Messenger issue 3, 17 18

the

MESSENGER

Volume xxv, issue iii | MO 63017 | MARQUETTEMESSENGER.COM | November 2017

FOR SAM HALL, FRESHMAN, THE VOLUNTARY Interdistrict Choice Corporation (VICC) has become more than a means of education. It has given her access to opportunities she would never have had otherwise, a way to grow and prepare for success in the future.

“Without the VICC program, I wouldn’t be here,” Sam said. “It has given me the opportunity to actually do something with my life… Education is everything.”

VICC is a student transfer program that allows black students from the city to attend county schools and county students to attend magnet schools in the city.

Sam has been in the program for the past 10 years and is 1 of the 170 VICC students enrolled at MHS and 1 of 1,664 in the district.

Now, after next year, the 43-year-old program will begin its final five-year extension, the victim of a court-mandated decision on the settlement that resulted in the creation of the program stating that race-based school integration programs cannot continue interminably. The program will conclude at the end of the 2023-2024 school year with students already enrolled able to finish their education through 2036.

Sam said she was recognized as a gifted student in fifth grade and therefore has been given more opportunities than she would have without the program.

“I can’t help but think about all the gifted students that are probably out there that aren’t identified because they don’t have a good education,” Sam said.

“They will probably not amount to any more than their appearance.”

Monisha Hall, Sam’s mother, said Sam would not have half the opportunities she has now without VICC. “The opportunity to exploit her intelligence the way that she can has been life changing,” Monisha said.

This St. Louis Post-Dispatch photograph is one of many historical images displayed in the Missouri History Museum’s special exhibit “#1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis.” It depicts marchers protesting for desegregation policies around the time of Brown v. Board of Education, which ultimately contributed to the onset of the Voluntary Inter-District Choice Corporation (VICC) in 1981. Printed with permission by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Integrated:

The legacy of VICC neelansh BUTE • alex MCATEER • marta MIEZE greg SVIRNOVSKIY • austin WOODS With a VICC contingent on race based criteria coming to a close, students and scholars grapple with its history and future.

pg. 8-9

TABLE OF CONTENTS YOUTUBE

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THE PEOPLE Editor in Chief Online Editor in Chief Associate Editor Production Editor Copy Editor News Editors Opinions Editor Features Editor Arts&Leisure Editor Sports Editor Online Sports Editor Assistant Online Editor Social Media Editor Advertising Manager Business Manager Photography Editor Staff Adviser

Target

12 rowing

Greg Svirnovskiy Neelansh Bute Austin Woods Abhijit Srirangam Mahika Mushuni Marta Mieze Kailin Zhang Alex McAteer Kavya Jain Kenzie Winstead Delaney Neely Jeff Swift Jen Bosche Connor Karst Sabrina Lacy Luke Malawey Jason Belval Emily Jorgensen

poetry club

CONSTRUCTION

6 7 16 13 vintage store

14

Melissa Adams, junior, checks out items for her job at Target.

Zack Lesmeister, senior, performs a reading at MHS poetry club.

A vintage clothing store opened in Maplewood, attracting students with all styles.

Samad Arif, junior, carries the shell with his team at rowing practice in Creve Couer Lake.

OUR POLICY The Messenger is published eight times a year by students enrolled in the Newspaper Production class at Marquette High School, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. The publication office is located in Room 226, (636) 891-6000 ext. 26228

Opinions of Messenger columnists or the Editorial Board are not representative of the opinions of the entire Messenger staff, the newspaper or the administration. The

Messenger takes responses for any issue. Send these in at www.marquettemessenger.com.

The Messenger reserves the right to edit submitted material and to refuse to print material because of space limitations, repetitive subject matter, libelous content or any other reason the Editor in Chief and adviser deems appropriate, including advertisements and letters to the editor.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR STDs in St. Louis ST. LOUIS IS NOW REPORTED THE STD capital of the United States after an accounting error was fixed last week. This is an ever growing problem for young adults as 50 percent of new STDs form in 15-24 year old people despite their only representing 25 percent of the sexually experienced population. You may think this isn’t a problem for MHS, but take a moment to ponder all your peers that are sexually active. Now think of all the ones you know that have gotten tested for STDs. If it’s anything close to my experience, the numbers aren’t even remotely close. 46 percent of high school students report having sexual intercourse, but only 11.5 percent have reported to have been tested for STDs. Missouri and Marquette High School

continues to promote only abstinence despite record STDs and despite the fact that the CDC, itself, explains the usage of contraceptives (like condoms) besides abstinence. There are people worried that this type of education will encourage teens to be more sexually active, but the teens of MHS deserve a sexual education that isn’t skewed to what could happen. They deserve an education that gives an accurate representation of not what they should do but what they can do.

Sincerely, Kristen Schaeffer junior

Parking Passes “I’m always stressed while walking to zero hour because I’m afraid that I’m going to be late to zero hour. It approximately takes seven minutes to walk from my parking to the AP Chemistry” said Varun Devraj, whose parking spot number is 430. AP Chemistry is one of the most demanding and tedious classes in our school, requiring two zero hours per week. Therefore, people with multiple zero hours per week should get parking spots closer to the building.

I constantly arrive at school at 7:04AM for AP Chemistry zero hour and run to class because of my parking spot is seven minutes away too. If I don’t run, then I would arrive to class three minutes late and miss part of class.

However, other students might get a tardy instead. Getting a tardy is what my carpool companion, Sujay Murali,

is constantly afraid of. He has four zero hours a week and runs to his classes majority of the times. Even if he makes to class, it takes him “a couple of minutes” for him to catch his breath. People claim that they need to wake up and arrive at school earlier. However, when students are taking demanding classes, they tend to stay up late studying, causing them to sleep late. So, many students sleep in. By having a parking closer to school provides a buffer for those students, it would reduce stress, and grades could increase. Overall, walking to class should not be stressful; therefore, a change is required.

Sincerely, Ajit Perla junior

OPINIONS

3

MUSTANGS SPEAK What should be done about final exams?

“I think they are good the way they are because they are a good benchmark between the semesters and they aren’t that hard.”

Grace Doherty, senior

editorialBOARD

Anna Lafleur, sophomore

The Definition of Terrorism A MAN WALKS INTO A CHURCH WITH THE AIM of inciting a race war. Nine people dead.

A couple walks into an office Christmas party with an unknown end goal. Fourteen people dead.

In both cases, we see the needless massacre of everyday individuals going about everyday activities: a church service, a holiday party.

But only one of these incidents was labeled as a terrorist attack.

Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook, wife and husband, were found to have had interest in ideologies connected to ISIS, as they were self radicalized but received no direct support — financial or otherwise — from any terrorist organization.

Dylann Roof was found to be a proponent of Nazi and KKK ideology. Although he was active on internet forums, he had no apparent direct contact with any Nazi organizations or the KKK. In both cases, we see individuals with ideals they accumulated, neither with a direct connection to any larger group or organization.

But only one of these incidents was labeled as a terrorist attack.

Under federal law, domestic terrorism constitutes acts completed primarily within the jurisdiction of the U.S. The act must be in attempt to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.

Both events fit these criterium.

The difference in these events lies primarily in the individuals who committed these atrocious acts.

Malik and Farook are Muslims, one of whom had emigrated from Pakistan several months prior to the shooting. Roof is a white man. There in lies the difference.

Both individuals committed violent and unacceptable acts against people, but the disparity in the way we investigated and approached both is unjust.

