The Andalusian Volume 20 Issue 2

VOLUME 20 ISSUE O2 N O V. 2 0 1 9

A ndalusian The

C E L E B R AT I N G STUDENTS A LWAY S .

M AC L AY S C H O O L : 3 7 3 7 N . M E R I D I A N R D , TA L L A H A S S E E , F L 3 2 3 1 2

Informed - Truth - Sources - Art - Be in the Know - Communicate - Honorable - Opinion - Middleground - Presently Aware - Free Press - Inspire - Knowledge - Spectrum - Determined - Technology - Inclusive Plugged in - Be Respectable - Cognizant - Cultivate - Be Accepting - Empathy - Community - Be Reli- Educated - Wellness - Accountable - Erudite - Enlightened - Perceptive - Experience - Be Observant Unity - Politics - Learning - Teenagers - Differences - Be Unstoppable - Multiple Perspectives - Students Informed - Truth - Sources - Art - Be in the Know - Communicate - Honorable - Opinion - Middleground - Presently Aware - Free Press - Inspire - Knowledge - Spectrum - Determined - Technology - Inclusive Plugged in - Be Respectable - Cognizant - Cultivate - Be Accepting - Empathy - Community - Be Reli- Educated - Wellness - Accountable - Erudite - Englightened - Perceptive - Experience - Be Observant Unity - Politics - Learning - Teenagers - Differences - Be Unstoppable - Multiple Perspectives - Students Informed - Truth - Sources - Art - Be in the Know - Communicate - Honorable - Opinion - Middleground - Presently Aware - Free Press - Inspire - Knowledge - Spectrum - Determined - Technology - Inclusive Plugged in - Be Respectable - Cognizant - Cultivate - Be Accepting - Empathy - Community - Be Reli- Educated - Wellness - Accountable - Erudite - Englightened - Perceptive - Experience - Be Observant Unity - Politics - Learning - Teenagers - Differences - Be Unstoppable - Multiple Perspectives - Students Informed - Truth - Sources - Art - Be in the Know - Communicate - Honorable - Opinion - Middleground - Presently Aware - Free Press - Inspire - Knowledge - Spectrum - Determined - Technology - Inclusive Plugged in - Be Respectable - Cognizant - Cultivate - Be Accepting - Empathy - Community - Be Reli- Educated - Wellness - Accountable - Erudite - Englightened - Perceptive - Experience - Be Observant Unity - Politics - Learning - Teenagers - Differences - Be Unstoppable - Multiple Perspectives - Students Informed - Truth - Sources - Art - Be in the Know - Communicate - Honorable - Opinion - Middleground - Presently Aware - Free Press - Inspire - Knowledge - Spectrum - Determined - Technology - Inclusive -

Informed Opinions: A call to action for well-rounded perspectives

Table of Contents

NEWS Page 4-5

OPINION Page 6-7

FE ATURES Page 8-11

ENTERTAINMENT Page 12-13

SPORTS Page 14-15

As digital age constituents, we have become obsessed with information consumption. In the palm of our hands lies access to all facets of informationfrom news outlets, streaming apps to social media- there is a constant stream of content readily available. Through this access, we have the opportunity to be well-informed and well-rounded individuals with educated opinions. However, this very access also provides the opportunity for people to fall victim to media bias and false information.

As Americans, our society is built on the very idea that we have the right - and the freedom - to voice our opinions and be the proponents of change. Because of this principal, our society is saturated with voiced opinions and arguable ideas as people give their perspectives on diverse topics.

In a perfect world, these arguments would involve individuals participating in an impassioned exchange where each side utilizes factual evidence, is willing to listen and has the ability to make concessions or at the very least settle on a respectful disagreeance of opinions. However, in our society today, these arguments often involve heated exchanges between individuals who are more interested in sticking to their personal opinions and ideologies rather than actually taking the time to learn and know their factual basis.

To be an active participant and further the progress of our culture, we must be well-informed citizens. The very basis of an informed opinion is facts, and in our digital age, we must be willing to do more than accept the information at face value; we must be willing to ensure that the

information we receive and share is accurate.

Taking the time to research information will result in sound, well-rounded debates instead of the biased and insult-heavy ones we are used to seeing and hearing. Each of us has the ability to enact change and further our progress as a nation, as long as we stay informed and avoid falling victim to or spreading biased facts and false information.

According to a recent Pew Research Center study, many Americans struggle with distinguishing facts from opinions when it comes to news. This difficulty can be due to what many believe is the state of the media today: partisan journalism. News outlets openly contain bias and present slanted facts resulting in viewers either taking it as is or researching the issue on their own. Unfortunately, according to a study done by Columbia Business School, many people choose the first route and do not fact-check what they read online or hear from the news, resulting in the spread of misinformation. Given the state of the mass media today, we must shift this to the latter because we as Americans must take the time to dig deeper than a headline or a single story in order to become truly informed.

This has already begun in eastern Pennsylvania, where middle and high school teachers have revised their curriculum to teach students how to properly analyze news stories and determine what information is reliable or not. This trend is spreading as we look to arm not only ourselves but future generations with the ability to see through the click-bait headlines, the slanted journalism, and the lack of time or care involved in some news or information organizations.

Arguing with this misinformation does not further our progression as a society, but rather provides a regression. As we continue to voice opinions fueled by biased sources and misinformation, we continue to spiral into a divided society. This massive division is based on the cycle of misinformation and has led to the promotion of arguments centered on ad-hominem fallacies, spewed hatred and radical ideologies This division is also being modeled for us as the media and the government are in constant battle, forcing reliable information to become less and less a part of their arsenals. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, a recent study done by Knight Foundation and Gallup reveals that Americans are largely mistrustful of the mass media with 41% currently having either “a great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust in newspapers.

This bleak reality does not have to result in a bleak future. This reality should empower us as citizens to do better and to be better than the government and the media - which means taking the time to not just be well-informed but also to be wellrounded in our opinions and perspectives.

By engaging in and understanding the opposing side’s belief or argument, we can set the example for what democracy should look like - a place where individuals feel free to share their informed opinions without the fear of inaccuracies or division, a place where progress and change can flourish.

As a society, no one person is required to agree on every topic, but we should be required to take the time and care to come to the table well-equipped with factual and fair evidence.

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Tallahassee | Marianna | Perry, FL Bainbridge | Thomasville, GA

e h t m o r f r Lette Editors

The Andalusian staff Print Editor in Chief: Ellie Casteel

Operations Editor in Chief: Madelyn Stout

Online Editor in Chief: Hunt Deison

Business Manager: Rachael Stockel

Head Editor: Lilly Simons

General Editors:

After a successful relaunch, we are so thrilled to be releasing our second

print issue of the year. Our publication has grown in every way, and now we are blooming in full fall colors.

While brainstorming for this issue, during a chilly morning at a picnic

table, an idea arose: the importance of living in the know. We recognizaed that

Emily Dudley, Calynne Thompson

in order to be an active participant in the world today, you must be informed.

Staff Writers:

Whether it be politics, government, foreign affairs, arts, pop culture, sports

Caroline Higdon, Gavin Rolle, Hunter Grant,

etc., it is necessary to take the time to learn about and understand the world

Jordan Jones, Mary Leah Yearty, Mary Rust, Mateus Bitencourt, Molly Siddall, Myriel Byfield, Veronica Marshall-Kirk

around us.

In this issue, we want to showcase the students that have already gone

Adviser:

that extra mile to be in the know, setting examples for us all. With each and

Cailyn Callaway

every article idea, met deadline and published piece, we hope to make you a

The Maclay Andalusian is a student-run publication that operates out of Maclay School.

little more in the know.

