Face It
Cover photo from Photobucket.com
Letter From The Editors This is Face It. We are informants, students, and scholars. We write for you. We write to learn. Mostly, we write so we don’t fail eZine. With issues ranging from genocide to self mutilation to gays in the army, we are unique.
Meet the Writers
Bobbi is the most adorable and sweet person on the eZine team. She cares very much about her fellow students, and has a great sense of humor in contrast to the dark issues she writes about. She makes a really odd face if poked the right way and does not go a day without laughing. She reviewed this by reading it aloud in a funny voice.
Miranda is very passionate about the most intense and violent issues out there, but tends to giggle at the slightest perverse joke. Her personality is delightfully contrasting in that she loves/hates being hugged and tickled during eZine, but hates it when people attempt to argue with her about the genocides she obsesses over. She prefers to stick with the sad stories.
Sophia lives and breaths irony. She is the wittiest member of the Face It team with her daring satires and powerful articles. She is by far the most progressive group member, but occasionally can be found laughing a malicious laugh. It’s hard to tell if she’s laughing for real at how bad your story is or not. Is she laughing at you or with you? Nobody knows.
Emma is the most glorious person on the Face It team. In a usual day she swaggers in with a witty word and a smart smirk bringing joy and humor where ever she goes. She often tickles her companions, and to add to her zany personality, she often is seen chewing on a large hunk of gourmet chocolate while reading suggestively funny web comics‌ after composing a fine article, of course.
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Table of Contents
Page 2 The Letter From the Editors Page 3 Meet the Writters Page 4 Table of Contents Page 5-6 Rainbow Poem Page 7-8 The Cutting Edge Page 9-10 The Color Blue Page 11 The Scheme of Going Green The Pros and Cons of Abortion Page 12 Self Imposed Inferno Page 13-14 Pulse of Shadows Page 15 Page 16 The Cry For Pink Ink Has Been Heard Page 17-18 Weedja Do It? Page 19-20 The Breaking Point Page 21-22 Great American Melting Pot Page 23-24 The Stairway to Success What About Our Promise? Page 25-26 Page 27-28 Fighting for their Lives Page 29 The Company Contrast Page 30 Social Issues Survey Page 31 Face it Jump Page Farewell From the Editors Page 32
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Face It Page
Love has no boundaries, no walls, no sight, and love does not judge. Why can’t people be free to love whom they wish? How does it hurt you? Are you jealous, angry, fearful of love? Perhaps you don’t know how to love. Why are you afraid of people being free? Are we bound by invisible chains? Do you like oppression? Are you afraid of emancipation? Don’t. When people understand freedom there will be no fear or hate. But the only way to understand is to revel in freedom and live in love.
Just accept love without conditions and you will be set free.
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The Cutting Edge Kids and even adults resort to self harm. But why? By Emma S. Sitting on the bus coming home from a field trip, I hugged my crying my friend, comforting her from her latest breakup. She wiped her eyes and showed me her wrist, in which a faint scar still glowed on her skin. “Every time I’m hurt by a boy, I re-carve this. My parents would never understand.” Wiping yet another streak of pitchblack mascara from her cheek, she scratched the tip of her mechanical pencil across the faded lines, the new red marks clearly defining the heart and words “tough love.” This strange display of emotion was scary on many levels to me. Unfortunately, this is not a rare thing among modern day teenagers. Self mutilation is an over-stereotyped emotional problem. Among teens, it is thought of as a social fad among the goth and “emo” cultural groups in the form of cutting. However, self mutilation is not as shallow as most kids perceive it to be. It can include cutting, picking of skin, pulling out of hair (trichotilloma-
nia), burning of skin, banging or hitting body parts, carving words or symbols into skin, and the ingestion of poisonous or harmful substances. This self-harming behavior is caused by psychological instability in which the individual feels they cannot handle the emotions they feel and use self-mutilation as a way of
ally from their parents. They are attempting to deal with something larger than they can handle themselves emotionally, but have to because they feel there is no one there for them. And unfortunately, this kind of behavior is not isolated within these social groups. Many teenagers experience the urge to harm themselves from overwhelming emotion without a direct mental disability, which can often be a cause of self-harm. Having personally experienced this urge and the further crippling emotions from the aftermath, it is a real and alive problem that needs to addressed among ALL teenagers as something that is caused by deeper problems than can be seen on the surface. Common psychological issues in average teenagers that can lead to this behavior usually have something to do with their family. The stress between the parents relationship, problems with siblings, verbal and physical abuse, over-controlling, and problems with addiction can lead to a kid feeling like they don’t have anyone to talk to. The
They are attempting to deal with something larger than they can handle themselves emotionally, but have to because they feel there is no one there for them.