The victims of both horrific events deserve the same amount of outcry. They do not deserve to have their suffering weighed any less because of arbitrary Islamophobia and xenophobia, which often leads to us avoiding labeling acts committed by individuals outside this criteria as “lone gunmen” or “shooters,” when in fact, they too are terrorists.

Terrorism is defined as the systematic use of terror especially as means of coercion. This definition fits both acts. It is imperative we treat and view both as such. To not is to disrespect and undermine the lives robbed and ruined by such individuals, not white supremacists or radicalized individuals, but terrorists. It is critical we approach terror as what it is to more adequately both honor the lives lost and ensure no more are lost.

If we look toward more recent acts of terror, we see that this practice of mislabeling terrorism has continued. This diminishes the weight we put on these tragedies, thus preventing the same thing from happening again.

“I think they’re a necessity but they need to be weighted less like 10 percent because one test should not have as much of an impact on your grade.”

Poorva Sheth, senior

Laurie Schultz, language arts teacher

TIMELINE OF DOMESTIC TERROR Oak Creek shooting

Charleston church shooting

Orlando nightclub shooting

AUG. 5, 2012

JUNE 17, 2015

JUNE 12, 2016

APRIL 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing

DEC. 2, 2015 San Bernardino shooting

Infographic by Kavya Jain (not to scale)

“I feel like final exams should be shorter because it’s two hours of non-stop working, and I feel the breaks should be longer because 15 minutes goes by fast.

Maybe a little bit more prep time for them; maybe a full week to prep for them.”

“I don’t know that final exams need to be two hours in duration anymore and I don’t know that they need to be worth 20 percent of the grade. So I would consider maybe shortening the time and potentially lessening the percentage that contributes to the semester grade.”

“Less questions because I often find myself stressed even if I study a long time because they are big tests and a big part of my grade.”

Robert Orr, freshman

OPINIONS

4

FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE: GUN CONTROL IN AMERICA jason BELVAL ON SUNDAY, NOV. 5, A CRAZED GUNMAN TOOK the lives of 26 people in yet another tragic mass shooting. Fingers are already being pointed in many directions, chief among which is gun control. But is firearm legislation really the cause, or just an unfortunate scapegoat?

Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire on the congregation of the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, following domestic disputes with his motherin-law. He took the lives of several people before fleeing in his vehicle and dying of wounds both sustained and self-inflicted. However, there is something that stands out about this shooting: someone else had a gun.

When Stephen Willeford heard gunshots across the street, he grabbed his own rifle and ran to stop the shooter. He engaged Kelley from the street, inflicting several wounds and causing him to flee the scene of the crime. Willeford then flagged down a driver at a nearby intersection and a chase ensued, culminating in Kelley losing control of his vehicle.

This incident speaks to the illegitimacy of harsh gun control in America. Willeford was able to take the actions that he did because he owned a firearm.

Had he not possessed the means to fight back against the shooter, the lives of many more innocent people, both civilians and law enforcement alike, would have remained at risk. So knowing this, why would we want to disarm the civilian populous?

Some people would say this shooting is the exact reason we should disarm the civilian populous, arguing that “this man shouldn’t have been allowed to own a gun.” However, with this claim, people would be agreeing with the current standards of vetting car-

Illustration by Luke Malawey

ried out by establishments that sell firearms. In this case, those standards failed due to an oversight by the United States Air Force.

Kelley was court-martialed and dismissed from the Air Force for domestic assault around 2014. However, contrary to standard procedure, the records of his criminal actions were not entered into the National Criminal Information Center database. Had the Air Force done this, Kelley would not have been able to purchase a firearm.

However, even if Kelley were unable to purchase a firearm legally, he would have simply obtained one illegally. There is a multitude of black market firearms dealers, many of whom operate on the deep web, placing purchasing an illegal weapon a few mouse clicks away. Therein lies the main flaw with gun control: if you outlaw guns, only the outlaws have guns.

But if harsh restrictions on firearms isn’t the answer, what is? There is an entirely different issue among these massacres that seems to be pushed to the back-burner. A common trait shared by the vast majority of mass shooters: mental health issues.

The current system for dealing with mental health in America is heavily flawed. As the situation stands, if someone is considered a threat to themselves or others, they are deemed an emergency patient and can be confined in a hospital or mental institution for 15 days, 30 with a court mandate. After 30 days

er and not procrastinated. But I started my essays in the summer. They all take time. I sent them out to family, professors, friends and countless others.

When you’re aggressively thorough like me, you’ll naturally run up against deadlines. greg SVIRNOVSKIY There is no reason why exams and assignments cannot be delayed one day IF I MAKE A SPELLING MISTAKE to accommodate students who prioron the Common App, my itize their future. We chances of college accepshouldn’t punish students tance cease to exist. for advocating for themWhile this idea is inselves. herently untrue, it didn’t The district is all stop me from double and about social emotional triple checking my applilearning. Administrators cation before sending it to preach it; teachers upthe world early on Nov. 1. hold it. But if our school Early decision deaddoesn’t take into account line is one of the most the needs and emotions stressful days of anyone’s of its students, the meshigh school career. There sage is lost. are essays to write, achievements to Vinai Kumar, senior, equivocated recollect, letters of recommendation to these views. manage. On top of all that, on the most “School is school, but it would important day of my life, one that will be nice if we could have that interim certainly impact my future, I also had period to check in on college and then three tests. refocus fully on schoolwork,” Kumar But why? said.

Everyone knows about the early Kumar said his work on college application deadline. For almost every applications is a necessary means to college, in every state, it always falls an end. Even though he acknowledges on Nov. 1. It’s not like I’m asking for a school’s utility, other things matter too. week off, just one day, free of the usual “It’s not like we don’t prioritize exams and quizzes. school but we have something as You’ll call me complacent. You’ll important, if not more important in say I should’ve written my essays earli- college, to do,” Kumar said.

TESTS ON EARLY DECISION

NOVEMBER

1

have passed, if the patient no longer wishes to receive care, they are free to leave, regardless of their level of improvement.

This system does little to nothing in terms of prevention of violent incidents. Granting mentally unstable patients the ability to refuse treatment after a mere 30 days at the very most is a highly irresponsible and unsafe practice and enables such shootings as this to occur.

Kelley had even been previously admitted to a mental health institution following an incident in which he snuck firearms into the Air Force base from which he was discharged and attempted to threaten his superior officers with them. His particular situation highlights the crippled state of the current American mental health system, as even subsequent to his illegal escape and arrest, culminating in his return to the facility, Kelley was released after the allotted time had passed.

If the end goal is to stymie the flow of violent tragedies in America, actions should be taken to mend the current broken system. Instead of releasing patients after a brief mandatory holding period, aid programs should be put in place. People should be encouraged to seek the help they need, instead of being stigmatized as those with mental health issues so often are. Had Kelley received the help he needed, his heinous act may have been prevented. However, firearms did not incite him to violence, and blaming them distracts from the true issue.

Devin Patrick Kelley was a violent, unstable man who carried out a terrible deed, which resulted in the tragic deaths of many innocent people. However, the damage he inflicted could have been much greater if it wasn’t for a man with a gun.

SEXUAL ASSULT EDUCATION

kenzie WINSTEAD “WE WERE WATCHING A MOVIE in class and he got super close to me and started just kind of touching my neck and my boobs and I kept telling him you need to go away, you need to stop, please give me some space and he wouldn’t.”

A statement like that would not be quoted on the school website for it does not scream “Welcome to Marquette High School.”

Yet, this is an honest testimonial from a close friend. There is no sway or padding to minimize the incident.

It is a real account of a real event that happened in our school.

