Munster High School | 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321
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Stories by Ian S. Brundige Editor-in-Chief
T
he rights of students are often seen as different than that of the everyday citizen. With landmark Supreme Court cases like Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier and Tinker V. Des Moines, the school and courthouse have been entangled throughout the entire twenty-first century. Students ”don’t shed their constitutional rights of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” In 1969 the Supreme court made a landmark decision that students’
Drug Tests
the policy’s purpose
MHS has had its random drug testing policy since the 1989-90 school year. Mr. Morgan Nolan, assistant principal said that the policy was most likely put in place to combat a drug culture throughout the 80’s. However, the only way the school could enforce the policy was testing students in extracurriculars. “(It was) an easy way and the only legal way they could really get after kids for after school activities that weren’t taking place on campus was to hold them accountable about for after school activities that were associated with the school,” Mr. Nolan said. As the policy reaches its 30th year of enactment, it is still important because students participating in extracurriculars create the image of the school, according to Mr. Nolan. “I think it’s important―especially our extracurriculars―become the image of the School Town of Munster,” Mr. Nolan said. “They’re the ones who get the biggest awards, so we want to make sure that those kids who are especially traveling away from the building to represent Munster, and a lot of times they have Munster gear are and are accepting award for Munster, are held to a pretty high standard.” Brianna Plemmons, senior, has been drug tested three times during and junior and senior year. She has parked in the school park-
INSIDE LOOK Students discuss politics | page 5
Indiana Student publication gets censored, run down of student rights in school
symbolic speech should be protected in schools starting with that statement. Today, Mr. Ed Clere, State Representative from New Albany, is working to pass the New Voices Bill in Indiana. “The bar should be high when it comes to limiting student’s rights,” Rep. Clere said. “Student’s rights should not be limited unless the school has a compelling reason based on health or safety or the need to maintain an educational environment.” The newest administrator, Mrs. Valerie Zemaitis, claims she was
HEADQUARTERS Student Services is the center of discipline at MHS.
issue 5 | volume 52 | nov. 15, 2017
aided in her transition to student services by a clear handbook. “I feel like it’s easy, the rules are clearly in the handbook with the consequences,” Mrs. Zemaitis said. “Here’s what you broke, here’s what you get.” Crier is one of the few high school student publications in the state that currently does not experience prior review. “You have to learn how to be able to express yourself and accept different opinions of people,” Mrs. Zemaitis said. “So the more exposure you have to different opinions the better you can approach them.”
photo by Lauren Kozy
ing lot for the past two years. “I get why they have it but at the same time it’s like, get the people who actually do drugs and don’t waste my time and cause me to miss out on school,” Brianna said. This is not uncommon criticism of the policy in MHS and throughout the nation. However, Mr. Nolan believes those problems through the shared information agreement with the police department. “Students are going to make mistakes. We are not trying to sweep anything under the rug but we think that as a town we can punish a student to match the issue much better than the court system can...,” he said. “I hate saying it, a lot of times they don’t even issue what I consider appropriate punishment because they are just overwhelmed with so many more individuals coming in, whereas we can get you some community service, it will be here in town, it will be (the) appropriate amount. We might have you sit out of something that you like, like Marching Band or somethings, and then life goes on.”
UPCOMING Girls’ Basketball against Andrean at home | Friday at 7 P.M. Thanksgiving break | 22-24
Written
responsiblities of student press
At the end of last month, an issue of the Shakedown, a student publication from Plainfield, Indiana, regarding dating advice was published. The 24-page magazine received claims from some critics that it was inappropriate for high school audiences. Their newspaper is now read by their administration before publishing, a process called prior review. The school is able to do this due to Hazelwood V. Kuhlmeir. The New Voices bill being supported by Rep. Ed Clere would prevent this. “I think this legislative initiative would benefit not just student journalists, but all students, the broader school community and community beyond the school because it would allow important topics to be covered and important discussion to go on,” Rep. Clere said. Student publications hold the opportunities to start important conversations in schools, according to Rep. Clere. “Students are more willing to accept information from their peers than from other sources, whether it’s teachers or administrators or others who are attempting to provide information,” he said. “I think that’s especially true when it comes to difficult and sensitive issues. For example, student journalists are uniquely positioned to start meaningful conversations about drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity and other difficult or sensitive issues.” Currently, Crier is not reviewed prior to printing; however, there is no law ensuring free expression. An environment the previous editor-in-chief of Crier, Jordan Szymanski, class of ‘16, found negatives and positives in. “When I was covering the political things my senior year, it made me more conscious of what I was writing. It didn’t necessarily take away from what I was writing,” Jordan said. “It didn’t make me feel like I wasn’t writing what I wanted to. It just made me realize that there is a consequence to everything I write, whether it’s good or bad. The bad consequences forced me to look at my work through a more critical lens because I knew that they (administration) would be looking at my work from a critical standpoint.” However, administration does not need to be enforcing that pressure, according to Jordan. “That pressure also came from Ms. (Sarah-Anne) Lanman (publication director) or my peers. The idea that because Mr. Wells doesn’t come down and read our paper, we can say whatever we want, that’s not true. We criticize our own work,” she said. However, not all schools have such a trusting rapport between student media and administration. Those are the schools Rep. Clere fights for. Jordan sees the goal of Crier to start the conversations Rep. Clere is referring to. “Crier’s whole job is to make the news― which is this abstract thing of what’s happening―personal and relate it back to each individual student,” Jordan said. “Whether you have that experience or you don’t, because not everyone has the experiences we talk about in the paper but that’s not really the important part. The important part is that you are exposed to those experiences because it will shape you and it will change you.” STUDENT WRITES Collin Garmin, sophmore, reads an issue of Crier on the first day of school.
More about visual expression on page 8