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coping by relieving the immediate overwhelming tension. Some might say that these actions are a desperate cry out for attention among neglected social groups such as the Goths and emos, and that the behavior is to be looked down upon. Well yes, it is a cry out for attention because these kids are lacking it somewhere in their lives, gener-
emotional turmoil caused by these problems can lead to the kid feeling overwhelmed and using self-mutilation as a form of either getting attention for their own pain, rebelling against there parents, or a form of selfmedication against the anger and depression they may feel at the time. Generally there is a specific trigger that starts the cutting, like a large fight or a death among friends or family. Once the kid cuts once, they can become chemically addicted by the release of endorphins which acts as a pain killer, or emotionally addicted because of the feeling of control over their bodies, causing further cutting which increases in severity and frequency over time. Triggers can also be the influence of friends and the idea that cutting relieves their emotional pain. This vicious cycle needs to stop. It is thought that in modern society it is easy to seek out help or counseling for personal problems that can cause selfmutilation. I do not see it this way, and neither do the thousands of Americans that resort to self-mutilation. Modern culture for the most part in the US tends to stare down at strong emotions such as grief, guilt, anger, and depression. Kids are hit very hard by the social standards in our society, especially developing teenagers who do not know themselves very well yet and are still attempting to understand how to live under our social standards. When a kid is in emo-
tional turmoil, it is hard to come to terms with those emotions, but the kids feels they need to handle it by themselves to look strong to their friends and adults. If the kid has already resorted to cutting, they feel that adults and/or friends will not understand or outcast them because of their abnormal ways of coping. This mindset is very A dramatic demonstration of the general feelings destructive and that go along with self mutilation, in this case the unfortunately individual protrays their lack of love with the blood pretty comfrom their wrists. mon, but it Picture credit; Emma Lumley can be easily fixed. Changbe there for them. If you can, ing the mindset suggest going to a counselor to towards cutters and self-muthem, or even tell the counselor tilators would be a good start. yourself if they refuse. Being Shunning them and saying that left to handle a cutting situait’s their fault does not fix the problem. Advertising that coun- tion alone is the worst thing selors are available, and impor- that could possibly happen in a situation like that. Hopefully in tantly confidential would help future generations this problem because kids sometimes avoid counselors in fear that the coun- will be eliminated by kids not feeling it necessary to take out selors will tell their parents. their emotions in that harmful So I ask, student to way. The best way to fix it is to fellow student, for the patience start now. and tolerance of these kids to help make them better. If a friend starts to cut or has been cutting, attempt to be understanding to their problems, and if they push you away, just
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The Color Blue A Story of an Ordinary Person by Miranda D. “It’s just like liking the color red over the color blue.” It’s an opinion. An opinion that’s debated at every turn. An opinion that people deal with every day. Not what color you like, but what gender. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and the list goes on. Even if you don’t personally know someone that’s one of these, you’ve heard of someone. Alexander the Great, Angelina Jolie (gasp), Ricky Martin, just to name a few. From historical leaders to
A-list celebrities, you know of someone who’s gay (or bisexual in Angelina Jolie’s case). So, why all the hype? If it’s something we deal with every day, why is there so much controversy? Well, what if there wasn’t? What if all those stories you hear about bullying and pain were only a small portion of the truth? What if there were other stories? Stories about people who didn’t go through traumatic experiences.
People who thought it was just another day in the life. “Seriously, there was no closet, there wasn’t anything. It was like ‘oh, cool’. And I just went on doing whatever… There was nothing. No internal turmoil or anything…I really don’t remember. It didn’t take long.” No inner turmoil? Scandalous! Who’s ever heard of someone not having gone through turmoil?! Very few people, I believe. So I’ve brought
you this story. The story of an ordinary boy facing an ordinary situation. His name is Cameron. He’s a senior at LASA. He makes good grades, is an avid thespian, and he’s gay. Now, most people are shocked when they hear that. He’s a thespian?! Just kidding. But it’s true, he is gay…and a thespian. “All the people that would make judgments if they know I’m gay don’t because I don’t act gay and I don’t look gay, and that’s what they make judgments about.” While he doesn’t outright ‘act’ gay, if you ask him, Cameron won’t deny being it. It’s part of his life and it’s part of his persona. Even his brother, Spencer, is used to it. “I’ve been asked this question a lot like, ‘Have you ever wished you hadn’t been a twin or anything? But, I mean, I’ve never known any other way, so I can’t really say that it’s awkward or not, because it’s the only basis for life that I have… it hasn’t really affected me beyond the whole social standpoint of people knowing that Cameron’s gay and I’m his brother. I mean, beyond that nothing exemplary.” Again those words! Nothing exemplary, no inner turmoil? What has the world come to: a place where we except others for their differences? Outrageous! To think, there might be people out there who are a-ok with change?! Heart wrenching, is all I say. Obviously, these poor boys have just been so tormented
that they’ve repressed the memories. “I do know that there are some people that are a little bit on the fence… That do feel uncomfortable about it, but that’s like, it’s natural. I have gotten them to not be like completely homophobic when they’ve found out, because I was so natural and not imposing and all that, like the general assumptions are. …I really, I haven’t been called out about it at all.” Not called out? I give up! Apparently, this so-called different person is ordinary! Here I was expecting the story of a troubled young boy facing a terrible ordeal, alas, I was wrong. Wait? What about the stories I’m always hearing? The ones about the kids who really do get hurt because they’re not the same. Well, unfortunately, things like that still happen, we’re just fortunate enough to live in a area that doesn’t really care if your different. Heck, this is Austin! It’s expected! So go, be different, and express yourself. You only live once. Make the most of it.
Spencer and Cameron sit outside the theater classroom. Photo by Miranda D.
“I’ve never known any other way, so I can’t really say that it’s awkward or not, because it’s the only basis for life that I have”
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The Scheme of Going Green By Miranda D.
Photo from Photobucket
Photo from UCLA Today (2008)
Get a reusable bag Photo from Completely Clean Solutions Inc.
Going green tips for the everyday person Turn off Don’t get computers at bottled water night - don’t just put them Instead of bottled water get to sleep. You will save an average of 4 cents a day which ads up to $14.60 a year.
a reusable container to carry water. Also you can get a filter to make your home tap taste more like bottled water. It is definitely more cost efficient.