The offender is still enrolled today, and he is in contact with students, Some of whom are completely unaware of the crime committed by their friend.

In Health Education sexual assault is treated as a somewhat taboo topic.

Short blurbs regarding how horrific and common sexual assault is will be presented throughout a student’s career.

According to the Department of Justice, 67 percent of survivors who

were victimized by a stranger experience professional or emotional issues, including moderate to severe distress, or increased problems at work or school.

A fact like that was never disclosed to me in Health Education, which means there is a high probability that her attacker was not informed either.

This does not in anyway excuse his actions but brings into question if a quality education on sexual assault would have prevented this event. Perhaps the curriculum writers are ignorant to these stats as well, which leads to this lack of education.

So what is sexual assault?

According to Black’s law dictionary, sexual assault is a sexual act in which a person is coerced or physically forced to engage against their will, or non-consensual sexual touching of a person.

Education on sexual assault should focus on the after effects. Words like PTSD, depression, flashbacks, self harm and STI’s should be included in the unit. But also, I would make sure students understand just what sexual assault is.

So here I make a plea to our administration: make a plan, speak with curriculum coordinators, or maybe the Department of Education. The lack of the action on the student’s part is not a lack of motivation but a lack of education. Help them, please.

NEWS

NEWS IN BRIEF

Students petition for hats alex MCATEER • mahika MUSHUNI SINCE FRESHMAN YEAR, THE

Devin Haas, senior, received an award for outstanding bill at Youth In Government (YIG).

Rachel Pang, junior, recieved the award for outstanding statesperson at YIG. Scott Szevery, social studies teacher, earned the University of Chicago’s Outstanding Educator Award.

Lisa Kaczmarczyk, is substituting for Carl Hudson as senior principal for the next six weeks.

Countdowns 1 day until

Thanksgiving Break

31

Days until Winter Break

5

hat policy has always been on the back of Jacob Eisenkramer’s, senior, mind.

“I remember freshman year thinking ‘man, I don’t see why we are not allowed to wear hats’,” Eisenkramer said.

A petition against the current hat policy took off when students in Eisenkramer’s Civil War class agreed with Eisenkramer and wanted to sign his petition. From there, the petition only grew. With 60 signatures in two days, Eisenkramer sent Principal Dr. Greg Mathison an email inquiring about the number of signatures he would need for the policy to change.

“I was called into Mr. Hudson’s office and told that it would never work,” Eisenkramer said.

Dr. Mathison said much of the reason the policy is still in place can be attributed to safety concerns.

“It’s been a policy at MHS since we opened in 1993,” Dr. Mathison said.

“Some of it is about safety, and some of it is an old school thing, meaning respect, but more importantly it’s about safety.”

Under current policy, hats, sunglasses and other non-therapeutic headgear are not to be worn inside the building during school hours.

As far as this policy changing, Dr. Mathison said he’s open to discussion

and is currently in conversations about changing the policy.

While talks of a policy shift are still ongoing at MHS, Lafayette High School (LHS) finalized their decision to remove their hat restriction over the summer, with the policy going into action at the start of this school year.

“A recommendation was made to allow students to wear hats,” LHS Principal Dr. Karen Calcaterra said. “Their comments were that many students were already wearing a hat and they didn’t mind or were tired of telling them to take it off.”

Dr. Calcaterra said LHS teachers and administration decided they would allow hats and scarves this year to test the policy. She said thus far, they have not had any problems with the new rule in place.

At MHS, some students, like Amana Yossef, junior, don’t view the hat policy as a big issue.

“I think it just depends on the way they act with it. [Students] know to not start doing things with [hats] that’ll make a disturbance or distract people,” Yossef said.

As far as religious headwear, which is exempt from the hat policy, Yossef said it is distinct from traditional hats.

“I wear [a hijab] on a daily basis,” Yossef said. “It’s not something that should be like ‘how come she gets to wear it and we can’t wear hats.’ There is a difference.”

Jacob Eisenkramer, senior, poses with his petition. Eisenkramer has garnered 63 signitures to repeal current hat policy.

Photograph by Alex McAteer

Target pushes holiday opening time kailin ZHANG ON THANKSGIVING DAY, SOME students will be enjoying a meal with their family and friends. Some students will be out shopping and snagging deals from left to right.

Other students will be working.

For Melissa Adams, junior, Thanksgiving will be spent browsing the racks in all of her favorite shops. Adams typically works at Target, though she will be taking the day off to shop.

“I know there’s a lot of families out there that like the family time and they don’t want to go shop,” Adams said.

On the other hand, Adams said opening a store on Thanksgiving can be beneficial for both the company and the employees.

“You get a lot of benefits and extra pay from working on those days, which is really nice because more money equals more shopping,” Adams said.

Jadyn Henderson, junior, worked at Target on Thanksgiving Day last year.

Henderson said she had just gotten hired that October and worked because she didn’t know how to ask off.

Henderson worked from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Target on Manchester Road. She said it was crazy, but easy because she directed people to the sales.

Henderson said she will not work on Thanksgiving this year and likes that

Melissa Adams, junior, helps a Target customer check out at noon on Saturday, Nov. 11.

Adams is taking Thanksgiving off this year to go shopping. Photograph by Kailin Zhang

many stores are opening later because her family had to celebrate Thanksgiving early last year due to her job.

“We had to have a lunch Thanksgiving instead of dinner and it affected everyone else we were inviting over, so it made things more stressful,” Henderson said.

According to the Target Press Release, stores will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving and reopen at 6 a.m. Friday morning. These decisions ensure they are ready with deals for guests and give the team time to recharge and prepare stores before

reopening Friday.

Sophomore Principal Rick Regina said he thinks stores choose to close on Thanksgiving because of Amazon.

Regina said businesses are not necessarily making as much money as they were back when they opened early years ago when people lined up in front of stores to catch a sale.

“An online site like Amazon can make that same offer, and you don’t have to get out of your pajamas,” Regina said.

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FEATURES

7

Marvelous Mustangs: Seniors use their talents to strive for success.

BILLY AN: THE SCIENTIST

ZACK LESMEISTER: THE POET

ANSHUL RAMAN: THE SINGER

neelansh BUTE

greg SVIRNOVSKIY

greg SVIRNOVSKIY

WHEN BILLY AN, SENIOR, LEFT HIS THIRD HOUR PE class on Oct. 17, he felt an intense rush of adrenaline. The thrill wasn’t caused by a rigorous 49-minute exercise routine, but by the numerous notifications on his phone.

He was a Siemens semi-finalist.

“I was surprised after finding out,” An said. “I didn’t believe it. I spent an hour trying to find the website. But when I did find it, I was very happy.”

An was named one of seven semi-finalists from the state of Missouri in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. The organization annually awards college scholarships ranging from $1,000 up to $100,000 to high-school students with innovative individual and team research projects.

This year, out of 1,860 projects submitted, 491 students nationally are being recognized as semi-finalists, according to the organization’s website.

An conducted his research project with Joseph Lu, senior from Lafayette High School, under the mentorship of Dr. Xuemin Wang from the University of Missouri-St. Louis during the six-week Students and Teachers as Research Scientists (STARS) program.

“There were a list of mentors and the projects they were already studying and I selected the topic as one of my focuses,” An said.

An’s research explored the effects of overexpressing certain PLD-epsilon and S6K genes in Arabidopsis thaliana plants.

Though the award itself does not represent much for An, he said it will certainly help him as he continues to pursue a future in science.

“I want to go into science and math for sure,” An said. “My top two choices are either the pre-med track or business. I’m interested in pre-med because it’s very research and science-based.”