Maclay School 3737 N Meridian Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32312 (850) 893-2138

support and guidance as we continue to work on the publication. We would

We are thankful to Ms. Cailyn Callaway, our adviser, for her endless

also like to thank Mrs. Mayer and the foundation she helped us create. To Mr. Norment and the English Department, we thank you all for your continual support of the paper. Finally, to Mr. Charles Beamer, we thank you for the words of encouragement that you continue to bestow upon us.

To the staff, we thank you for continuing to work hard and for your

endless energy. This publication wouldn’t be what it is without you.

Sincerely, Ellie, Madelyn and Hunt

CROSSWORD CONTEST Finish the Crossword on page 13. The first person to show Ms. Callaway the correct answers wins a $10 gift card to Chick-fil-a!

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FOR MORE CONTENT SCAN

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| NEWS

SPOTLIGHT o n an u pco min g pe rf o rm a nc e

"The Man Who Came to Dinner"

by gavin rolle | staff writer

On December 12-13, the Upper School theatre department will present this year’s fall play, “The Man Who Came to Dinner”

by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The comedy will be held in the Cartee Gym at 7 p.m. on both nights. Tickets are five dollars and students will be free.

The play is about a man named Sheridan Whiteside, played by senior Ethan Tetreault, who finds himself injured after slipping on ice. Whiteside will spend the rest of the play wheelchair bound, trying to break up the relationship of his secretary Maggie Cutler, played by sophomore Riley Karpinski, for his own selfish reasons.

Mrs. Cindy Thomas, the Performing Arts Department Chair, held auditions for the play in September, and the cast has been rehearsing ever since. The cast rehearses during Flex in preparation for the opening.

This is Karpinski’s first year acting; however, she has taken on the task of playing the female lead in her first high school production. “I’ve never done something like this before,” Karpinksi said. “I’m excited to take to the stage for the first time.”

For many students, this will also be

their first time acting in a high school production.

There are many freshmen on the cast, including Chari Beamer, Myriel Byfield, Adyson Miller, Lula Roberston, Lauren Price, Tovah Levensen and Prezsence Francis.

However, for Tetreault, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” is not his first time being on the stage.

Tetreault has been acting since his freshman year, and he is now a senior. As president of Company, Tetreault is busy learning his lines while also practicing moving around in a wheelchair on stage.

“I’m excited to see everyone’s reaction to the play,” Tetreault said. “I think it’s going to be a funny one.”

According to Mrs. Thomas, there is still a lot of practice to be had.

“After Thanksgiving Break, we only have two weeks before the show opens,” Thomas said. “We will be rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing.”

Cast List: Sheridan Whiteside - Ethan Tetreault Maggie Cutler - Riley Karpinski Bert Jefferson - Colin Acuff Miss Preen – Kat Large Dr. Bradley - John Messer Mr. Earnest W. Stanley - John Wickman Mrs. Stanley (Daisy) - Chari Beamer

ABOVE: Junior John Wickman, senior Ethan Tetreault and sophomores Riley Karpinski and Abigail Hugill rehearse for their upcoming performance.

Richard Stanley - Robby Wickman June Stanley - Myriel Byfield Harriet Stanley - Adyson Miller Joanne Housekeeper - Lula Roberston Sarah - Cook Abigail Hugill Mrs. Dexter & Expressman- Lauren Price Mrs. McCutcheon - Tovah Levenson

Lorraine Sheldon - Prezsence Francis Beverley Carlton - John Wickman Banjo - Ayberk Ozgen Ms. Westcott - Tovah Levenson Professor Metz - (guest Faculty Dr. Perry)

veteran’s day parade by caroline higdon | staff writer

On the morning of Friday, November 8, students gathered throughout the hallways and sidewalks to applaud veterans in the Maclay community for the sacrifices they have made.

The Veterans Day Parade is a tradition that Maclay has hosted for years. This year’s parade included support from a multitude of clubs, arts, students, musicians and teachers.

Gratitude was evident everywhere.

Anchor Club wrote thank-you cards to the participating veterans, the Art Department made hand-made ornaments and students wrote poems to give to those who served.

During the parade itself, the orchestra performed, Rowdy led the line of veterans and pieces of art created by the upper school were on display all around campus.

Sara Grant, who is the mother of two Maclay students and the wife of a veteran, organized the parade.

“Organizing this parade is dear to my heart ABOVE: Lieutenant Commander Navy veteran Daniel Scheer walks with his kindergarten daughter Nora Jane. BELOW: Maclay students clap for parading veterans next to the and has been a great honor, but it’s success was Mackenzie Center. BOTTOM RIGHT: Students outside the lower school cheer for veterans not just through my own efforts,” Grant said. and their family members.

“Kim McWilliams, the Marketing Director; Michelle Dickson, President of Maclay Parent Organization; and Carri Smith, the Director of Communications have also put a lot of

time, effort, and care into planning for this special event.”

Putting the parade together did not happen overnight.

“Faculty, teachers, administration, students and the Maclay Parents Organization have all come together in many ways to make this event special for our veterans,” Grant said. “Throughout this long process it has become evident that the culture at Maclay upholds much respect and admiration for our military members and veterans.”

Since all veterans in the parade have an affiliation with Maclay, the students and teachers are directly impacted.

“It’s good to see those who sacrifice for our country,” junior Jack Hildebrandt said.

“It’s more personal to be able to thank them in person. Their work is then appreciated on a larger [school-wide] scale.”

The appreciation didn't end after the morning parade. The week leading up to the parade, students and faculty were encouraged to wear red, white, and blue. During homeroom, upper schoolers wrote letters to the veterans who came to walk in the parade.

These traditions are not new but are likely to improve over the coming years.

NEWS

maclayandalusian.com

Freshman Challenge!

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Photo by Mary Leah Yearty

Two-day trip creates bonds through group games by mary leah yearty | staff writer The freshman class completed the annual Freshman Challenge October 28-29. They traveled to Camp Southwind, a Young Life camp in Ocala, Florida. The trip was designed to foster new friendships and create fun memories with classmates.

The freshman class, along with a select group of juniors and seniors as counselors, went off campus and participated in fun activities with their classmates. The trip only recently transitioned into an overnight trip. The extra day was added to allow for more freedom and activities.

The administrators place each freshman in groups of around ten students, with two or three counselors. Each group is assigned a color, and the counselors are in charge of creating shirts and a team name for the group.

The groups are designed to put freshmen with classmates they may not be good friends with, so they can all bond and create new friendships.

“I liked the challenge a lot because the groups and the rooms had a lot of different people that were able to get to know each other better,” junior Ramsay Grant said.

After everyone arrived, the first activity on the agenda was a series of games against other groups. The games included wiffle ball, dodgeball, beach volleyball and capture the flag, and the different color teams faced off against each other.

The first night included skits, where each group comes together and makes a funny skit to present to the rest of the class. The skits are a tradition of the Freshman Challenge.

“It was fun to impersonate our teachers and some stereotypes at Maclay,” freshman Clayton Knox said.

“It was a great way to bond with other freshmen.”

The feature of the second day was the Freshman Olympics. This is a newer addition to the Freshman Challenge itinerary, and it includes games like charades and the quiet game, where kids line up based on some category without speaking.

“My favorite part was the Freshman Olympics,” junior Madison Perkins said. “I got to interact and bond with all the freshman from every team instead of just my own teammates.”

The group also spent time together during mealtimes. During Freshman Challenge, the chaperones and participants ate four meals at the camp, and each meal was buffet-style. As a part of bonding, the groups sat with their colors.

“I really like watching people interact at mealtimes,” Chaperone Kristen Kline said. “It’s the unstructured time where things really come out.”

After a full weekend of games and activities, the group headed back home to Tallahassee and went back to school, hopefully with new friendships.

ABOVE: Counselor Ramsey Grant leads frehshmen Caleb Heuchan, Heaven Ward, Kolton Lawson, and others on stage as they perform a skit. BELOW: Freshmen and couselors hang out playing pool and foosball.