Buy from Your Local Businesses -
Consider how much energy it takes for Local buisnessproduce from es help support china or any a town’s econoother country my and reduces to come here. the amount of If you have the gas needed to option to buy transport goods. local, do it.
Add a Meatless Meal Meat costs a lot at the store-and it’s even more expensive when you consider the related environmental and health costs. Face It 11
Buy Local Produce -
You can’t recycle plastic bags; instead get yourself a reusable bag so that you won’t have to worry about carrying your necessities.
Turn Down your Thermostat Every degree lower in the winter or higher in the summer you put it is a 10% decrease on your energy bill.
Turn off your lights -
Plant a Tree - An easy one. Turn off
your lights when you It’s good for are not using them. The the air, can keep benefits are obvious you cool, and can increase your property value.
The Pros and Cons of Abortion More than 1 in 3 women have an abortion in the US by the time they are 45 years old. However, this topic is still a source of intense and emotional debate, and sometimes it can be hard to find subjective facts about abortions, much less solid support for a woman’s stand on the issue. So I have done a little research and come up with the most subjective pros and cons I am capable of.
Pros If the mother is still in school, she can choose to abort continue her studies instead of dropping out to take care of her child. Half the women who get abortions are under 25 years old It’s an alternative to adoption, which is a good choice, but does not guarantee the child a happy and safe life It prevents unwanted children coming into families where they are not necessarily loved or able to be taken care of If the woman is at medical risk because of the pregnancy If the fetus has medical problems (often mothers with down syndrome babies choose to abort) If the mother has been subjected to abuse, rape, incest, or has problems with drugs Abstinence is the only 100% effective birth control, so woman who used protection and birth control may still get pregnant The elimination of legal and safe abortions can lead to highly unsafe “back alley” abortions
By Emma S.
Cons The woman may suffer intense emotional problems such as guilt and depression afterwards It is an excuse to escape responsbilities that come along with having unprotected sex It may go against personal or religious beliefs of the individual It goes against the morality of some people as a type of murder
It can possibly result in health complications such as infection and fertility problems later in life It can be seen as a form of birth control, which can be abused as opposed to using easier and cheaper forms of birth control It can be seen as taking about the rights of the unborn child
Selective abortions can be used to abort “non-ideal” children with undesirable traits, such as aborting girls out of desire of boys in some Asian countries
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Face It Page 4
A Self-imposed Inferno By Bobbi S.
Anorexia isolates you, creating walls around your soul.
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Crash! Scream! The mirror in the girl’s room is now a pile of shattered glass. This girl screams, like a vicious banshee; her hand is bleeding and swollen from her act of hysterical self-hatred. Surrounding this weeping, bleeding girl is a tape measure, a snake of the tree of knowledge blinding this girltempting her with deluded fantasies of bony bodies sashaying around. The scale is her judge, lording over the fact she did not lose any weight. A small box of matches at her feet, her punishment. Her tired, aching hands take a single match out and lights it. Quickly, she puts out the flame and, while the match is still a glowing red, digs it into her wrist. The girl howls in pain and weeps herself to sleep. Trapping herself in an addictive habit of pain and suffering, the compulsion becomes a disease, an eating disorder. Eating disorders (EDs) are a painful reality that causes years of self hatred and squanders the precious life that we have. It is a dangerous condition that should be taken seriously. Eating disorders are not rare. Eight million people suffer from EDs in America alone. Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are diseases that need to be taken seriously as those who suffer from them will damage themselves emotionally and physically, sometimes beyond repair. According to the Anorexia Statistics on mirror-mirror.org, without treatment, twenty percent of those with anorexia will die. also, even with treatment, only sixty percent of those with anorexia make a full recovery. Those with an eating disorder suffer from a bonanza of physical ailments and mental problems. Painful misery loves company and ED victims are no exception, when those with eating disorders congregate it can be easy to be kept with in the cycle of self-loathing. Websites, such as PrettyThin.com, believe that eating disorders are a choice that should be respected, not treated as a disease. I believe that these websites are just continually feeding the disease,
making it harder to stop. Those who frequently patronize this website and other similar sites call themselves “pro-ana” or “pro-mia”. On these websites the sponsor and patrons promote eating disorder activities and being underweight.They usually have tips on how to lose weight, how to hide the weight loss from others, and photos of severely underweight models for “inspiration”. They believe that treatment is unnecessary because Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are “lifestyles”. I believe that these people are misguided by their eating disorders and do not see the reality of the disease and its damage. Eating disorders are highly addictive because the acts of not eating for long periods of time and continuously counting calories becomes a compulsion and an addiction. These compulsions take over your mind, not letting you enjoy anything else in life. Victims condition themselves with mental and physical punishment. These actions become habits. Also the fact that eating disorder sufferers have low self esteem blinds them to any hope of recovery. Dangerous habits, such as severe caloric restriction, exercising for longer than six hours at a time, excessive vomiting, and abusing laxatives are only a handful of the dangerous habits that eating disorder victims become addicted to. In order to hide behind lies and a mask of false happiness. Those who live for an extensive period of time of time with an eating disorder will become highly skilled at lying and denial to the point that they believe theri own lies about their disease. This is an awful way to spend your life, and I feel that this suffering should be prevented at all costs. g and denial to the point that they believe theri own lies about their disease. This is an awful way to spend your life, and I feel that this suffering should be prevented at all costs.