Upon learning that Billy was named a semi-finalist, Ping An, Billy’s father, experienced a gamut of emotions.

“As every parent would be, I was very proud when I heard Billy won,” Ping said.

Ping sees the award as a stepping-stone to a career in research.

“I think winning this is a good start and a strong signal that he and his team know how to do research,” Ping said. “That is a good encouraging start in the field of research, especially biomedical.”

SINCE ZACK LESMEISTER, SENIOR, JOINED THE poetry club in 2015, he’s spent countless hours writing and practicing, perfecting his craft.

“I just like to test the boundaries,” Lesmeister said.

Now, his work has paid off. Lesmeister was named the 2017 Youth Poet Laureate for the city of St. Louis.

More than 100 applicants submitted a portfolio of five poems and a resume. Twelve finalists were selected and then one was crowned the winner. For Lesmeister, that means his goal of using poetry to inspire people is being realised.

“I’ve been granted a publishing deal and will be releasing a book of poems. I’ll be going on a library tour,” he said. “I’ve read at University City City Hall, lead workshops. I’m just excited to see where this takes me.”

As for using that influence, Lesmeister said he hopes to add more variety to the St. Louis poetry field.

“I definitely want to bring more queer and multicultural aspects into the poetry scene,” Lesmeister said. “I want to see more diversity and experimentation, whether it be slam poetry or contemporary poetry.”

Shelley Justin, language arts teacher, is Lesmeister’s coach in both poetry club and the slam team.

“He has a natural talent, definitely,” Justin said.

Justin said Lesmeister’s advancement in poetry is parallel to the growth he has exhibited as a leader.

“He’d come in, kind of quietly would listen, participate,” Justin said. “But now he’s guiding all of the new poets. He’s grown as a poet, he’s grown as a mentor, he’s grown as just a person in general.”

Kylie Wurgler, speech teacher, is Lesmeister’s debate coach. Wurgler has seen him grow incrementally since his sophomore year.

“I think more than anything the speech and debate team just gives you the oppurtunity to be better,” Wurgler said. “You have a lot of time to find yourself, to find your voice, and to have other people crtiique you.”

Wurgler said Lesmeister’s talent is rivaled only by his work ethic.

“Absolute dedication, Not only to people, but his craft,” Wurgler said. “You know that he’s going to be that poet in the future.”

OUT OF THE 120 STUDENTS IN ST. LOUIS all-suburban choir, only the top 20 get to audition for a spot on All-State. Only four people from the city district make it on the top team.

Anshul Raman, senior, is one of those students.

“Some years, we don’t have anybody go,” Senior Preethi Sriraman, Raman’s co-director of the MHS mixed chamber choir, said. “It’s pretty rare that we do have somebody go. It’s a really big deal that a Marquette kid is going.”

“Anshul’s more on the side of dedication and focus,” Sriraman said. “He’s really expressed how much choir means to him a lot this year. His dedication comes through when he’s all business in class.

He encourages us to practice and get involved in the music community.”

Raman has been singing for as long as he can remember. While he is unaware of its impact on his life, he knows it makes him happy.

“I have no idea. It just kind of is a part of my life,” Raman said.

Raman said choir is his favorite hour because it gives him a full block to sing and use his voice.

“Singing is my favorite thing to do,” Raman said.

“That class is really cool.”

Raman is the only student representing MHS at All-State choir this year, a trend he hopes does not last for long.

“Two years ago, we had two people get into AllState and the year before that, we had one person get into All-National choir,” Raman said. “I hope me getting in this year will inspire and encourage more people to try out next year.”

Along with Raman, the MHS choir will have their annual winter concert on Tuesday, Dec 12. Raman said his choir will be singing three songs: one fun hymn, a bold chant, and the third with bravado and power.

“Water always helps,” Raman said. “In terms of our music, we get our music like three weeks before.

We spend the first couple of weeks learning the notes and then we do a memorized version, all the dynamics, the volume and stuff.”

IN-DEPTH

8

From race to economics:

As the V officials

By neelansh BUTE • alex MCATEE continued from front...

The History and the Future

go back to the same problem you had,” Dr. Harris said.

Gwen Moore, Missouri Historical Society curator, is the head of the Missouri History Museum’s special exhibit, “#1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis.”

Moore said a VICC system based on socioeconomic class would fail to provide students left in city schools with a proper education.

“Basing VICC on socioeconomic class does not make sense to me,” Moore said. “I don’t think basing it on that is addressing the real problem, which is if the city schools are lacking, if they are inferior, then you have to deal with that. Because not everyone can go to the suburbs and they shouldn’t have to.”

Moore said the mere presence of VICC is indicative of the fact that city schools are not where they need to be “It always comes to this: if you can only get a good education by going to the suburban schools, what about the kids that don’t go to suburban schools? What about them? Regardless of socioeconomic status, everyone should have access to decent education,” Moore said. “Everyone should be able to get a good education regardless of who you are and where you live.”

Struggles of VICC

Steve Cooper was once a civil rights lawyer, and in 1983, he negotiated a ruling that brought interdistrict busing to St. Sam Hall said although the program is Louis, integrating what was, in his estimation, one of the most no way perfect. The flaws stretch from bu segregated school systems in the country. regularly to having students transfer scho While official segregation of St. Louis schools ended in Last year, Sam faced an unexpected ob 1954 after Brown v. Board Education, upon its commencement, had to leave behind the friends she had m students went to the school that was closest to them, Cooper throughout her life and the school she ha said. However, segregation maintained because of the already attending for three years when she had to existing housing segregation in St. Louis. fer from Eureka to MHS, making the tran “A group of black parents, the NAACP legal defense fund, from middle school to high school even h and the city school board sued to merge all the city districts This was the result of the overflow pro and the county districts into one big district on the grounds Sam was a part of, where she had to atten that the state had never desegregated and that there were violaschools in the Eureka zone of the district tions beyond the border of the city of St. Louis,” Cooper said. way through middle school and then tran The case was later settled when the district judge threatMHS going into high school. ened county schools with dissolution if they maintained the This overflow program served as the f pseudo segregation present in the city. This threat created residential zone when the enrollment of V VICC. students in the first, MHS, zone exceeded Superintendent Dr. Eric Knost, chairperson on the VICC number of spaces that MHS o Board, explained that the settlement that first put the program which was decided by the fin in place only allowed a certain number of extensions to be and human resources departm applied for and received. Therefore, the concluding five-year when the enrollment is slowl extension is the last.

Brittany Hogan, RSD coordinator of edudents who were in the fourth Knost said the settlement originated from a 1983 state cational equity and diversity, said Rockwood attending other RSD schools, lawsuit, Craton Liddell et. al, vs. The Board of Education of The is the largest participating district in VICC, to MHS, and away from the p City of St. Louis, Missouri, et. al, that required school districts and without the participation of Rockwood up with.

City students in Missouri to desegregate and therefore made every district a and Parkway, VICC would no longer be able to “It was a whole new every part of a Student Transfer program. However, in 1999, when continue.

