It speaks to your core values and to who you are.”

Though grades, according to Aikins, are usually the impacting force to students’ happiness, there are other subtle areas that people don’t commonly acknowledge.

Areas such as self-convictions and peer relationships are often seen correlated to the person’s mood and happiness.

“I think most teenagers are, for the most part, happy,” Aikins said. “However, having said that, I think a lot of teenagers struggle in knowing themselves and knowing who they are, so sometimes they find themselves in situations where they don’t feel happy… or they find themselves in relationships that are not good for them. Learning that it’s great to be true to oneself is part of what makes people happy.”

Sophomore Emma LaPlante, who evaluates herself as a relatively happy individual, concurs and also said happiness is more from the person’s own decisions rather than from the consequences of actions.

“I feel like a lot of times, it’s like a decision you make—whether you want to be a happy person,” LaPlante CONTINUED said. “It’s something that you can ON NEXT PAGE

Are you happy?

Take the following quiz to find out. Answer the folowing questions on a scale from one to five with one being not true and five being very true.

1. I know who I am, and I like myself 2. My most important relationships get the most of my attention 3. I have a strong sense of purpose and/or I love my work 4. I choose my attitude most of the time 5. I appreciate my life as it happens 6. I am good at letting go of past disappointments 7. I know how to have fun, and I do 8. I look after myself and take care of my well-being 9. I know what inspires me, supports me and gives me strength 10. I believe happiness is a way of moving forward

Results: 42-50 points: Happy 34-41 points: Getting there 26-33 points: Semi-happy 18-25 points Self-care 10-17 points: Life happens OPRAH.COM / SOURCE

FEB. 23, 2012 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | ACUMEN | PAGE 7 consciously decide, and you have to work at it. You have to take responsibility of being happy, and you can’t rely on other things. This is why I feel like I’m happy, because I don’t just rely on good grades or people. I am thankful for what I have, and I work for myself.”

Mostafavi said she feels happiness is something to live for, something that makes life worthwhile and that peer connections is just another alternative route to happiness.

She also said she believes that gratitude, whether it is to or from a person, makes her feel pleased with herself.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

“I’m happy when I make someone else happy. It feels good when you see someone else smile because of something you said or did,” Mostafavi said. “When people actually think about others’ happiness—like when they take other people’s feelings into consideration—and they go out of their way to do something for them: That’s something that makes me happy.”

Danielle Guthrie, a member of the swim team and sophomore, said she not only feels happy from strong family-like bonds with the swimmers around her that are her teammates, but also feels happy from simply making her dad smile or laugh.

According to Aikins, having quality in relationships is a huge factor in a person’s happiness. She said she advises those who seek happiness to unplug themselves from their TV, computer, cell phone and gaming systems, and instead reallocate their time to socializing, exercising and taking occasional nature excursions.

“Spend time talking in person to friends and family about a variety of topics,” Aikins said. “Texting, Twitter and other methods of communication alike just don’t give the same quality as does spending time interacting positively…

Finding happiness is a continuous struggle for adults even, so for teenagers it’s the beginning of that journey.”

Research shows chiropractic most effective For senior Stephanie Stromquist, visits to the chiropractor proved to be the best solution for her chronic back pain

BY DAVID CHOE dchoe@hilite.org The unexpected happened for senior Stephanie Stromquist when she tagged along with her mother and sister to the doctor’s office for her sister’s severe scoliosis ten years ago.

Stromquist was then informed by the doctor that she too was a victim of scoliosis.

“My scoliosis wasn’t as serious as my sister’s,” Stromquist said. “Mine started as an 11 degree curve and then increased a little bit, whereas my sister’s scoliosis was almost 40 degrees, which was really bad and caused her a lot of discomfort.”

Although her sister had to undergo surgery to correct the condition, Stromquist said she goes to a chiropractor instead of taking medication and surgery. She cited reduction in pain and naturalness as reasons for choosing to go to a chiropractor. “(My chiropractor) makes it so that I don’t have a lot of back pain, so it feels better after he aligns me,” Stromquist said. “Chiropractic is natural; you’re just correcting and aligning your body the way it should be.”