I have had bulimia nervosa since 6th grade. It ruined my throat, made me extreme ly lethargic, and I always had trouble breathing. Eating disorders slowly kill you in the most painful way imaginable. It is sad that ED victims think it is a reasonable price to pay for the superficial exterior. EDs cause so much pain some of the symptoms are low blood pressure, ulcers, dizziness, fainting, irregular heart rhythm, exhaustion, and a bounty of other physical ailments. Also it is common for tooth decay to occur, along with teeth and hair loss because of lack of nutrients. It is ironic that while in the obsessive, extreme quest for superficial perfection, the victim loses their beauty and more importantly, their health and life. Eating disorders destroy the body by kidnapping the soul. People that have eating disorders already have emotional problems, but the eating disorder intensifies those feelings and reaffirms them. Feelings such as self-hatred, isolation, and depression are prevalent with in those with EDs. The feeling of worthlessness is a heavy weight upon the victim and this emotional burden causes the person to not see hope or reason because they are so intertwined with in their own angst. The suffering of the victims of EDs are not silent or not influential; it affects all those around them. How can you watch someone you love kill themselves, slowly? Could you stand to see them wish for death and not suffer along with them? Eating disorders break relationship bonds. New feelings may
appear between the friends and family and the victims. Feelings such as guilt, anger, annoyance, worry, and even jealousy occur. Friends of the sufferer can even get caught in the snare of eating disorders that have already enveloped the victim. This situation happened to my friend and me. I had a very close friend that questioned why I could lose weight so quickly while still eating normally. I told her about my eating disorder, my bulimia. she wanted to lose weight as well and one thing led to another. She became addicted to her ED. The guilt I feel everyday is too much for my conscience to forget or ignore. I will never forgive myself. Eating disorders always destroy relationships, leaving you only with your ED and no one to love. The girl wakes up from her tearful slumber to a day she wishes she would not have to
The beast never sleeps. It never gives you peace. It torments its victims until they can not bear another day. bear. She desires to cast her bonds aside and live freely, but her pain and fears clutch to her wrists, holding her down. She can not save herself from herself; she needs someone to see through her mask of lies. She needs someone to see her torments for what they are. Don’t let her live in death’s shadow any longer, put out the flames of her self-imposed inferno.
The Pulse of the Shadows By: Bobbi Sears
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It seems king of hazy, sort of confusing, a fleeting apparition flitting through the dark, sinister places of the psyche, places unknown to me I hear its beat, ah that beat, constant slowly accelerating and slowing down randomly and then the voice repeats the same utterance over and over again ‘Do it... Do it...Do it’ I feel the inescapable compulsion I clench
my fists onto my chair using my entire might to hold myself in place I can’t think or reason I feel the voice’s drive and the unendurable pain but I endure, somehow, I work through the primal repetition of desire Stop! Stop! just let this beat fade from my head and leave me in peace.
The Cry For Pink Ink Has Been Heard By Sophia Hinz- Foley
A
cry for pink ink has been heard throughout the nation. Gay rights activists have been rallying in the streets, demanding equal rights for all citizens, especially the right to fight and serve in the military. But unfortunately these activists have been divided by a small misunderstanding. Many activists believe that Obama signing a presidential executive order to revoke the “don’t’s ask don’t’t tell” policy is not the best way to give gays (who have been oppressed for centuries) their fundamental rights. These activists would like to preserve that presumably anti-gay military policy. I am among those fighting to preserve the policy because I believe that sending gays to the military to die is hardly the way to build an equalitarian society. If the policy is revoked, then fewer trips will be made back home from the war front, since they can not return to the U.S merely by pronouncing themselves gay. I believe that giving them this escape, when the alternative is most likely death, is the least we can do after all the hardships we have caused for homosexuals. Sarah Palin, among many future presidential candidates, has decided that the way to reduce homophobic traditions and acts is to fight to keep president Clinton’s
“don’t ask don’t tell” policy. For one, the clearly inferior combatant skills of gays (due to their softer more maternal sides) could be a disadvantage to our troops. This was precisely the reason why in earlier centuries, when feminists did not have a voice, women were banned from participating in military activities. If a situation were to occur where a male homosexual were running from a male enemy in full retreat, the slower swishing and swaying manner (and mannerisms) of their retreat (in contrast the faster, more manly pull-back of straights) could cost them their
lives. But much more than gays’ lives, allowing gays to have an influence in the army could endanger the lives of straight men. It is common knowledge that many homosexuals (especially males) are drawn to feminine colors, like pink and take pride in their bodies and appearance. It seems homophobic to me to force gays to give up their culture so completely by forcing them to wear the unstylish uniforms provided by the army (I mean, straight green camouflage pants?!). If, on the other hand, selfavowed homosexuals were to rise to positions of power, the consequences could be dire. America is the best country in the world and has the right to rule every other (or bomb them if they disagree), because domestic and foreign policies are upheld no matter how barbaric. How else could anybody explain Guantanamo? Imagine if gays were to make the camouflage uniforms pink? Imagine if the army danced their way toward the enemy instead of marched? Imagine if they all talked in coded language like OMG? Again, keeping gays out of the military is for the safety of those straights we have left. Also, many see the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as discrimination, such as when women were not allowed to serve in the army. The concerns and fears America has for self-identified gays See page 31
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WEEDja Do It?
In This Modern Day, Will the Prices Accociated wih Marijuana Smoking Meet Today’s Standards, Even if there are Medicinal Uses?