This program came about currently invloved asked the program was thought not to be needed, the superinten“The beauty of the VICC program is that to give VICC the amou dents of districts agreed on a differentiated settlement that did it allows students to get to know students that for VICC students, which wa in VICC not require districts to participate and would not be able to they wouldn’t typically get to know,” Hogan all the students in the first re continue in perpetuity. said. however, schools no longer d While the VICC Board has yet to discuss the future of the Diversity is important to white students students enrolled each year; i program, Dr. Knost said they will put their efforts into chalas much as it is important to black students, Hogan said, and the schools with a number of students. lenging the lawsuit and, in case of no results, changing the VICC allows the school to reflect the environment students This year, 155 VICC students were en criteria from race to socioeconomic class. will be in after high school. next year there will only be 115, making “I think there is going to be equal effort put into finding a “If we want to create an educational space that looks like regated, while also denying a lot more stu way to get more extensions, as in changing the criteria,” Dr. the world, the VICC program is playing an important compoCity a life-changing educational opportun Knost said. nent of that at Rockwood,” Hogan said.

“It is like a formula,” Hogan said, refer Although he doubts there will be a gap of Jordyn Williams, sophomore, enrolled in the for VICC students used to be chosen, incl students who won’t have the opportunity they VICC program following first grade, after going VICC students in elementary schools and would have if the program was still in place to a private Catholic school that lacked in funding ment. after the 2023-24 school year, Dr. Knost said the and opportunities. The school was forced to cut art The transfers are mostly made during setting behind the creation of the program is classes prior to her arrival as a student. Williams elementary to middle school or middle sc much different than those witnessed today. said the school set her a little behind because it Hogan said although there haven’t bee “I don’t think we are in a time that we are was more focused on religion. demic struggles for the transfer students, Students on the bringing [students] out of a dangerous school Williams also said most colleges don’t look at the change is hard in terms of friendship. setting,” Dr. Knost said. “Instead, we are giving city schools for scholarships because of their low “It has to be hard,” Hogan said. “They VICC waiting list them an opportunity to do something different.” test scores, a result of the low funding and resourc- over.”

However, not everyone, including Dr. Terry es.

Sam’s mother, Monisha Hall, said the Harris, RSD executive director of student ser“If I was in a city school, I would have to work in VICC is trying to be a part of the comm vices, is so confident in the closure and replace10 times harder just to get noticed,” Williams said. far away from it, which also takes a lot mo ment of VICC. Williams said if the money and resources were It is hard for both parents and students to “If we end this program, that ultimately started because of split more equally among schools, students in the city would be time to be in the community. segregated schools, then do we have a plan in place to ensure given the same opportunities and abilities.

When it comes to the program ending that schools are integrated?” Dr. Harris said. “The answer is But she said the program puts students in a position to learn economic class criteria, she has her doubt no.” about taxes, loans and necessary information needed to be able completely processed it yet, Monisha said Dr. Harris said he fears that with no plan currently in to live and succeed in life.

“It’s terrifying,” Monisha said. “Not ev place, schools may become just as segregated as they once were “If you don’t learn about those beneficial things, then you poor.” before VICC was in place in St. Louis. get stuck in a cycle of poverty. It just keeps the people who Changing the criteria may cause confl “After 35 years, we still don’t have the integration that we never had anything at the bottom,” Williams said. “This is realwho live in St. Louis City the opportunity seek, and then one can argue that in five years you are going to ly good for us because it teaches us how to rise and go above.” schools. The thought of not having such a

Importance of VICC

4,325

5,000

IN-DEPTH

VICC program comes to a close, s consider future plans

9

VICC Zones:

ER • marta MIEZE • greg SVIRNOVSKIY • austin WOODS students in the City from opportunities VICC could provide is a hard thought to comprehend, Monisha said.

s beneficial, it is in uses that break down ools. bstacle in VICC. She made ad been o transnsition harder. ogram nd all the Amount nsfer to

Planning for a Plan

Chief Executive Officer of VICC David Glaser, who previously worked at Rockwood, said it would take a unanimous vote from the VICC Board in order to change the program to a more socioeconomic criteria; whereas, for the extensions of the program, the decision had to be approved by the majority.

“To the extent that the program was potentially expanded to include districts that aren’t RSD makes currently participating in VICC,” Glaser said. “That per each VICC fourth would take their supVICC port and approval as student d the well.” offered, However, this nance wouldn’t be the ment. However, now only obstacle in the way of ly fading out, the stutransferring the program, h zone and therefore Glaser said. To do so, there , are now transfered is a lengthy and complicatpeople they had grown ed legislative process to go through in Jefferson City ything,” Sam said. in order to determine the t when schools were ins and outs of the prount of spots available gram. as too small to serve Although there is no esidential zone. Now, set plan in place for the decide the number of future of VICC right now, instead VICC presents Glaser said he doubts there will be a time when nrolled at MHS, but there won’t be any type the school more segof program similar to udents in the St. Louis VICC in place. nity.

“We have accomrring to the way spots plished too much luding amount of and come too far d residential enrollfor it to come to an end,” Glaser said. g transition years, from chool to high school. en any definite aca, there is no doubt that . y basically have to start

Area 1 --

• Clayton • Parkway Central • Parkway North • Marquette

$7,000

hardest part of being munity while living so ore time commitment. o find the balance and

g or changing to sociots because she hasn’t d. veryone in the city is

lict, denying students y to go to county a program, keeping the

Area 2 --

• Brentwood • Mehlville • Parkway West • Lafayette • Valley Park

Area 3 --

• Affton • Bayless • HancockPlace • Kirkwood • Oakville • Parkway South • Rockwood Summit • Eureka • Webster Groves

FEATURES

10

SARAHAH RAISES BULLYING CONCERNS austin WOODS

MICHAEL WU, SENIOR

MEET WU mahika MUSHUNI

ABOUT BEING MR. MUSTANG “Thank you to the people who thought I could win. A lot of people were very nice about it: the contestants, the audience, the judges, people watching, people organizing it. It’s probably the strangest thing that has ever happened to me. Having my existence acknowledged by so many people, that was very strange.”

MUSICAL TALENT “I play an instrument, I used to play another. I play viola, but I hate music because it has too many notes.”

FAVORITE FOOD “I’ll eat anything except for Chinese vegetables. I’ll eat anything edible.

Some of them I don’t like, but I’ll eat anything.”

FAVORITE CLASS My favorite class is my teacher aide hour because I can wander around. My favorite pastime is wandering because I think I sit too often. The sense of freedom is illusory, but it’s as good as it gets. It also makes me feel healthier than I actually am.”

S

ocial media’s sweeping popularity among students is nothing new.

Every day, millions of young people peruse long-prominent social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

And in recent months, a new social media platform has taken root among high school students: Sarahah.

Sarahah’s appeal lies in its anonymity. The app allows users to set up accounts and maintain an inbox that other users leave messages in, completely anonymously. In fact, the name of the app is an Arabic word meaning “frankness” or “honesty,” reflecting its conduciveness to candid feedback.

But there are growing concerns that this encouragement of complete sincerity could lead to situations involving harassment and bullying. In fact, some students have already seen these problems erupt through the app.

Lilly Constantinides, junior, doesn’t use the app herself, but she often times sees her friends talking about it on their Snapchat stories and sharing the messages that are left in their inboxes.

“I know around 100 people that use it,” Constantinides said. “I’ve seen people saying things that are extremely violent or wrong.”

Constantinides said one of her close friends was once the recipient of a degrading comment, which almost led to a confrontation. “[My friend] was really upset about it and took it really harshly,” she said.

While Constantinides’ friend avoided a real-life conflict, other students have seen issues over Sarahah cause physical altercations.

Isaiah Brisseaux, sophomore, said he knows someone who left rude messages in another person’s inbox.

The recipient found out who sent the message and confronted him. This led to a heated argument, which evolved into a physical fight.

“On Sarahah, people call each other

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Photo illustration by Abhijit Srirangam

names, make fun of them for their size, and make a lot of rude comments that really shouldn’t be made,” Brisseaux said.