Stromquist’s case not a unique one. In a January 2012 study, Dr. Gert Bronfort, research professor at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Minnesota, and his colleagues reported that chiropractic methods and exercises proved to be more effective than medication for treating certain spinal problems, such as neck pain.

The study, conducted with three different groups based on the type of treatment — chiropractic, exercise and medication — showed that after 12 weeks, the patients in the non-medication groups did significantly better than those on the medication method. In fact, about 57 percent of the patients who met with chiropractors and 48 percent who did the exercises reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain, in contrast to 33 percent of the people who took medication.

Dr. Nancy Elwartowski-Cooper, prenatal/pediatric chiropractor at Chiropractic Wellness Center of Indiana, said via email that she agreed with this study. According to Elwartowski-Cooper, when the issue at hand involves musculoskeletal pain, chiropractic targets and fixes the root cause. “(Chiropractors) can mobilize the joint, which reduces the swelling and muscle splinting, therefore reducing pain,”

Elwartowski-Cooper said. “The medication can reduce associated with pain medication. the swelling and muscle splinting, but it doesn’t get the “Chiropractic is basically more natural in my opinion,” joint moving again. This will lead to increased frequency she said. “You’re not putting things in your body that you of pain, and re-injury just by ‘sleeping wrong’ or ‘blow would question, like medication. You’re just doing natural drying their hair.’” stretches and poses, and it just feels good.”

However, although chiropractic methods can alleviate pain in patients, Steve Schofield, one of CHS’ athletic trainers, said that although he is not well educated in chiropractic, he personally does not prefer Chiropractors correct subluxations by applying a chiropractic as much as exercising. specific corrective force to your spine known as “(Chiropractors) realign you, as they say. I see that as a high an adjustment. Adjustments therefore remove any velocity adjustment. I’m not a big interference to the nervous system. fan of high velocity adjustment. I Cervical think that if you move more of low Vertebrae velocity, working with the muscle and muscle manipulation versus a Thoracic Affect muscles and ‘cracking,’ if you will, it’s better for Vertebrae tissues in the face, an individual,” Schofield said. neck and shoulders Affect organs Despite his reluctance on and muscles in chiropractic solutions, Schofield the respiratory said he agreed with the study in system and that exercise was shown to be arms more effective than medication for alleviating or fixing spinal pains.

“Medication’s going to take care of (only) so much. It’s going to take care of that pain, those symptoms,” Schofield said. “To get better, I believe that you need to do something to get yourself better. Exercise (can) either decrease your pain, increase your strength, increase your flexibility.

Lumbar Those things are going to be better Vertebrae for you long term in my opinion Affect digestive because you’re working to get those things done versus just taking a organs in the pill and taking care of your pain, or abdomen, lower depending on medication to get rid of back muscles those pains every day.” and tissues and For Stromquist, she said she will the lower limbs JIVA CAPULONG / GRAPHIC continue to see her chiropractor MISSSSAUGACHIRO.COM instead of turning to surgery or / SOURCE medication because of the risks

How It Works

PAGE 8 | ACUMEN | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 23, 2012

As Natural as Tradition Despite many options in Western medication, some students choose herbal medicine due to their Asian heritage

BY JULIE XU jxu@hilite.org

side effects, they often take longer to work than Western medicine options.

Yang said, “Although herbal medicine can cover serious conditions like cancer, there are fewer resources in America, so in an emergency, you may use Western medicine because herbal medicine isn’t as fast.”

Wang said because Western medicine has worked faster than herbal medicine in his experience, he still uses Western medicine more frequently.

Wang said, “Most of the times, I take Western medicine because it tends to be stronger and gets you better a lot faster.

I usually use Western medicine at night because the side effects don’t matter as much when I’m sleeping.”