TO SMOKE OR NOT TO SMOKE Question Is marijuana a more dangerous now then it was in the 1970’s? Answer Marijuana contains the same substances that it always had. Some strands are more potent then others, but that has always been the case. Some low-THC samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration were used to make marijuana potency increase in tests.But those tests were not accurate, and do not represent the marijuana used today. Also studies have shown that the increase in potency yielded similar effects. Question Does marijuana cause antimotivational syndrome? Answer No. There is no scientific evidence linking it to marijuana use. Yes there are people that are lazy that smoke marijuana. But there are lazy people that drink, watch tv, and take a number of other drugs. Question Is marijuana addictive? Answer The majority of people that smoke marijuana do it occasionaly. Only, a small minority of Americans - less than 1 percent - smoke marijuana on a daily basis. An even smaller minority develop a dependence on marijuana. Most people don’t have difficulties stoppiong. However some develope a physical dependence.
The voices of the people I smoke it.....I like it. anonymous It is a good source of revenue for our economy. Racheal B. Making something legal reduces the irresponsible acts with the product. Yasmine F. Austin is a very liberal and creative city, and with that, their is more problems with controlling and monitering drug effects. Kendra Y. I agree with Kendra....I just don’t care. Alec B.
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The Breaking Point LASA is a unique school with its own needs. But what are the consequences of being different? By Emma S. “I was up studying for this test until 2:00 o’clock last night!” Emily proudly sat down at her desk in biology, instantly attacking the test the moment it was handed to her. Immediately after turning it in, she conks out on her desk. The student body at LASA is a, well, determined bunch. They are, for the most part, extremely dedicated to their grades and classes, even to
levels. The less sleep they get, the higher their stress level,” Ms. Hopper comments. But why are the stress levels so high? What makes LASA different from other schools? “I feel like in LASA, it’s different because you’re all high performing students and usually at a traditional school you have a mixture of high performing - some who are apathetic and then the middle
“The teachers here do all these outside competitions with you. That’s outside work that they don’t have to do, but they want to do because they love what they’re doing.” the point that it’s unhealthy. Too many hard classes, not enough sleep, exceedingly high levels of stress. “We did find a correlation between the lack of sleep students have and the stress
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ground. At LASA, you all want to be in class, you all want to be doing well. So it’s a little bit of a different dynamic.” Ms. Hopper continues with the observation, “I think the teachers here,
more than maybe other schools, do all these outside competitions with you all…that’s outside work that they don’t have to do, but they want to do because they love what they’re doing, and that’s kind of rare. I don’t see that in all the schools I’ve worked at.” So as students, we are lucky. We have teachers that challenge us to our full potential, and care if we succeed or not. But caring teachers or not, students are still experiencing high levels of stress over their class work. So we examine the factors that provoke this – students do take much more challenging classes at LASA, but still have a choice to take a class at their level, i.e., magnet, topics, or AP. Courses are flexible. But maybe it’s not the students’ own personal being they think about when they sign up for all-topics courses. Ms. Adams is working on that. “What I tell kids on my caseload, if you are not passionate about that subject, please don’t take topics, just take magnet...I think that at this school, the
students put pressure on one another, which is really sad because between topics and magnet, they’re both challenging courses.” The mindset of the students definitely takes part in the stress factor, but what do the parents have to do with it? 9th grader Miranda D. comments on her own situation. “I made A’s in my old school, and I did really well. I was the teacher’s pet. Then I came here, made some B’s and C’s, and my parents didn’t understand that the work is a lot harder here. ‘Why aren’t you making good grades Miranda?’” Bobbi Sears said her dad was frustrated with her as well. “‘Why aren’t you making an A in Geometry?’ I’m taking an honors class, and how do you know what’s good for me? Just because I’m making one B doesn’t mean I’m not good enough. Parents can’t be happy with ‘mostly A’s,’ it has to be straight A’s. It’s almost like an ego thing with your parents. They push you until you break.” With this Ms. Adams rebuts. “When you look at the transcript, there is nothing that denotes topics over magnet. So what we do is we talk about that in our letters of recommendation, students talk about that in their essays that they write to colleges. That’s the difference. The point of taking topics over magnet is because I love this subject, and I want to always go a step further, not because I have something to prove to my
Graham J. is shown here, asleep in his freshman biology class. This is just one of the effects of lack of sleep and stress on the students. Picture credit - Emma S. friends or my parents.” All rumors dispelled, the counselors encourage students to come in if they have issues with classes, workload, or stress. “I don’t think kids utilize counselors enough. We have study skills groups, we have stress reduction groups, we have different things going on. And I don’t think kids are aware, because they don’t come in. A lot of them,” Ms. Hopper points out. Ms. Adams adds in, “I think there’s discrepancy among students where they see the counselors as ‘That’s the person I go to when I want my schedule changed.’ And that’s my only job. Well no, my job is multi faceted. Yes, we do schedule changes; yes we do letters of recommendation for colleges.
But I spend a lot of time just talking to student about the issues that they have, and helping them come up with solutions that will work.” So is it all worth it? Ms. Hopper thinks so. “The kids here who graduate come back to the juniors and seniors, and all of them on the panel this year said that LASA was the best thing. Yes it was stressful, but my teachers prepared me, and I felt like I did super awesome at college. So the stress was in the end for them paid off. Not one of them said it wasn’t worth it.”
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Great American Melting Pot By Emma S.