Lower and Middle School News

Seventh Graders raise money for Washington D.C trip with Carnival

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S

by caroline higdon | staff writer

Winning a goldfish, pieing teachers in the face and colliding with friends inside of giant hamster balls are all activities students can partake in when attending the annual seventh graders’ carnival.

After school on Friday, November 1, students from Pre-K3 to twelfth grade came together to this school-wide event. Each Halloween, seventh graders host this carnival as a way to raise money for their January Washington, D.C trip.

Typically, this is held on the field next to the pool.

However, this year, due to construction, the carnival was located on the field behind the track.

As the middle schoolers’ class trip approaches, the push for fundraising increases as well.

Maclay Parent Organization (MPO) co-chair and seventh grade chair, Monica Rodriguez, aided in organizing the carnival, but made it clear it was not just the parents who helped out.

“The kids really put a lot of work in,” Rodriguez said. “They only had about thirty mintues in school to work on their booth, so that pushed them to get together and work on their own time.”

Students are given personal duties to accomplish. Not only does this teach the kids responsibility, but it also teaches time management, as the students must meet their deadlines for their assignments revolving around their booths.

The students also learn that hard work pays

LEFT: Students lead their station by shagging basketballs.

ABOVE: Seventh graders pose in front of the photo booth stand, donned with big glasses and feather boas. BELOW: Students stand at the ring toss booth, situating the rings to be ready for the next round.

off. Even though they are in charge of working the booths, the kids still get to participate in the fun.

“We are already having so much fun today,” seventh-grader Lauren Guyer said. “I’m most excited for all the candy we get, though!”

Guyer was in charge of the new “scrunchie pong” booth, but that was just one of many.

Some of the others consisted of a hay-ride, field goal kicking, basketball, and face painting.

One of the students organizing the face painting booth explained how her group managed their time to make the best booth possible.

“We had a clear goal in mind of what we wanted our booth to look like,” seventh-grader Sarah Jones said. “We wanted to make sure we had enough time and money to accomplish that goal, but didn’t want to put all that work on one person.

So, we split up and assigned roles to one another.”

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| OPINION

maclayandalusian.com

Editorial: Imagine where American society would be today without the diligent system of the free press, without the organization of passionate individuals who crave the truth and force accountability upon those who possess power. This would be a society of ubiquitous political power abuse, business downfall, brainwashed mass populations and a downfall of democracy. After all, the creation of a democratic government rests upon a defining principle: truth is the predominant virtue of a harmonious societal system.

The primary purpose of journalism is to acquire and relay the truth to the grand scope of humanity. Currently, the status of the free press institution within the United States of America is not indicative of freedom, but rather a state of crisis. The catalyst responsible for this attack on unrestricted press freedom within American society hails from a multitude of diverging directions: the abuse of political power in journalism, technological evolution, altered business values and the internal sabotage of the press by the journalists that compose it.

While such components are vital in penning the downfall of the free press institution as valid, they are not the full scope of the scenario. Instead of arguing for the validity of a failing free press system, one must acknowledge the broader relevance of this downfall: the free press as an institution matters significantly to the progression of societal function.

A mere glance upon modern American society reveals a striking commonality: the free press is an integral component in upholding truth within humanity and building a body of educated, powerful citizens. By promising to uphold the truth and nothing but the truth, the freedom of the press guarantees that American citizens hold the information that they need in order to possess an opinion and have the ability to utilize their voices in society.

A prominent example of this exchange in information exists in social media, according to CNN. When an American citizen “shares news links” on social media websites, such as Twitter and Snapchat, they become an integral component of the media and “benefit from the constitutional protection of the free press.” Within this process exists the ability of millions of individuals to participate in the process of news exchange, the free press, as these individuals exchange eyewitness information and new perspectives. Social media has allowed the mass population of Americans to garner the

H e y, i t co u l d b e wo r s e .

t h e f r e e p r e s s m at t e r s

illustration by mary rust and stephanie ribich

benefits of a free press in the form of blogging, reporting, and commentating. A free press is evidently not solely for the polished news anchors on live television. The free press embodies all that identify as an American.

Moreover, the existence of a free press is vital in furthering accountability in the politically-dominated, interest-groupcentered environment that defines modern reality. While there are numerous attacks upon the presence of the free press, there is a significantly greater sum of instances during which the press rose above the corruption of humanity and served as an enlightening source of truth. According to The Atlantic, the role of the press is “to ask hard questions and refuse to be deterred even when someone powerful claims, “Nothing to see here.”

The existence of a free press has proven to uphold this claim throughout the duration of history. One must ponder the vitality of American society in the absence of a free press: Where would America be in the absence of Bob Woodward,

Everyone Wins: T h e a r g u m e n t f o r M a c l ay ’ s p o l i c y o n pa r t i c i pa t i o n t r o p h i e s

illustration by mary rust and stephanie ribich

by mateus bitencourt | staff writer If you have ever been a part of a sports team, you have more than likely encountered some form of participation trophies.

Participation trophies can either take the form of physical trophies that are handed out or participation systems, such as the system that everyone who attends the try-out makes the team or everyone on the team gets playing time. Maclay hands out participation trophies by not cutting any students that try out. In addition, every player on the team usually receives some portion of playing time. Without participation trophies, people would be less motivated to try new things. Furthermore, they allow for healthy competition between student athletes and teach a lesson of commitment.

“Our programs have only benefited from not cutting anybody,” Head Boys Soccer Coach Andy Warner said. “It is crucial we keep everyone because players can

the Washington Post journalist whose searing exposé broke the Watergate scandal and drove President Richard Nixon to resign from office at the threat of impeachment? Where would America be in the absence of the diligent Boston Globe journalists who unearthed the Catholic Church scandal of extensive sexual abuse by priests? As a result of the free press, accountability among powerful interest groups was upheld and truth was delivered to the American people. By maintaining justice and truth, the United States developed, grew as a national entity. Presently, the growth and prosperity of the nation is on the line.

While it is certain that the existence of a free press within society is currently being tested, the citizens of America cannot lose their grasp upon the token of wisdom that defines the progression of society: a powerful free press is the integral adhesive that holds the American experiment together. The time to fight for freedom, a bold and vigorous free press, is now. The future rests within your hands.

progressively get better over the season and years. Multiple times I have had players get moved up from Junior Varsity to Varsity.”

Those that disagree with the usage of participation trophies, argue that they diminish the quality of competition by taking away from the competition between the better or more experienced players. This logic, however, is incorrect, as participation trophies actually increase the competition level by requiring athletes to work harder in order to be a starter and maintain or achieve playing time. The players work harder, because they compete for a limited number of spots. As a result, overall improvement of the team occurs.

“Competition is necessary in order to get better,” junior lacrosse athlete Stone Foster said. “I think participation trophies give people an incentive to stick with a sport and work to get better at it, which subsequently would make teams more competitive amongst each

other. And who knows, maybe participation trophies can lead to people discovering an interest in a new sport.”

Moreover, participation trophies teach people the important lesson of keeping a commitment they have made. It also rewards athletes for their efforts, which enables them to realize the importance of trying. Keeping a commitment and giving your best efforts are two essential ideas that can be translated into anything, for example a future job or relationship with someone. The only way for something to work is if you put in the effort in order to try to make it work.

“It is not uncommon to hear people complain about participation trophies,” senior soccer player Lauren Dessi said. “The way I think about it is, I personally would not want to be cut because I would not be happy about it, and I do not think anyone would disagree.

As a kid, I liked receiving participation trophies because it felt like my efforts were noticed.”

As American director, actor, and writer Woody Allen once said, “80 percent of success is just showing up.” Such a comment is applicable to the subject of participation trophies, as participation trophies lead to people building better self confidence, which results in competence. As a result, people lack the fear of putting in effort.