Principal Dr. Greg Mathison said he has often had to intervene in social media-related issues in the past and has been involved in the discipline process of such issues.

“A lot of the time, people are online and they will say things to someone they would never say to their face because they can just hide behind a Snapchat account, or an Instagram account, or whatever students are using at the time,” Dr. Mathison said. “If you’re not going to say it to their face, you shouldn’t say it over social media.”

Dr. Mathison said students can still use Sarahah and other anonymous social media apps to add something positive to the lives of others, and he encourages them to do so.

“There are people that do random acts of kindness,” he said. “You could use [anonymous apps] to build someone up that you know. They won’t just think, ‘oh that’s so-and-so trying to be nice.’ You could really build others up.”

Rebecca Dohrman, associate professor of communication at Maryville University, said there is potential for both negative and positive reinforcement in social media, but that she has trouble thinking of positives for the apps that enable anonymity.

“I think with all technology there’s potential for positivity or potential for negativity,” Dohrman said. “The thing about these anonymous ones is that it’s difficult for me to think of a positive,

other than just allowing people to increase their communication. I can’t think of any positives they could be used for that another social media site could not do.”

Dohrman said her advice to students using apps like Sarahah is to remember the potential consequences before sending something negative to another person.

“Like so many social media tools, we’re all contributing to the culture on that tool, so when we’re contributing positive things, it encourages other people to see that as the norm, and when we post negative things it has the opposite effect,” she said.

Overall, Dohrman sees Sarahah and other social media platforms as an evolution of past modes of communication among the youth.

“I think social media has become this space where teenagers work through their identities, and if you think about it 20 or 25 years ago, it might have been the mall,” she said. “[It’s a place] where teenagers would go to have these performances of their identities, and kind of work through different identities, and now I think it’s the same thing on social media.”

As for whether this is good or bad, Dohrman said she does not think there’s a clear-cut answer. It’s just a natural progression.

“I wouldn’t say it’s good or bad, but it’s the new site where these things are happening,” she said.

FEATURES

kavya JAIN • luke MALAWEY Photo illustration by Luke Malawey

V

ape Nation is fading, but not at MHS. According to a survey by the CDC, the number of middle and high school students using electronic cigarettes fell from 3 million in 2015 to 2.2 million in 2016, yet vaping remains a prevalent issue in the MHS community.

Sophomore Principal Richard Regina said the administration has had to deal with students using vape products.

“In my first year as an assistant principal at Marquette, I don’t know that I dealt with it, but the last couple years I’ve dealt with it more than my first year,” Regina said. “So it is something on the upswing that is gaining popularity.”

Regina said when students are caught with vape products, the administration implements disciplinary consequences; however, the focus is more

on creating awareness of the dangers of using.

Nick, a senior whose name has been changed to protect his identity, began selling vape products his junior year at another high school in the STL area.

He now sells about 20 to 30 pods and Juuls a month. Because Nick recently transferred to MHS, most of his customers are from his old school.

Nick said there is a similar vape culture at MHS. “It’s big in Marquette,” Nick said. “I think it’s just big in St. Louis in general.”

Nick said people vape for two reasons: the buzz and the trend. Nick sees it gaining popularity.

“People are getting more into it; they’re getting skins and wraps,” Nick said. “I feel like it’s only going to get more popular as time goes on.”

Dr. Donald Kenkel, health economics professor from Cornell University, sees the future of vape culture going in another direction.

“Policies to discourage vaping - like new e-cigarette taxes or bans on flavors in vaping products – might have the unintended consequence to encourage youth to move back to combustible cigarettes,” Dr. Kenkel said. “Vaping products offer the potential for harm reduction: if vaping replaced smoking, it would be huge improvement in public health.”

However, Dr. Kenkel said the U.S. Surgeon General’s report provides evidence that nicotine may have negative effects on the adolescent brain. The only problem with this research is it was conducted on rats and not humans making it difficult to determine the true impact of nicotine on the brain.

To combat this, epidemiologists and economists analyze observational data, but statistical association is never proof of causation.

“The bottom line is that we do not have very good evidence about whether nicotine has negative effects on the adolescent brain,” Dr. Kenkel said.

Dr. Kenkel said the research of many health economists, including his own, has convinced him the economic model of consumer behavior provides insight on the popularity of vaping among high school students.

“The essence of the economic model is common sense: high school students vape because they think that the benefits of vaping are greater than

11 the costs,” Dr. Kenkel said.

Joe, a junior who has requested to remain anonymous, like many other high schoolers, also was once drawn to these benefits.

“When I juul, I feel a lot cooler,” Joe said. “It’s what society views as cool.”

Joe said the vape image isn’t the only reason students are vaping. “[People] don’t vape for clouds anymore, they vape to get buzzed and that’s why Juuls are on the rise,” Joe said.

However with the “buzz” comes the danger of addiction.

“I quit for three months because my mom didn’t like it, but I bought one a few weeks ago so that proves that nicotine is a prominent factor,” Joe said.

Dr. Steven Sussman, professor of preventative medicine at the University of Southern California said addiction can impact youth differently than older people.

“Since youth experience a rapidly developing brain, throwing in an addictive substance while all that is going on can injure brain development,” Dr. Sussman said.

Dr. Sussman said cloud-chasing and flavors in e-juices are a big part of the trend, so as products such as Juuls that emit less vapor are introduced, it is unsure whether youth will continue to be drawn in.

“As regulations become more strict, physical consequences information accumulates, and as the novelty wears away, a youth vape culture may fade,” Dr. Sussman said.

ARTS & LEISURE

12

E S P RE S S O

Photographs by Mahika Mushuni

In honor of National Espresso Day on Nov. 23 we reviewed cold espresso, aka ice cream.

4 2 3

1

1. OBERWEIS

2. SILKY’S

3. ANDY’S

4. SHERIDAN’S

Creaminess: 9/10

Creaminess: 10/10

Creaminess: 7/10

Creaminess: 1/10

Espresso Caramel Chip Just soft enough, but still had that solid ice cream consistency.

Latte Da

The establishment definitely lived up to its name: The custard was very silky.

Espresso flavor: 7.5/10

Espresso flavor: 10/10

We found ourselves wishing the espresso was stronger than the overpowering caramel.

The espresso was very sharp, but still sweet when mixed with the chocolate aftertaste.

Atmosphere: 10/10

Lively music, vibrant colors and color matching that extends to the product labels makes Oberweis an energizing place.

Concluding thoughts:

The crunch of the chocolate chips, gooeyness of the caramel and creaminess of the base created a variety of texture that came together to form our personal favorite.

Jitterbug

Caramel Woweiccino

While this was the creamiest, it wasn’t enjoyable due to the stark contrast between the crunchy heath bar and soft custard.

Espresso flavor: 9/10

The custard to ice ratio in the Woweiccino was unsuccessful and made the drink more watery than creamy. The ice added a crunch that was unwelcome.

The espresso was strong and long-lasting, so if you aren’t a true espresso lover this is not for you.

Espresso flavor: 6/10

The decorations are outdated, there is a lack of seating and not enough lighting. Overall Silky’s had a dull aesthetic that could be improved.

Atmosphere: 9/10

Atmosphere: 3/10

Neon signs, large windows and red accents maintain Andy’s a sense of tradition.

Besides the colorful menu, Sheridan’s had pretty bleak decor.

Concluding thoughts:

Concluding thoughts:

We were surprised when handed a cup with a straw as the menu did not clearly indicate this “crowd favorite” was a beverage. Its taste could be described as a knock-off, watered-down version of Starbucks’ Java Chip frappucino.