When I was younger, about eight years old, public school was not my main source of education. I’m partially ashamed to say that TV was the alternative, but good TV. School House Rock is known to most kids even my age, even if it is a bit out of date. But for an old cartoon drawn with simple markers, it has really saved me on multiple occasions, particularly in math. Thank you Multiplication Rock. But there was one song in particular that stuck with my over the years. As a head-strong 15-year-old, I still catch myself humming the Great American Melting Pot. Not only because the tune is catchy, but it was one that really hit me as a kid. Wow, we really are all from different countries. It got me thinking about my origin, and brought me to question my parents about it. I found out that my dad’s family were German immigrants, and my mom’s family were Irish and Scottish immigrants. Great American melting pot indeed. So in lies my frustration with those who do not approve of the immigrants traveling over the border from Mexico. Yes, to immigrate illegally is wrong. I wish all the people that crossed the border had the proper papers. But they don’t. Either way, they are coming in to our country, adding to the melting pot. They simply want a better life, just like our distant family who immigrated here. But aren’t they taking jobs that Americans could otherwise take, especially in this bad economy? Well, consider the types of jobs the immigrants take. Where do you see them? In fast food restaurants, landscaping, and in general sorely underpaid. Would Americans rather take those jobs, and tolerate the abuse these companies inflict on the unfortunate? Okay, then by not having papers they are taxing our government by putting their kids in our public education system and filling our emergency rooms. Their children are growing up in our country, born here and therefore citizens. So why not educate them? By educating them we give them a better shot at a successful life and to put back into the economy by being a valuable part of the workforce. And if those kids are going to our public schools, then they need healthcare. Personally, I’d like to see all Americans have cheap or free healthcare first, but I also would like to see the kids of illegals healthy too, for they are going to sit in class next to the kids of Americans, and they need to be have their shots to keep from starting an epidemic. And if we give them healthcare, they would not go to the emergency room, because they could actually go to their provided doctor before the problem becomes that severe. So I believe that our country needs a serious change in attitude. Embrace those who are in need, and help them rise to standards instead of barring them with barb wire. Allow them to melt in within our own pot, along with our European decents or African decents. Why not Mexicans too?
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Face it 22
The Stairway to Sucess Keeps People At The Bottom
By Bobbi S.
Adam, a senior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy [LASA] had a verbal confrontation, “A couple of months ago I was on the bus minding my own business, staring off into space and suddenly some person came up to me and said, ‘Hey, do you go to LASA?’ ‘Yeah I do,’ I said. ‘Do you think you are smarter than me then?’ they replied.”
LASA and LBJ High School, two schools crammed on one campus. The schools have separate classes, schedules, and lunches. LASA and LBJ are separated by a stairway of success and opportunities. The academy has met TAKS requirements by 98%, only 28% of LBJ students have met the standards. At LBJ High School 21% of students are economically disadvantaged, while 0% of LASA is economically disadvantaged. “When people faced with the unknown they react with hatred and animosity,” Forest a senior at LASA, said. LASA and LBJ rarely share classes and this causes distance between the students at the neighboring schools. Without knowledge of the students at the opposite school, people attending one school seem to create stereotypes about the other. LASA students, the kids who are given the opportunity to go to a top school, are perceived as prestigious, nerdy white kids. On the other hand LBJ students are feared as being
trouble-making black kids who steal the belongings of those at LASA, says Adam. Why do we having these negative feelings towards each other? Why do we keep generalizations alive in the LASA and LBJ student populations? This campus was not always divided. “Freshman year there was no animosity yeah cause we were combined. There was a trade off, LASA test scores shot up but now there is all this bullshit,” Adam said. The year 2007 was the first year that LASA was a separate high school. A year later LASA became an Exemplary high school under the Texas Education Agency. LBJ struggles to retain the status as an Acceptable high school. These kind of academic rifts cause social rifts because the distance between vigorous courses and the struggling academia at LBJ. There is a great divide in the kinds of opportunities in education that LBJ students receive and LASA students receive. This makes disadvantaged students upset, with good reason, and then creates tension for years to come, says Gabby, a senior at LASA. The purpose behind the animosity and the segregation is, of course, money. “LBJ got a First Things First grant. But there were requirements that they couldn’t have a magnet program, to compromise they split,” said Adam. In 2006-2007 LBJ High School received
This is Adam a LASA Senior (Left). These are three LBJ Juniors(Right).
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a First Things First grant from the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation. The superintendent stated that the grant could not be given to a school if they continued to have LASA combined within LBJ. This started the division. While this might be academically better for at least one school, LASA, both schools suffer from the social rift this separation has caused. However social division is not exclusively expressed by the students. “I was downstairs and LBJ was in class and this security guard caught this LBJ kid out of class end was reprimanding him. And he said, ‘I go to LASA’ I would have used that excuse,” said Gabby. LBJ students and LASA students are made very aware of their differences in the way that security guards treat them. It is obviously unfair. Numerous guards patrol the ground floor halls, says Adam, questioning and catching any student from LBJ. However, if a LASA student is wandering the halls, with or with out authorization, a word is not uttered against their behavior, says Adam. LASA students are often, even if they themselves are not conscious of it, given special privileges on this campus, says Gabby. LASA students are more morally sound then LBJ students, it is not fair that the guards only stop LBJ students, says Adam. It ultimately boils down to the preconceived notions that are perpetuated by social status and division, says Forest. This division is obvious and runs deep;
however students at both schools still have relationships with those of the other. “DJ on the wrestling team was just so fun to be with…” Adam said. Kids at both schools meet each other and have relationships. Through inter-school programs such as sports, band, and choir students who would not have associated, are now enjoying each other’s company. “Like yesterday I saw a friend [from LBJ] that I haven’t been able to talk to in 4 months,” Forest said. However, it is sometimes difficult to be able to associate continually because of the fact that the schedules are so different and our schools are so separated. It is also difficult for LASA and LBJ students to create more extensive social connections with one another. The fact that we only occasionally see each other causes distance between friends and the greater socials groups at each school that would interact if they could. Before the split the classes were integrated with both LBJ and LASA students so connections were inevitable and there was no bitterness between the two institutions. In fact the entire negative dynamic between the schools is caused by the lack of time the students of each school spend with one another. These are the people I interviewed. Forest (Top-Left), Adam (Top), and Gabby (Bottom)
The differences between theschools is seen in the halls
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What About Our Promise?