Additionally, participation trophies

emphasize the significance of the process instead of idealizing the result. By rewarding people’s efforts and perseverance, they begin to realize that their efforts are directly correlated with the outcome. This concept has the power to change mindset, work ethic for the better.

In 2015, Stanford University professor Carol Dweck conducted a study involving fifth graders. In the study, the students were presented with the same IQ test. Once they had finished the test, half was told “you must be smart at this” and the other half was told “you must have really worked hard.” Then, the fifth graders were offered the option of taking a second test that was harder and would teach them something new, or taking a second test that was just as easy as the first. The study found that 90 percent of the kids praised for their hard work chose the harder test and 67 percent of the kids praised for being smart chose the easier test. This study points to the validity of participation trophies.

Participation trophies are a benefit, as they motivate people to try new things, stimulate healthy competition and teach people the importance of perseverance, while also improving their mindset and work ethic.

Maybe the next time you hear someone complaining about Maclay’s participation trophies, you can explain to them the true value behind the trophies.

OPINION |

maclayandalusian.com by emily dudley | general editor Double-tap, like, scroll, snap and tweet: a connected world is our reality. Social media permits a world of increasing globalization, as distance doesn’t limit communication. Despite social media’s negative aspects (e.g. the potential injury to self-esteem), overall, social media can be a positive tool for young and old alike because it allows universal connection.

This connection forces humans out of isolation. Pre-social media, technology was still present, and technological devices like televisions or radios really only existed as a form to passively process. People just listened or watched without communicating with others. Now, we can connect about the television we watch by live-tweeting episodes.

Though we watch alone, we can feel like others are keeping us company.

Now that we have social media, no one ever has to feel alone. For teens in particular, this can be life changing. Those who feel as

PRO

though they do not belong or feel depressed have an outlet where they can connect with other people and get help. This connection saved a New Jersey teen’s life after he posted on Facebook that he was thinking of jumping off the George Washington Bridge. A friend contacted the local police, and the officer assigned to the bridge sent his contact information via Facebook. The teen reached out to the officer and volunteered to receive help. Evidently, the teen just needed to connect with someone and get help. Social media granted that occurrance.

Social media’s connectivity also applies to adults and the elderly. As adults have been through many phases of life, such as high school, college and new jobs, it can be easy to lose contact with people, but social media prevents these friends from falling through the cracks, as you can like your high school prom date’s pictures on Instagram. For the elderly, their quality of life has been proven to

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improve based on their social network status, Carson said. “It also allows me to interact with and social media allows other musicians around them to remain Despite social media’s the world.” connected.

Both Cotton and Carson negative aspects (e.g. the Social media also have found communities potential injury to selfallows individuals to through social media esteem), overall, social learn other user’s ideas. and been able to share media can be a positive Senior Tayley Cotton their work with people tool for young and old currently runs a pottery worldwide. alike because it allows account on Instagram The biggest drawback is universal connection. to share her work and that not all social media see what other potters experiences are positive. are creating.

There can be cyberbullying, and users, “I see a lot of pottery posts on social media, teenagers especially, can experience body and I follow a bunch of potters as well, so dysmorphia, as a result of having their feed that helps spark my creativity,” Cotton said. filled with “perfect” looking individuals.

Senior Frank Carson also runs an Instagram Unfortunately, these instances occur; account. He films and shares music videos, however, according to a report by a child using many hashtags to group his posts in advocacy group, one in five teens said that with others similar to his. social media made them feel more confident, “It’s pretty cool to share my music and my with only 4% of the teens reporting that it songs with others through social media,” made them feel less confident.

Though social media interactions aren't always positive, social media connects people.

Because of social media, we never have to be truly alone.

“

Social Media

by lilly simons | head editor A mere glance upon a bustling city, a lively school courtyard, a congested airport or the entirety of modern society reveals a commonality: social media is ubiquitous, pervasive within humanity. With every breath, movement and thought, individuals draw near to buzzing devices within pockets, the addiction lurking within their mental space.

Despite the omnipresence of the social media phenomenon, social media is not solely a creative space, but also a breeding ground for toxicity within human lives. Social media exists as a negative force; platforms instill users with mental health disorders, sleep issues and self-esteem alteration.

Social media creates mental distress, such as anxiety and depression, within users’ minds. Through scientific research, academics have discovered a significant correlation between clinical anxiety and social media as expressed by evident restlessness worry, sleep loss and an inability to concentrate.

A study published in the scientific journal Computers and Human Behaviour discovered that individuals who utilize seven or more social media platforms are more than three times as likely as individuals who use a range

CON

of zero to two social media websites to possess heightened levels of clinical anxiety symptoms.

In alignment, depression boasts a profound correlation to social media activity. Two studies by the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health enlisted a group of more than 700 students. These studies experimentally concluded that symptoms of depression, such as exhaustion, a lack of energy and feelings of despair and hopelessness, are parallel to the nature of engagements on social media. Social scientists turned to experimental data in order to conclude that negative interactions upon social media, such as cyberbullying, ranting and hate speech, are linked to the development of depression.

Within social media’s cyberspace, there exists an overwhelming quantity of hatred and negativity; however, this darkness isn’t confined to the web. It lurks within your mind.

Furthermore, social media serves as a detriment to humans’ fuel: sleep. In the early age of humanity, beings possessed a degree of natural circadian rhythm, as they basked in the moonlight and darkness during the night.

lighting in social media applications. Users should update their status to their usage reality: sleepless.

Moreover, social media dramatically alters the self-esteem of the beings that roam aimlessly upon the portals of influence. Everyone has felt that feeling: the expanding pit within the abdomen, churning of the mind and tightening of the Modern reality boasts a contrasting narrative, as individuals now are consumed by damaging throat that ensues after the scrolling pauses artificial lighting from sunrise to sunset. to rest upon an image: a Facetuned model Experimental research discovered constant complete with defined physical features and exposure to artificial lighting, social media’s designer clothes greets your eyes, and you can’t help but compare your complement, can inhibit the melatonin Within social media’s existence to those that gleam production, a cyberspace, there is an a Photoshopped glow on your screen. hormone that overwhelming quantity As discovered by the supports healthy of hatred and negativity; disability charity Scope, half sleep. Blue light, however, this darkness of 18- to 34-year-olds say a product of isn’t confined to the social media websites leave smartphone and web. It lurks within your them feeling unattractive. laptop screens, is mind.

While social media may declared the worst serve as a creative outlet, the contributor.

Your night routine of slying in bed for hours edited pictures wound consumers’ self image. checking your Instagram feed and Snapchat Its negativity outweighs its creative nature.

By leaving users with mental health disorders, streaks is ruining your much-needed rest.

In 2017, this concept was tested when sleep issues and self-esteem alterations, social researchers from the University of Pittsburgh media is creating an aura of darkness. With questioned 1,700 young adults about their human existence at stake, usage should be social media usage and sleep schedule. altered to improve society’s wellness. The They found a significant alignment of sleep future rests within your next scroll, like or complications as a result of ubiquitous blue streak.

“

Burnt Out Students Pressure forces unhealthy stress levels

by madelyn stout | operations editor in chief Society puts a lot of stress on teenagers.

Many people dictate what students can and can’t do. The multitude of voices can become overbearing as students hear the cacophony of other people’s opinions: You have to do well in school. You have to go to college. Quit goofing off. Don’t slack off because you have to get into that school. Also, when you’re done, you have to get this job, not that one. Wear different clothes, you can’t look like that person. You have the wrong opinions and beliefs. Oh, and

pick better friends.

For a society that is supposed to emphasize individuality and the freedom of expression, it constricts teenagers with its cliches and social norms beyond healthy limits.

These constrictions have led to widespread burn-out as students push themselves to unprecedented levels of stress in the hopes of meeting expectations.

“In our current world, I definitely think there is a huge amount of pressure put on teenagers,” junior Sonu Patel said. “Our expectations are higher and more is demanded of us from parents, colleges and even ourselves.”