Atmosphere: 4/10

Chocolate covered espresso? A million dollar idea. We approve.

The jitterbug had distinct flavors that complemented each other. Unfortunately we can’t say the same about the texture.

The espresso flavor was good but faded instantly.

Concluding thoughts:

Staff Picks: November Releases

B

A C

D

A: Justice League (PG-13) Delaney Neely, sports editor, is looking forward to this long anticipated team-up film starring many of D.C. Comic’s famous heroes. Justice League released Nov. 17.

B: Murder on the Orient Express (PG-13) Greg Svirnovskiy, editor in chief, is eager to see this Sherlock Holmes-style mystery with a twist, which released Nov. 10.

C: The Punisher Alex McAteer, opinions editor, enjoyed the other Netflix Marvel series and is a huge fan of The Punisher character. Punisher released Nov. 17.

D: Coco (PG) Abhijit Srirangam, production editor, can’t wait to see this Pixar film that he thinks will have an incredible visual style and lots of heart. Coco released today.

ARTS & LEISURE

13

Cartoon by Delaney Neely

Winter Style :

Billy An, senior

Practicality vs Originality

greg SVIRNOSKIY CLAD IN DESIGNER CLOTHES AND VINTAGE scarves, seniors Sabrina Linenbroker and Sruti Vyas view fashion as an outlet to express themselves.

“As soon as I enter the room, people know a little bit about me,” Vyas said. “It’s an interesting way to dress up my life. We go to school every single day. Why not make each day special.”

Vyas said fashion allows her to depart break away from the stereotypes that have defined her Indian upbringing and heritage.

“I think the way I dress shows other people that not every Indian person is the same,” Vyas said.

As the season changes, Vyas and Linenbroker are throwing out their wardrobe and embracing a new start. Vyas relies on her fashion sense to predict popular brands for upcoming seasons. All over MHS, students are doing the same.

“Bell sweaters are very in right now,

over the knee boots, shoulder tops,” Vyas said. “I think right now a lot of girls and guys are gonna opt for Lululemon athletic wear because it’s casual. Patagonia and Vineyard Vines are also going to be some popular brands.”

Jordan Butler, sophomore, loves clothes from the 90s. It’s all about skinny jeans, bandanas, oversized jackets. Butler takes pride in what he wears to school.

“I get a lot of compliments for it which boosts my self confidence,” Butler said.

Butler wears what he says make him feel good. He likes making a statement through his clothes.

“It expresses my life,” Butler said.

“It’s different, it’s not what everybody else is wearing, but it attracts attention.”

For Billy An, senior, fashion is secondary to comfort. Everyday, he comes to school in cargo shorts, shunning jeans even in

Sruti Vyas, senior

the winter.

“When I was younger, I always admired my mom’s purse,” An said. “It could hold an entire closet. And then I discovered cargo shorts. I have one of those closets on each of my legs.

Practicality over style, that’s my motto.”

Ope Sangoseni, junior, also dresses exclusively for comfort.

“Most days, I’ll wear either leggings, a tee shirt and a jacket,” Sangoseni said. “If it’s really cold, I’ll wear jeans and a sweater.”

Sangoseni’s style is toned down. Muted colors and fuzzy textures in replace of flashy garb.

“I dress pretty generically most of the time, just basic stuff,” Sangoseni said. “It doesn’t really look that good, but it’s warm and soft.”

Sabrina Linenbroker, senior

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ARTS & LEISURE

13

New store Reset brings retro style to St. Louis austin WOODS WHEN YOU THINK OF THE FASHion scene in a place like New York City or Los Angeles, you can probably name a lot of different brands off the top of your head. From Supreme to Stussy, it’s no surprise cities like these, renowned for their cultural flourishes, are home to well-established fashion scenes.

But what about STL? Now you’re probably stumped.

Bruce Schwerdt set out to change this when he opened Reset, a clothing store in Maplewood at 2607 Bellevue Ave. The store sells both contemporary streetwear and vintage clothing.

“It’s mixing the old with the new,” Schwerdt said. “It’s kind of blending both worlds together because in a normal store you’d only have your vintage retro clothing, like a thrift store, and a completely separate store for the modern stuff. So it’s kind of blending them together.”

Schwerdt has been buying and reselling products since he was a teenager. He eventually began to think about how he could translate his interest in fashion into a business.

“STL didn’t have anything like this, so I wanted to do something cool for the city and have a unique store,” he said. “It grew out of my basement as a necessity for the city.”

Schwerdt said Reset adds a vital

American Flag Supreme Hoodie: $578. Reset Offers many different styles of vintage clothing at vary prices. Photograph by Kenzie Winstead

cultural space to the city.

“It’s a cultural hub,” he said. “We’ve got everybody in there, from kids from West County to guys from the city.

We’ve got people coming from out of state. We’ve got people that come in for three to four hours to just talk about stuff. People have made so many friends and met new people up there.

It’s a really cool place for people to get together and network.”

The store puts out items daily (called “drops”), which are announced everyday via Instagram, @reset_stl.

Items are priced with fairness in mind and are based on the pricing of websites like Grailed and eBay. The clothing is not only purchased

from thrift stores, other resale shops, garage sales and online, but from walkin customers as well. Customers can sell their own items, both streetwear and vintage, to the store.

Schwerdt said his ultimate goal with the store is to encourage the community to express themselves regardless of what’s trendy.

“Be individual,” he said. “Be unique.

Don’t just go to the mall and buy what they’re selling you. Come find a vintage, unique piece that nobody else is gonna have. Come get something you won’t see anybody else wearing.”

Jillian Hyink, senior, has been to Reset twice, and has purchased a pair of Levi’s shorts from the store. She dis-

MHS School Store we sell: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Binders Chapstick Deodorant Flash Drives Kleenex Notebooks Locks Hand Sanitizer Pencils Pens Sharpies Socks

Noodles!

covered the store through social media and word-of-mouth.

“It’s different from just a normal clothing store,” she said. “There’s a lot of name brand stuff for really cheap, and a lot of cool vintage stuff.”

Grace Bailey, junior, has shopped at Reset six times and has bought a vintage Metallica t-shirt, a Guess sweatshirt and a pair of Tommy Hilfiger jeans.

“I see something different each time, which is really unique,” she said.

“It’s kind of like a thrift store but more upscale. It’s a new experience every time.”

Bailey heard about the store through social media, where she saw her friends talking about it in anticipation before it opened. After she shopped there for the first time, she became hooked.

“It’s really a mixture between streetwear and retro stuff, which I think is up and coming for the Midwest,” she said.

Bailey said she agrees with the notion that Reset is providing something important to the culture of STL. “It’s unique,” she said. “We really don’t have a lot of stores like it, and I think it’s important to get exposed to different kinds of styles. It’s good to have a unique style, which is definitely what they provide.”

Open Monday-Friday 7:30-12:20

spirit wear!

14

SPORTS

Rockin’ and Rowin’ off-campus JASON SCHIBLER: the rock climber greg SVIRNOVSKIY FIRST, IT WAS CHESS. NOW, IT’S ROCK CLIMBINg. When Jason Schibler, junior, takes on a new activity, he doesn’t let it go.

“He’s always been very focused on one thing,” Mary Schibler, Jason’s mother, said.

Now, Jason leads the MHS rock climbing club, which meets Thursdays at Lifetime Fitness.

“He sees the challenge as helping other people,” Mary said.

Starting in first grade and continuing for 11 years, Jason won numerous state chess competitions before transitioning to climbing.