R
Genocide in Uganda
un! That’s all she thought. Just run! They were behind her, next to her, in front of her. They were everywhere. She knew this was a race for life or death. Run or be caugh and taken as a sex-slave, or worse, executed. But she knew. She knew, deep in her thoughts, that she wouldn’t make it. She could feel her legs turning heavy, her lungs burning with each breath, and her side aching with every stride. She knew she wouldn’t last much longer and, suddenly, she was gone. Snatched by a soldier and doomed to be a captive in their camp, forever. For too long was this the case with thousands of children all across Uganda. Almost weekly, a village was attacked and hundreds were killed. A few may have survived, if they ran fast enough. Most, if not slaughtered, were made soldiers, or worse, sex-slaves. The worst part was that almost no one did anything about it. A few organizations, like Invisible Children and its branch here in Austin, tried to help the children who ran away from their homes every night to avoid capture, and they still help those children now, but little was done about the actual war. Even now, after the war being considered over, battles and raids still appear in the country. People need to be brought to attention about this issue, not only is genocide and child soldiers a war crime, but it’s also a violation of basic human rights.
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By Miranda Donnellan
Some people would disagree though. Some think that because we’re already in a war, we don’t need to spend our resources and manpower on entering into another. Others believe that if we attack Uganda or get involved with their war, than the U.S. will suffer the repercussions. Still others believe that it’s not our problem. They think that it’s in Africa, we’re in America, why bother? Well, here’s why. This war is killing thousands. It is forcing children as young as 5 to fight against their own people.
trying to get rid of the government and any non-Christians. After World War II, countries were disgusted. A common thought was, ‘Why did no one stop this earlier?’ So what did we do? We created an International Criminal Court, declared what had happened to be a war crime, and made a promise to never let something like this happen again. As a world, we have failed in that promise. Too many people have died at the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) for it too has been written off as a skirmish. It hasn’t
“Kony resorted to kidnapping children and forcing them to fight in his army.” After World War II, every country came together and agreed; genocide would not be tolerated. Period. Anyone who started a genocide would be tried by the International Criminal Court and sentenced to the appropriate punishment. Yet, today alone, there are almost five genocides in just Africa. Uganda is only one of them. When you think of the Holocaust, you don’t think of Uganda. Why would you? They aren’t connected. The thing is though, they are. War World II was Hitler trying to get rid of the Jewish population. The war in Uganda is about Joseph Kony
escalated to concentration camps yet, but who’s going to stop it when it does? In all my research, I’ve found all of maybe 3 organizations that have anything to do with Uganda and, within those organizations, very few people actually help. Honestly, it’s tragic and somewhat sickening that people can sit by and just let this happen. As privileged as we are, how can we condemn these people to such a fate and stand for this type of xenophobic behavior repeating in our world’s history. This genocide has officially been noted as the longest war in Uganda’s history,
as it has been fought for nearly 30 years. It has killed thousands and hurts millions more and it was started by one woman, Alice Lakwena. She believed that the Holy Spirit visited her and assigned her the duty of defeating the Ugandan government for their transgressions with the Acholi people. Lakwena started the Holy Spirit Movement in order to fight the Government of Uganda; this put nearly two million innocent people left in the crossfire. She won many battles and victory seemed near, when she was defeated and exiled. Many thought that the trouble was finally over, then, Lakwena’s apparently long-lost cousin, Joseph Kony, took control of the group and transformed it from a rebel movement into the Lord’s Resistance Army. After losing the support of the Holy Spirit Movement, Kony resorted to kidnap-
ping children and forcing them to fight in his army. Due to the thousands of deaths and abductions, the Ugandan government forcibly relocated thousands into camps in order to provide ‘protection’ from the rebels. Nearly 10 years later, these people struggle to survive in areas filled with diseases, poverty, and starvation. One thing I don’t understand is why people think this isn’t a possible conflict. If the LRA somehow wins, than they’ll just be one more threat we have to deal with. Kony is a madman, what’s going to stop him from attacking us next? If this issue isn’t dealt with, than not only will we have another enemy, we’ll most likely be shunted into another Afghanistan sized war. In the political sense, we’ll lose more money, have strained alliances with other countries, and we’ll lose the moral of the citizens. In
a social view, all we’ll end up doing is losing more soldiers and having more families torn apart. Right now, there are people who are willing to help, but come the near future, or the possible LRA success, and we may not have those allies. To me it’s common sense, help now and avoid conflict later. If only others agreed. All of this was aimed toward one basic thought, to get people aware of the issues. People need to know what they can do to help or how to get others to offer aid. All you have to do is donate money, volunteer, or even just write a letter to someone in Congress or other government areas. It’s not that hard. What’s happening is horrendous and people need to do something about it. It isn’t one of those issues where if you ignore it, it will go away. This can only get worse; unless we do something. Volunteer. Help your local organizations. Do anything, as long as you do something.