According to the Washington Post, the levels of anxiety and stress in students at highachieving schools has increased dramatically.

Moreover, these students have been added to an “at-risk” group - that includes those in poverty and the foster-care system - when it comes to mental and behavioral health.

Is this not a problem? Students are working themselves so hard that they burn-out over their efforts to build their resumes for highly selective colleges through not just taking challenging courses but also participating in numerous extracurriculars. Weren’t sports and clubs supposed to be stress-relievers for students? Now, they’re seen as another means to an end, as the majority of students try to use them to get into college.

“I believe that pressure on students has slowly increased throughout the years, because it has become more difficult to differentiate ourselves among the mass of students and get into college,” senior Hannah Hosay said. “The concept of college has also become increasingly stressed on students to the point that some of them believe they have ‘failed’ at life if they don’t get into their dream school.”

With many students partaking in numerous

activities, the level of stress increases. As a result, many students can begin to feel burntout as they try to accommodate everything and it isn’t healthy. In fact, according to CNN, the World Health Organization has officially diagnosed burnout as a mental health problem.

If becoming too stressed out is now an official diagnosis, then something must change. Schools need to be doing more to help students reach their goals without adding stress. The same can be said for colleges for their expectations for potential students.

“We are expected to be perfect to succeed; but, in reality there will never be perfect.

Now-a-days we are expected to be the best at what we do,” Patel said.

Extracurricular activities should be how teenagers can alleviate their stress from schoolwork and where they can enjoy their time in high school - not add on to their workloads.

tayley cotton by ellie casteel | print editor in chief

said. “When she’s throwing, it’s mesmerizing, it’s therapeutic.”

Cotton’s work was shown at The Tallahassee Clay Arts Show at 621 Gallery in Railroad Square Art District. Dressel explained this isn’t an easy show to get into and that she knows the show’s coordinator, Sue Stelzmann.

“This show features the biggest ceramic artists in Tallahassee. Artist’s whose profession is ceramics, so it is an intense show to get into,” Dressel said. “I know Sue Stelzmann because she owns Tallahassee Clay Arts, and that’s where I get my clay. Sue told me me about the show and I couldn’t think of anyone else.”

Cotton applied: six of her pieces were selected, three were displayed at the show.

“It’s tough to get in this show so it was really cool seeing her focus for it and having to write an artist statement,” Dressel said.

“It was more in depth than just being with the clay and figuring out her intentions with what a show means to her.”

Cotton says participating in the show was rewarding and exciting.

She also expressed her desire to continue pottery after graduation.

“I’ve definitely decided to do this as a hobby for the rest of my life and I definitely want to continue this in college,” Cotton said. “People have been telling me they want to buy my pieces so I decided I want to start a business.”

Despite launching a business, Cotton still faces challenges as an artist. She lists lack of focus as her weakness.

“I think in general I’ll lose my focus. But sometimes when I’m not having a good day, I have to overcome that in order to be in the mindset to create,” Cotton

said. “If I messed up or accidentally destroy the piece, I’ll destroy it.”

Her DIS contract states she can’t destroy pieces without Dressel’s permission, but she says the act is helpful.

“I would say destroying pieces is a good thing because when I destroy a piece, I am looking at the insides and seeing what I could have done better,” said Tayley Cotton. “I think it is always a learning process, so I do not think destroying anything is bad.”

Visit BFRC-2 to watch Cotton create.

Her work lines the shelves, showing that any passion can be pursued, any activity can be molded into a lifelong hobby and artistic escape.

e

I need. I want to make this chemical reaction on the wheel while I’m throwing. Can we get a blow torch and silicate?’” Dressel said. “It’s unbelievable the passion she has with it, the research she’ll do. She just wants to learn.”

Cotton comes to work during her DIS class on B-days and also during her study hall on A-days, which coincides with one of Dressel’s photography classes. One day in photography, the class was experimenting with shutter speed and all the windows were covered.

“In order to have a really low shutter speed, we had to black everything out,” Dressel said.

“It was pitch black. It was Cotton’s free period,

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If you walk into the BFRC-2 at any time, you’ll probably see senior Tayley Cotton seated with clay-covered hands working on the wheel. On average, she spends two hours a day working on her pottery, whether she’s throwing, trimming or glazing.

Cotton’s inspiration began after seeing videos on Instagram freshman year. She took Ceramics I with Ms. Kaitlyn Dressel second semester and found she loved the craft.

“I heard people were taking a ceramics and pottery class. So, I took it and that’s where I learned to throw on the wheel,” Cotton said.

“My first piece was a phone speaker.”

Dressel has been her teacher all four years and has witnessed her progression.

Cotton’s first ceramics class was Dressel’s smallest period.

“Starting my first year here I think I got really blessed because Tayley’s class just happened to be a group of four girls. I had four girls and four wheels so it really gave us the opportunity to explore the wheels more in depth compared to the other classes,” Dressel said. “The minute Tayley jumped on the wheel, I just knew it was her thing.”

Cotton went on to take Ceramics II sophomore year and AP 3D junior year.

Though she was enrolled in the classes with help from Dressel, she’s selftaught.

“A lot of what I’ve done and made has been self-taught,” Cotton admitted. “I learn on Instagram and Youtube and really just take advantage of the internet.”

This year, Cotton has moved on to take Dressel’s DIS Design Collaboration class, where she has time to create at her artistic will.

She researches techniques and pieces every day, so she has ample inspiration.

“Watching her progress, I’ve loved being her teacher but she’s at the point where it’s really a self-study. She is doing her own research. She’ll come in and say ‘Hey, these are the materials

STUDENTS in

so I said ‘good luck’.”

Tayley shares the experience was challenging, but beneficial.

“So, I was throwing with 11 lbs of clay in a pitch-black room. It was pretty much like being blindfolded; it was crazy. With the feel of the clay, it sounds cliche, but you have to be one with it to know how it moves,” Cotton said. “I’ve done it so much now it’s like second nature.”

According to Dressel, when the class flipped on the lights, she had finished a huge, beautiful bowl.

“It’s been so incredibly rewarding watching her progression with form especially,” Dressel

middleground club by calynne thompson |

Abortion, gun control and standardized testing: all controversial topics that have been discussed among the newly founded Middleground club. After watching the Youtube channel, “Jubilee,” seniors Michelena O’Rourke and Lilly Simons were inspired to create a club to discuss contentious topics in a controlled environment.

“When we were watching the video, we looked at each other and said simultaneously: we should start this at Maclay,” Simons said.

Middleground is a discussion club that creates a safe environment to talk about pressing issues in society. O’Rourke and Simons lead the

general editor

conversations by reciting a statement about the pertaining topic. Anyone who agrees with the statement then enters a circle, formed by desks, and discusses their reasoning. Then after two minutes, ones who disagree enter the circle and discuss how they feel.

“Freshman year during the election we realized how hard it was to talk about any of the issues because it always ended in yelling and nothing being accomplished,” Simons said. “Our goal with Middleground is to teach others how to converse these topics civilly.”

To form the club the girls met with Head of the Upper School, Mr. Charles Beamer. Then, they sat down with math teacher, Mr. Joseph McClendon who agreed to sponsor the club. With a sponsor, the team met with Dean of Student Affairs and Interclub Council sponsor, Mrs. Heather Bas. They pitched the club concept to her and it was added to ICC. Middleground joined ICC Fair this year. The girls had an opportunity to explain the club to interested upper schoolers.

“The club is very relaxed, and there is no membership,” O’Rourke said to those interested. “We will meet once every one or two weeks, and anyone is welcome to attend the discussions.”

So far, the club has met four times.

In the first meeting, O’Rourke and Simons explained the club, their goals, and that all discussion topics would be chosen by students. Then, discussions were ready to commence. The first topic was standardized testing. Students were prompted with statements to converse about whether they agree or disagree with standardized tests like the SAT and ACT and whether they feel the tests adequately represent an individual’s knowledge.