“Chess was really fun in the beginning, but as I got to the hard levels it kind of burned out a little bit,” Jason said. “Rock climbing is something new and I finally get to be active.”

For Jason, the biggest draw to leading the rock climbing club has been teaching skills to others.

“I’ve been trying to teach everybody technique, which is really hard because I never got any formal training,” Jason said.

Still, the team has grown to include 20 full-time members who practice on Sundays at the Upper Limits in Chesterfield. They recently came in first place out of seven teams at their first tournament.

The team is sponsored by Ryan Bixby, science teacher. Bixby said it’s very similar to other sports that meet as clubs.

Bixby said Jason’s presence has helped make his role as club sponsor an easy one.

“I thought getting kids involved and getting it organized is going to be a headache,” Bixby said. “But Jason undertook the whole thing and organized the team and did all the paperwork. He’s just really enthusiastic and a great leader.”

Photograph by Abhijit Srirangam

Photograph by Abhijit Srirangam Samad Arif, junior, rows across the Creve Coeur Lake with seven other varsity boys. Arif rows as part of the St. Louis Rowing Club and practices six days a week by rowing around the lake and completing workouts.

SAMAD ARIF: the rower abhijit SRIRANGAM ROWING HAS BECOME A NEW PASSION FOR SAmad Arif, junior.

“I quit tennis and I wanted to find some other activity,” Arif said. “Some of my friends from outside the school started rowing, so I just joined them.”

The club has different group arrangements: two, four or eight rowers in one boat.

Meeting six times a week at the St. Louis Rowing Club, Arif has been rowing since the winter of 2016.

“The first year anyone joins the club will be their novice year, so you row a year as a novice then you go into varsity and as a novice you’re just learning the ropes of rowing, timing, setting the boat up, all that,” Arif said.

Now a boys varsity rower, Arif enjoys the challenges. The most difficult part for him is trying to stay focused through races since they range from 7 to 17 minutes over two to five kilometers.

“Pairs and fours are the most enjoyable,” Arif said.

“They’re really hard technically-wise because it’s very unstable.”

The team recently went to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Head of the Hooch regatta, the second largest in the country. Teams come from all over the U.S. to

Tutoring Available High School Math courses, Algebra 1 – Calculus ACT / SAT Math Tutoring available High School Math Teacher 314-954-1005 sarika.kohli@gmail.com

compete in various races.

“It’s fun in races because usually you would represent a school in a competition, but here you represent the entire city of St. Louis,” Arif said.

His coach, Michael O’Gorman, is a decorated rower and has been teaching for more than 30 years.

“We were at Rockford, Ill., a month ago; Columbus, Ohio, two weeks ago; and Chattanooga, Tenn. just this past week,” O’Gorman said.

They came in fourth of 32 teams in a four and came in fourth of 22 teams in a lightweight four.

O’Gorman’s experience has provided him with insight into how people new to the sport start out.

“The big thing about rowing is that nobody starts it until eighth or ninth grade until they join a program like this,” O’Gorman said. “Everyone’s absolutely raw when they start.”

O’Gorman has been to many other cities to coach rowing and has seen many athletes go from novices to more confident and strong rowers.

“You pretty much get out of it what you put into it and so people that work really hard and are really dedicated to it tend to get really good over time,” O’Gorman said.

Arif plans on rowing through the rest of high school and into college.

ARTS&LEISURE

0

SPORTS $70

$100

Sport: Hockey Brand of choice: Adidas Purchased from: Adidas store

0 $1

Riley Brueck, freshman

“They have good support for your feet and they’re stylish. That’s good when you’re warming up so you don’t pull a muscle.”

Sport: Volleyball Brand of choice: Nike Purchased from: Dick’s Sporting Goods

Colin Greenwalt, sophomore

“They’re lightweight and they have the ankle support for my weak ankles because I broke my right ankle twice. You have to jump a lot, so the lighter the shoe, the higher you jump.”

Sport: Field hockey Brand of choice: Adidas Purchased from: Dick’s Sporting Goods

15

Rebecca Croon, senior

“They were probably the most comfortable, and they look good. We play on grass and soccer turf and it helps a lot with mobility.”

IF THE SHOE FITS: ATHLETES PICK THEIR FAVORITE SHOES “I’ve been wearing them since sixth grade, and they are the only cleats I feel comfortable in because I’m so used to them now. They have great traction.”

Chase Callahan, sophomore

Sport: Football Brand of choice: Under Armour Purchased from: Under Armour online

“I really like the traction on the cleats and the soft upper. Especially for my position [goalie], you don’t want to slip and slide. You want to have a good base.”

Sport: Soccer Brand of choice: Nike Jack Walker, Purchased from: Soccer freshman Master

$13

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$145

Proud supporter of MHS football & baseball.

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“I know it’s a good brand for basketball shoes, and everyone has them. They’re just quick shoes, gives you support and good traction.”

Melissa Price, junior

Sport: Basketball Brand of choice: Nike Purchased from: Foot Locker

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SPORTS

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Put your game face on Varsity b asketbal

delaney NEELY • jeff SWIFT

l Q&A

ON GOALS: Eric Schweain, boys basketball coach “Everybody wants to be perfect, but that’s unrealistic. You will hit a bump in the road. Our team needs to be prepared to get back up. We don’t like to set quantifiable goals for our team.

We want to do well, but we have to be prepared for anything.”

Jason Montgomery, junior “Just go out there and fight as hard as we can every night. Just play and have fun. [The] end goal is just to make this season as fun as possible. Building strong bonds at the beginning of the season, practicing hard at the beginning of the season to set the tone for the rest of the season, just doing the little things right.”

First Game:

Nov. 21 vs. Troy Buchanan 6 p.m.

ON THE TEAM: Jason Montgomery, junior “I think we’re gonna be a really good rebounding team because we might not have a seven footer, but a lot of us have big bodies to box people out and we have some athleticism on the team which we can use to our advantage.”

Eric Schweain, boys basketball coach “I’m cautiously optimistic. I think we’ll be alright. This far from the season, it really is hard to tell but we have to know that we will hit a bump in the road. Our team needs to be prepared to get back up. I mean, everybody wants to be perfect, but that’s unrealistic.”

ON THE COACH: Josh Merz, sophomore “I think he’s really good, you know.

He does a great job of differentiating learning, from working in basketball.

That’s really useful for us.”

ON GOALS: Jhar Nae Thompson, senior “My goals for this season are to get faster and better defensively. I’m going to go hard in practice every day, and outside of practice, I’m going to go to the gym and work on post moves.”

Tim Bowdern, girls basketball coach “We don’t like to set goals and expectations this early on, but I think later on this season, we should expect to be pretty good. We’re a very young and fast team, but we still have a good amount of experienced players.”

ON THE TEAM: Autumn Brown, sophomore “They do a great job and They are just as good of leaders as I am. Everybody really looks up to them.”

Jhar Nae Thompson, senior “The key players are probably Autumn Brown and Chaleb Davis. I’d say they’re the key play-

ers because Autumn, she has good ball movement.

She sees the whole court at one time and knows what to do and who to pass it to, what play to call. And Chaleb is also a key player because she’s a post and she’s big, she knows how to rebound, get the ball back up the court quick.”

Tim Bowdern, girls basketball coach “I think that when they get on the court, we’ll just play and not worry about where we want to be. We’ll be more focused on winning on a dayby-day basis. I think this will help us be able to compete for conference and have a good postseason.”

next Game: Nov. 21 @ Westminster 6 p.m.