Three Ugandan boys overlooking their displacement camp Photo Courtesy of invisiblechildren.com
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Sabina Hinz-Foley: Capital Punishment Activist by Sophia H-F
Sabina playing with a goat.
Sabina playing with panamanian children.
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Sabina Hinz-Foley has been inspired to end capital punishment ever since her return from Panama, where she spent her senor year in high school relaxing on a mountain side. “Many times it is hard to understand America especially when viewing it from another country, of course this simply motivates you to act towards the change you wish to see.” She describes her life now as fast moving and draining. Her typical week at the Texas After Violence Defence Project can last 60 to 70 hours. She volunteers as an interviewer, listening to those who have been effected by the death penalty in any way. “The faceless leaders of society who take away lives and promote the death of guilty criminals and innocent people alike.... these are the people...that is the system I am fighting,” Sabina said. The organization, for which she works primarily listens to victims of the death penalty “carefully, respectfully, empathetically, (and) without judgment.” She feels that by listening to those who have lost loved ones, it not only helps those speaking of
their traumas, but it also helps broaden her understanding and helps her learn how to increase “more constructive actions addressing how to best prevent and respond to the violence in communities.” But listening is only the first part of her work. “The second goal [of the organization] is to share the stories to increase the public’s understanding of the true effects of capital punishment …a large part of listening is also documenting” Sabina said. Her involvement in this organization has allowed the stories of hundreds to have been heard. She also spends her time at the organization editing the films of victims, and updating the videos to their website. (texasafterviokence.org). “Sabina has more then passion and diligence,” said her sister, Bianca. “She has complete knowledge of the inner workings of the system and statistics involving the death penalty.” Yet she feels like passion and continual effort is not enough to combat the system. “Thousands have fought capital punishment, but the faceless bureaucracy they are
fighting is difficult to target that Sabina faces every day and overcome,” Sabina said. at her work. She said that is Sabina recognizes that wealth hard and tiring emotionally could have an overall effect on to listen to the depressing the outcome of a trial. She re- stories of deceased family alizes that generally the and friends. people that are on death row “It was hardest, are not aristocrats. The eco- dealing with such trauma nomically disadvantaged are when I returned from Panathose that suffer from the law ma, but now it’s part of my the most. Victims, who can- everyday life,” Sabina said. not pay for a lawyer, are given When things court appointed lawyers that get particularly difficult, defend them. Sabina For their serthat “The cries of help said vices they reshe thinks ceive a flat fee, back on from my own regardless of her excommunity keep me the outcome, perience which many abroad, in working believe gives the slow hard at the Texas these lawyers moving less incentive PanaAfter Violence then those who manian Project...” receive more counwhen they suctryside. ceed in court. Sometimes, Sabina con Sabina said that “it is fessed, that she misses not fair that the level of justice the simple life, and all the you receive is based on how beauties that life held for much money you have to pay her there. for a good lawyer, even if they “The cries of help are guilty, they do not deserve from my own community to be murdered by the govern- keep me working hard at ment.” the Texas After Violence Yet knowing that Project in the hope that thousands of innocent people some day the death penalty are being put to death is only will be eradicated forever. one of the many hardships
Sabina with a typical panamanian graduation outfit.
Sabina with her dog.
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Southern The Company HewlettContrast Company Packard By: Miranda D.
Supplies electricity to the southern United States. 16th largest utility company in the world and the fourth largest in the U.S.
EVIRONMENTAL IMPACT SCORE: (The higher the better) HP: 64.80 SOUTHERN COMPANY: 1.40
Hewlett-Packard is considered the ‘greenest’ corporation in America.
One of the world’s largest inforSouthern Company is considered one of the top 5 WORST polluters in mation technology companies and operates in nearly every country. America.
GREENSCORE: a "green" practice and product scoring or rating system. HEWLETT-PACKARD: 100 SOUTHERN COMPANY: 36.54
Are you going green? Or attempting to? Then chech out the companies you use. Find out what works and what doesn’t. Live smart. Live green. Face it 29
Specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services
GREEN POLICIES AND PREFORMANCE SCORE: HP: 97.90 SOUTHERN COMPANY: 43.06
The Most Pressing Social Issues Today We Polled A Group of Friends From Facebook, See How Many People Care About These Social Issues
Abortions Immigration Health Care Ecology Education
22 People 20 People 23 People 11 People 12 People
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Face It’s Jump Page The Cry For Pink Ink Continued gay, are shown in the policy by protecting their lives—by not allowing them to die for their country. America is not being homophobic by keeping “uncloseted” gays out of the military; America is saving gays’ lives. The constitution also provides them with the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The “don’t ask don’t tell” policy is protecting the lives of homosexuals, and as a byproduct of being alive it gives them freedom (to be alive), as well as the “pursuit of happiness” (once someone does something about the gay marriage thing). The White House has been working very hard on these maters balancing the rights of gays versus conservatives, the hard choice versus the wrong one, yet none of these decisions can be made without a very powerful man—President Obama. Once this alternative way of stopping oppressive acts on our humble gay population is made clear to our president, Obama will hopefully decide to lay down the pink pens (many activists have sent him, believing them to be the favorite color of gays) and keep the wise and protective policy Clinton created to bequeath safety and a sense of security to future generations of gays.
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Thank you...
for reading our articles, and caring about what we care about....and for making it through the entire magazine. For that, we are proud of you. Hopefully now you minds are throbbing with the problems of the world. We recommend you take action. Like in the activist story of a local hero. Help those like the people in Uganda. Care about those suffering from stress or depression. ACT NOW!
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