Join Middleground club to stay informed and voice your opinion in a safe environment.

the KNOW The enormous sheet hangs loud and pronounced in the window facing toward the Science Hall. Situated behind the blinds and the window in club sponsor Lucinda Thomas’s room, It reads, “We are different but the same,” a motto embodied and represented by the Spectrum Club and its members.

A younger club among others, Spectrum began during the 2016-2017 school year, when current seniors were only freshmen. The club began from the mind and beliefs of alumna Nikki Mauldin.

The club was founded on the simple principles of inclusivity and diversity, which it still embraces.

While most clubs have hierarchy consisting of a president, vice president, treasurer and secretary, Spectrum functions more as a collaborative effort. Instead of being lead by the typical four offices, the club operates by using a

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spectrum club by hunt deison |

online editor in chief

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leadership council of four people: Ethan Tetrault, Katie Lyons, Sonu Patel and Cassidy Williams.

The four help conduct monthly meetings and usually meet the week of meetings to discuss topics which will be addressed in the meeting. The leadership council’s dynamic is unique, respectful and equal.

“We are a council where everyone has an equal stance and we all kind of share responsibilities,” leadership counselor Ethan Tetrault said.

The four usually rotate who leads the meetings and work closely with Thomas about movements and topics they want to endorse and introduce into the meetings. For example, the club originally had the idea of sponsoring some sort of exam stress relief event; however, when they learned about Student Council’s similar idea, they adapted and are sponsoring two Guardian Ad Litem kids for which they will purchase gifts during this holiday season.

Additionally, the club will sponsor a sock and toiletry drive for the homeless shelter this winter.

“Socks are the least donated but often most needed item at homeless shelters,” Tetrault said.

“Collecting those, especially for the winter, is imperative.”

As for club membership, there is not set list of members. Since the club prides itself on inclusivity, its monthly meetings are always open. However, there are still the regulars who are very active in the clubs’ meetings and projects. Meetings are held in D2, Mrs. Thomas’s room.

While the club is busy with a plethora of initiatives this winter, certain members like Tetrault are looking forward to the spring.

“The things that I’m personally championing in the club is taking on Mental Health Awareness month, which is in May,” Tetrault said. “That’s something that I’m pushing for us to get involved with. That’s the biggest thing on the horizon, I suppose.”

Just because the club meets monthly doesn’t mean that they’re not working behind the scenes.

In fact, the majority of the club’s work doesn’t occur during the meetings, but during students’ free time.

For example, the club often makes art to display around the school, which often occurs during flex.

Because of the club’s immense involvement in a number of activities, this puts a lot on the shoulders of its leadership council. However, this poses noproblem for multi-club member and leader Tetrault.

“Because Spectrum only meets during the day, it’s not that big of a challenge to balance all of my responsibilities with eSports, Spectrum, and Company, especially since there are three other people who can fill in,” Tetrault said.

In fact, all of the leadership council are involved in other extracurriculars and clubs outside of Spectrum. Williams is involved with band. Patel works as an assertive member on the Student Council. Lyons is a member of Mu Alpha Theta.

From the top down, Spectrum represents its goal of inclusivity and diversity, working to create a better a school and city community. Like the pronounced sheet reads, “We are all different but the same,” Spectrum represents the goal of creating a better connection among humanity by highlighting uncommon issues and putting a voice behind students’ concerns.

How much is Maclay “in the know”?

How long do you spend on social media per day?

illustration by stephanie ribbich

How type of news interests you?

How do you get your news?

*Survey conducted via Google Docs. with 145 anonymous participants

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Saddle Up!

Female riders overcome hurdles in a gentlemen’s sport by hunter grant | staff writer

For Madi Cordle, Jillian Beck and Pippa Campbell, polo is not just a “Gentleman’s Sport.”

Most seniors can be seen hanging out in the Senior Shack, writing college admission essays or participating in winter sports, Cordle, Beck and Campbell though are focused on fostering their love of polo, mallets in hand.

Polo is a sport where each game is split into six chuckers, the Polo term for segment or quarter, each lasting seven and a half minutes. Each team has four players marked with numbers one through four, with three and four usually being the best on the team. Players switch horses each chucker, and to score a goal, they must hit a small hard plastic ball between the goal posts. After each goal, the teams switch sides and the game continues.

Traditionally, polo was a sport played by male royalty.

Through Cordle, Beck and Campell’s love passion for the game, they are illustrating the modern fade of these boundaries. While they are three strong women taking over a male dominated sport, the transition for Beck has not been one met with hostility over gender.

“I don’t feel like I’m treated any different,” Beck said, “I love the polo community and I have made the greatest friends through it.”

Even though they feel that they are treated the same, what they are doing requires courage. They are young capable women entering

into a sport once played by kings and dukes as the play competitively, one must travel frequently. women watched. Now everyone gets to watch as “We travel a lot for it,’’ Beck said, “We travel they play the sport and enjoy the newfound ability to Sarasota for four months, as well as places like they have earned through hundreds of years of New York and Kentucky during the summer.” ongoing struggle against gentility. This is not to say The travel on top of school work and mounting that some men played large roles in the fight for college pressure makes it difficult to find a balance. women’s rights, it is just a known fact that strong women did have to go against the grain to gain a foothold from which to fight from.

All three women have been around horses since their youth.

Their passion for polo has developed over time through hard work, time commitments and their love of horses.

For Campbell, her love for polo goes back before she was even born.

“It is a family tradition,” Campbell said. “In South Africa, my grandpa played because that was a hobby that the farmers would play and then my dad tried it and started playing for people.”

Senior Jillian Beck also started her riding career as a child when she was about five years old, though her initial interest was not in the sport of Polo.

ABOVE: Jillian Beck and her brother Maclay alumni John Luke Beck have a conversation on the filed. LEFT: Madi Cordle poses for a picture while “My family was originally during her match. a Hunter Jumper family [a class in horse showing] but when my oldest brother switched to polo the Cordle acknowledges the difficulties and knows to whole family followed him.” Beck said. be successful, she must take a step back from polo.

Beck made this switch when she was “I do travel to play,” Cordle said, “But I’m twelve, and hoping that I’ll get to do it more often once has since college applications are in and midterms are over.” fallen in In regards to the future, Beck, Campbell love with the and Cordle all hope to continue their love for competitive polo and horses after high school, though s p o r t . none intend to play at the college level.

However, “Polo is an extremely expensive sport,” s h e Campbell said. “Once I make enough money adamantly from working, I hope to play on the side for fun.” expressed she is Due to the strain polo puts on the body, not as obsessed with Cordle intends to eventually hangup her mallet; polo as her other siblings. Her sister, however, she plans to continue to play for fun while Maclay 2017 graduate, Anneke Beck she can, and after, to take up horseback riding. went on to play polo for Cornell University.

“I will definitely ride my whole life,” Cordle Cordle, unlike her counterparts, picked said. “I would love to play for fun in college.” up polo much later than her counterparts, Beck is appreciative of all that polo has done for but this has not tampered with her ability her life, but she soon plans to pursue other avenues. to play and her passion for the sport.

“This sport has been a huge part of my life,” “I love playing polo,” Cordle said.

Beck said. “I, however, am definitely ready to “Spending time with my teammates is so move on to other things. I want to focus on my much fun because everyone is so kind higher education in hopes of one day applying and encouraging, and I’ve always loved my experience to marine life conservation.” horses, so it’s kind of my perfect sport.”