Sophomore Anthony Ko, who also uses herbal medicine, agreed and said, “I use herbal medicine sometimes when I have a sore throat or when I have a cold. If I have a serious fever, I usually use Western medicine. I feel like a lot of other kids don’t use (herbal medicine), and the kids that do usually are Asian.”

Despite Ko’s thinking, Yang said she receives several nonAsian patients and using herbal medicine is common in America, but some may not believe so because herbal medicine is often used in combination with acupuncture, which is more popular among adults than kids. However, Yang said she agrees that many

Asians use herbal medicine because herbal medicine originated from Asia.

Yang said, “Herbal medicine may not be as popular as in Asia because there aren’t many Chinese medicine schools in America.

In Asia, countries usually have both a Chinese medicine and Western medicine department.”

Wang said he agrees that herbal medicine tends to be most commonly used among Asians. Wang said, “Many kids may not have heard of herbal medicine since there isn’t that much advertising for it here. I started using herbal medicine because my Asian parents gave it to me, and herbal medicine is an Asian tradition.”

Yang said, “Despite what type of medicine you use, everybody needs to watch their health, and it’s very important you get treatment.”

Help or Hoax?

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Dark Chocolate: Blood Pressure

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NAC: Depression and Bipolar disorder

Promising

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Fish Oil/ Omega 3: Heart Disease

Good

Vitamin D: General Health

Calcium/ Vitamin D: Breast Cancer

Very Beneficial

Like many students, when junior Jonas Wang gets sick, he takes medicine. However, Wang, often times takes medicine that is different from that used by his peers.

Wang said, “In many cases, I’ve taken herbal medicine over Advil or Tylenol. I often use herbal medicine when I have a minor fever or a cold.”

Wang is not alone. According to the World Health Organization, herbal treatments are the most popular form of traditional medicine in the international marketplace.

Furthermore, according to the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), herbal medicine is a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which uses herbs, acupuncture and other methods to treat a wide range of conditions. The TCM view of how the human body works and how to treat illness is different from that of the Western medicine concept, which the NCAM defines as medicine practiced by medical doctor (M.D.) or doctors of osteopathic (D.O.) degrees and by their allied health professionals.

According to Weichen Yang, Carmel herbal medicine specialist, TCM applies the phenomena and laws of nature to the study of the physiological activities and pathological changes of the human body and its interrelationships. Herbal From popular vitamin supplements to medicinal medicine, she said, is composed of plants, different herbal remedies vary in their a combination of different herbs effectiveness. How beneficial are these medications and is created for each individual, unlike Western medicine, in to your health, what specific health concerns can they which everybody who has the address and are they worth using? same condition will take the same medicine. She said, as a result, herbal medicine doesn’t usually have any side effects.

Black Yang said, “The herbal Tea: Glucosmedicine I prescribe will be Lavender: Heart amine: different for different people with Sleep and Disease Joint pain the same conditions. It’s according Relaxation to your yin and yang. Herbal medicine also does not have side effects because herbal medicine Vitamin C: Beta is natural since it comes from Colds Glucons: natural plants, whereas Western Honey: Cancer Coconut medicine has side effects because Coughs Ginger in Oil: they add more chemicals.” children Nausea Wang said the reduced side Obesity effects are a reason why he often Iron: Antiuses herbal medicine.

Child Oxidants: Aloe “I usually take herbal medicine Growth Green over Advil or Tylenol because I Mortality Vera: Tea: take it right before I go to school, Diabetes Cancer and I usually don’t get any side effects. Western medicines have side effects most of the times, like Conflicting drowsiness,” he said.

Slight Not Beneficial According to Yang, although herbal medicines contain few *Circle sizes based on popularity of Google hits in January 2012

Want more information on how well other herbal medications work?

Scan this QR Code to access a larger version of this graphic.

Ginger: Nausea Promising DHRUTI PATEL / GRAPHIC COCHRANE.ORG , GOOGLE INSIGHTS, PUBMED.ORG / SOURCES