Regardless of the future that awaits for With all three of these athletes in their senior year, these three athletes, their love of horses and polo has been difficult to keep up with. Tallahassee their passion for polo will always remain. has only a small population of polo players, so to Photos provided by Jillian Beck, Pippa Campbell and Madi Cordle

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T he G rub Hu b Revolution by jordan jones | staff writer

The days of drive-ins and leaving your house for those desirable warm french fries and savory ice cream are long gone. The Grubhub age is here. From your average timerepressed individuals and too-lazy-to-cook-dinner people, Grubhub is the perfect remedy for your ailments.

Grubhub has revolutionized take-out and changed the restaurant-eating business.

They offer a variety of options to satisfy your hunger when you don’t have the time or motivation to cook.

When you are short on time, you can use the rush feature, where you can pay to have your food there quicker. Grubhub also offers advance ordering for your pre-planning needs.

“Coming home from horseback practice late in the afternoons, I am always so hungry and Grubhub makes it easy and fast,” sophomore Annabel James said. “They are definitely my favorite delivery service out there.”

Since 2014, Grubhub has increased an estimate of two

hundred and eighty percent in users from 5.029 million users to a now an active 19.3 million diners.

Part of Grubhub’s success is due to the fact that they are more prevalent in small towns and cities than other competing companies, such as Uber Eats and Postmates, that focus heavily on big cities like Los Angeles and New York City.

In Tallahassee, the company reaches a broader demographic as a result of its support of large-scale, big chain restaurants and small local establishments. Grubhub implements a range of restaurants in Tallahassee - such as small local spots like 3 Natives to large corporations like Panera Bread and Zaxby’s.

Grubhub also has great employee benefits. Employees receive quality insurance, flex spending accounts and a retirement plan. In addition, they receive restricted stock units. Additionally, Grubhub’s minimum wage is $12 an hour

beating the average US minimum wage by $4.50.

Critics of Grubhub, such as Tribeca Citizen, deem the food service app as inefficient due to the fees that they offer. These fees are the cost of convenience for the 324,000 meals that Grubhub conveniently delivers each day.

Moreover, in order to equally and ethically compensate the 2,772 employees that work for Grubhub the fees must exist. After all, employee satisfaction is a crucial component of keeping a company running and thriving.

It is evident Grubhub is a prime option for food delivery services. Grubhub satisfies the needs of everyone that requires food despite their busy schedules and lives. The delivery business offers a service that has revolutionized modern day food and is a millennial’s dream come true.

GrubHub is undoubtedly the market for lifestyle in the future.

Twitter Bans Political Ads by emily dudley | general editor

Starting November 22, Twitter users will no longer find “Build a Wall” or “My Body My Choice” being promoted on their feeds. The CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has announced via a tweet that “We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally.”

This political advertising has been defined as not only candidate ads, but also issue based advertising.

“We considered stopping only candidate ads, but issue ads present a way to circumvent,” Dorsey in the same thread of tweets said. “Additionally, it isn’t fair for everyone but candidates to buy ads for issues they want to push. So we’re stopping these too.”

This means that not only will candidates lack the ability to advertise but so will organizations. Dorsey believes that ad transparency is not sufficient and that banning the ads all together adds credibility. But what purpose does this really serve?

In general, Twitter does not have as much political discourse as one might believe. In fact, per a recent study from Pew Research Center that analyzed public tweets from June 2018 to June 2019, only 13 percent of tweets from adults in the United States focused on national politics.

Twitter clearly is not full of political tweets, so how

many political ads are even on Twitter? Per a tweet from the CFO of Twitter, the amount of political ads bought was less than three million dollars. The profit from political ads is estimated to be only 0.5 percent of Twitter’s revenue for next year. The issue is not about the money; it is about the message.

With the spread of false information rampant on social media networks, Twitter wanted to be different and add credibility to its company by completely eliminating a potential problem of misinformation found within political ads. According to his tweet, Dorsey said, “For instance, it‘s not credible for us to say: ‘We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, but if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad…well...they can say whatever they want! .” This is a polar opposite decision from Facebook, another social media platform, whose founder Mark Zuckerburg decided to leave political ads on their site without fact checking.

The decisions of Twitter and Facebook are examples of two extremes and send the message that issues that stem from political ads are too great to overcome. Instead of taking steps to ensure the most factual education of voters, both sites have refused to address this issue.

A ndy Reviews TV Movie

Advertising forces users to be exposed to new ideas and perspectives, and as most people follow candidates or organizations that directly align with their beliefs, advertising offers the unique opportunity to increase political awareness via a network used by people from all walks of life. Political advertising for candidates allows for non-mainstream candidates to gain traction, as through social media they can advertise their nontraditional ideas, and political advertising for issues can help people gain a better idea of what topics should be addressed in elections and discussed more. While accurate advertisements can serve these purposes, the key is accuracy, as the advertising with false information does not help create educated voters.

Twitter should have tried to work further on regulating political advertising instead of getting rid of it entirely; misinformation should not run rampant, but the freedom of political speech and press should not be suppressed. Creating a policy that cannot be circumvented will not be an easy task, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth trying. Social media has become a forum of nationwide discussion, and politics cannot just be ignored because that is what is easiest.

Photos from IMDb and Pitchfork

Music

Rating: PG-13

Rating: Tv-PG

Genre: Indie pop

2 hr 18 min

40 min/ep

10 songs

Scan below to take the “What Math Teacher Are You?” Quiz!

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CRITIC’S by c gd ar on oli | s ne ta ff w

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On November 8, Stephen King’s book, “Doctor Sleep”, was turned into a movie directed by Mike Flanagan.

This film was released in theaters as a sequel to King’s The Shining.

Dan Torrance, or “Danny,” is no longer a young boy roaming the halls of a hotel, and is now all grown up and struggling with alcoholism, just like his father was.

In “Doctor Sleep”, the viewers of the film are shown the fight Dan must put up in attempt to rid of his traumatic childhood memories from the time he spent in the Overlook Hotel, which is shown in the previous film.

Just as he is trying to finally go about living a seemingly normal life, Dan then meets a young girl who goes by the name of Abra. This child, just 13 years old, lives with the same gift, or “shine,” as he does.

Throughout the movie, the pair’s bond grows closer together.

Abra communicates with Dan

telepathically, until one day, when she tracks him down in person.

After they meet in real life, the two become closer than ever before, as they try to put an end to the cult, the True Knot, who feeds off of special people with the “shine” that Dan and Abra both have.

“Doctor Sleep” had a multitude of parallels between itself and The Shining. While many were advertised in the preview of Doctor Sleep, there were still quite a few which were not shown, and could only be seen by sitting down and watching the movie

itself.

Most obvious parallels were from some of the more “famous” scenes in The Shining. This consisted of the well-known “Here’s Johnny!” line from Jack Nicholoson, the grass maze, the “river of blood,” and the young, identical twin girls.

Just over the first weekend, “Doctor Sleep” made $14.1 million.

According to Forbes magazine, this was a disappointing number, and less than what was hoped for. The film’s opening profit was projected to be much higher, because of the

$44 million made by The Shining during its opening weekend in 1980. The Box Office predicted “Doctor Sleep” to make between $20 million and $25 million during its first weekend in theaters.

Overall, I was personally impressed with Flanagan’s interpretation of King’s book, and his ability to turn his vision into the direction of this film. All in all, this movie would be three out of five stars for me.

This is because of the immaculate execution of acting and visuals, which maintained its strong impression on me throughout the entire film.

However, I did find this movie to be a bit unorganized and hard to follow at times. Although this was not literally the second part of The Shining, since I had seen it, it was much easier to follow “Doctor Sleep.” If I had not seen The Shining, there would have been many things that did not make sense.

Make sure to run out and catch this film while it is still in theaters!

Photos from IMDb

Crossword #2 Across

down

4 We live in the _ age 8 Needed for Bright Futures 9 100 Beautiful _ 11 November Holiday 12 Academic Record 14 Expression on Twitter 15 Facebook’s founder 16 Theme of this issue 18 Seniors’ trip 19 Stipend to help pay for school 25 Headmaster 28 Girls ask the guys 30 Marauder ___ 31 7th grade trip 35 First ceremony of year; includes a book 37 Gabor Junior _ _ 41 Where grades are posted 43 Social 45 Rising _

1 Maclay’s Lily Pulitzer _ 2 Blue and 3 Maclay Holiday _ 5 College _ 6 Maclay’s new tech home 7 Dance 10 Concessions are sold here 13 2020 Summer Olympics 17 Fall sport 20 Snap 21 Basket_ 22 Report _ 23 ___Challenge 24 Be _ 26 Celebration of the 27 Freedom of the __ 29 Athletic Director 32 Company’s Black _ 33 Pro and 34 Retired soldier 36 Online Encyclopedia 38 Maclay’s weekly _ 39 Solar _ 40 Smart; Teachers teach using them 42 Holiday _; Basketball team 44 Insta

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Swimming States Marauders make a splash and crush records at state

Photo by Mary Leah Yearty

by mary leah yearty | staff writer On Saturday, November 9th, the swim and dive team competed in the 1A Florida State Meet. The meet was held at the Sailfish Splash Aquatics Center in Stuart, Florida and consisted of preliminaries in the morning and finals at night.

Maclay took ten athletes: nine swimmers and one diver.

The boys team consisted of eight athletes and qualified in all three relays, with three swimmers qualifying individually. Two of the relays, the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay, made it into the A final.

The 200 medley relay, with seniors Anthony Laudadio and Wade Eastman, junior Dimitri Nakis and sophomore Evan Mascagni placed sixth.

The 200 freestyle relay competed with Laudadio, Eastman, Nakis and sophomore Stuart Higdon, and they placed fifth.

The last relay, the 400 freestyle relay, saw sophomores Stuart Higdon, Duel Yearty, John-Henry Dixon and eighth grader Hanson Higdon, swim in the B final and placed 13th overall.

Individually, Laudadio swam the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle. He made it to the finals in all his events and placed eighth in the 50 freestyle, which he received a medal for.

Stuart Higdon competed in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. He placed fourth in the 500 freestyle, finishing with an automatic All American time of 4:28.25. He also placed sixth in the 200 freestyle.

“Getting All American is such an honor,” Hidgon said.

“It just goes to show how hard work can really pay off.”

Eastman swam the 100 butterfly, finishing eighth, and the 100 backstroke, where he placed seventh overall.

Eastman left the meet with four medals, the maximum amount and more than any other Maclay swimmer.

“We’re blessed to have some great races and strong performance at my last state meet,” Eastman

said. “Couldn’t be more proud of the team; the future for Maclay swimming is very promising.”

For the girls, freshman Meg Howell was the only swimmer. She competed in the 200 freestyle, where she placed 13th, and she took 18th in the 500 freestyle.

“I am beyond proud of how the team competed this year,” Howell said. “Next year, I am hoping we can take a bigger girls team.”

The team broke five records at the meet. The boys 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays, along with Stuart Higdon’s 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle and Eastman’s 100 butterfly. Higdon’s broken records had been originally set in 1986, while the others were more recent.

Photo provided by Maxwell Eastman

TOP: The states team poses for a photo at their sendoff on Friday, November 8. RIGHT: Dimitri Nakis, Wade Eastman, Evan Mascagni and Anthony Laudadio stand on the podium for the 200 Medley Relay.

New Tennis Director

Oliver Foreman takes over tennis program by mary leah yearty | staff writer After a nation-wide search, Coach Oliver Foreman has been named the new Tennis Director at Maclay. His first tennis season as Director will be the 2019-2020 season.

Athletic Director Jake Von Scherrer and the school hired Coach Foreman to grow the tennis program and expand it outward into the community. His experience and expertise, as well as the connections he already has in the Tallahassee community, made Coach Foreman the best fit for Maclay.

“You always look for a good fit, but we felt like this was as close to a perfect fit as we could find,” Von Scherrer said.

Coach Foreman is the owner and founder of the Elite Junior Tennis program in town. He has coached many previous and current Maclay tennis players and is familiar with the programs at Maclay.

He has high hopes for the future of Maclay tennis.

“I have watched many of the Maclay players grow up and have seen how their games have evolved,” Coach Forman said. “Maclay has a rich tradition of success with their tennis teams and we expect much of the same.”

For the divers, senior Kendall Minter placed third overall, even with a broken foot. She had to change her routine last minute to account for her injury. Even with the changes, she earned a total of 389.90 points.

“It’s great to see the team back to its glory days,” Coach Paige Parker said. “It has been our best season since the 90s, and I can’t wait for the future.”

The boys team placed sixth overall, the best they have placed in years. The girls placed 23rd. The winning team on both sides was Bolles, marking their 32nd year in a row of winning the state meet. The Maclay team left the meet with a total of 12 medals.

Coach Foreman will be the Director of all tennis programs at Maclay, including the teams, afterschool, and summer programs. Maclay offers many lessons and clinics to a number of people, but the school would like to do more.

“Maclay wanted to create a bigger footprint in Leon County in regards to tennis, Von Scherrer said. “Not just our team programs, but also youth, adult, and summer programs.”

The players who have played for Coach Foreman and who have been a part of his Elite Junior Tennis program the past few years are looking forward to his new position at Maclay.

“Coach Foreman is such a great coach. He really inspires me to work hard and improve my tennis,” junior Madison Perkins said. “I’m very excited to have him as our tennis director this year because I know he can help us take the whole team to state.”

The players and Coach Foreman have hopes of going to the State Tennis Championships this year; the first of many hopeful accomplishments.

Photo by Mary Leah Yearty

SPORTS | 1 5

maclayandalusian.com

Kicking Off the Season with a Win Maclay vs. Mosley by caroline higdon | staff writer

Photo by Madelyn Stout

TOP: Senior Luke Stockstill looks downfield during the game. LEFT: The varsity soccer team huddles together before the beginning of the second half.

BELOW: Junior Cade Smith gets ready to complete a free kick during varsity’s first game agianst Mosley.

Photo by Madelyn Stout

On November 12, a freezing cold and windy Tuesday night, the varsity boys’ soccer team finally kicked off their season at home against Panama City’s Mosley High School.

At seven o’clock, the varsity team’s game began, following the five o’clock JV boys’ game, who had a final score of 1-0 with a goal from freshman Charlie Stockstill.

The varsity team followed the JV win by achieving a score of 6-0. Four of these six goals came from junior starters Cade Smith and Mateus Bitencourt and senior starters Luke Stockstill and Andrew Rentz. Each player had one point each while the remaining two points came from freshman RJ Hosay, who is in his first year on the team.

During the first half, Stockstill scored and Hosay got his first goal. Finally, Smith scored by making a free kick from 35 yards back. At the end of the first half, the Marauders were up 3-0. Then, once the second half began, Bitencourt and Rentz scored. To finish off the final score of 6-0, Hosay made his final point.

“This year, we’re ready,” junior Michael Sweeney said.

“Since we lost at state semi-finals last season, we ready to

win. We’re ready to put the work in and do what we need to improve and come back for the state title in February.”

While the scoreboard made it seem as though there was no fight between the Marauders and P.C. Mosley, senior captain Alex Guzman had more to say about this misconception.

“While we did play well, we still had our struggles,” Guzman said. “Our strengths so far this season have been x,y,z, but we’re still working on improving x,y,z.”

For a majority of the game, the Marauders were strong and persistent, as they held control over the ball. However, while the ball was in Mosley’s possession and being defended by Maclay, the Marauders were penalized for off-sides a total of six times because of calls on the striker, Rentz.

“We have some work to do as a team,” Smith said.

“But we all trust Coach and believe he knows how to train us to work our strong points, and improve any weakness. I’m optimistic as to see what we’re capable of and where this season will leads us.”

Photo by Madelyn Stout