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May 2013
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@Ptown_Secret shut down Twitter account called cyberbullying by admin libby rayne opinion editor
Photo courtesy of Erin Winterscheid
Erin Winterscheid unpacks boxes of food in a warehouse for Uplift in Kansas City during a trip to help the homeless in early Aprill.
Helping homeless
Freshmen serve others
tristan barnes reporter Freshman Erin Winterscheid realizes how much she has when she goes to work with the homeless. “All that they have is what is right in front of them and I get to go home to a warm house,” Winterscheid said. “One time it was really cold and I couldn’t wait to get home but then I realized that they don’t have a place to go. They will be out all night.” Nearly 2,000 men, women and children are homeless every night in rural Kansas, said Jay Preston, founder of the local homeless shelter My Father’s House. Preston said working with the homeless is humbling. “My wife and I
struggle and that’s a good thing because it keeps us really in touch with what this is all about,” he said. Preston describes being homeless as very lonely. “If you’re on the street no one wants to talk to you,” Preston said. “You’re a problem that people don’t know what to do with, so they figure it’s just better not to engage with you.” Winterscheid and freshman Meghan Schasteen go to the city once every few months to work for a project called Uplift in serving the homeless. “I realize that I take everything for granted when I go there,” Schasteen said. “It’s pretty life changing.” Winterscheid said working with the homeless creates
memories. “One time [Meghan] and I were getting cold so we went outside, turned on our phone music and started dancing with this homeless guy,” she said. “He had moves.” Helping the less fortunate has taught them lessons. “[Working with the homeless] teaches you that everyone is still a person,” Schasteen said. “Even though they don’t have as much as we do, they are still great people.” Preston said just because someone doesn’t have a home, doesn’t mean they are different. “They are us,” he said. “They are our neighbors, our friends, and our family.”
When upset students and faculty complained about a Twitter account to administrators in early April, the principals got involved. Vice Principal Jeff T. Hines said the account’s creator, who was reponsible for posting comments about students and teachers, was discovered and the student agreed to shut down the account. Hines would not release the name of the student who ran the account because of confidentiality reasons. The account was called Paola’s Secret Admirer, junior Alaina Weidman said. “People would send in gossip and comments about students and teachers and then they would get posted.” Hines said the school deals with incidents of cyber bullying - which is what they deemed the Twitter account - numerous times throughout the year. The account’s user tweeted about junior Samie Dennigan. “I found it funny,” Dennigan said. “Sometimes they went too far, but regardless it was funny.” Dennigansaid the tweets could be harmful. “I was opposed because people’s feelings got
hurt,” Dennigan said. “Anything like that has a negative effect.” Freshman Maggie Fleming was also mentioned on the Twitter account. “They thought they were being funny when sometimes they were being rude,” Fleming said. Math teacher Natalie Steutermann did not approve of a tweet made about her. “As time went on I was more angry, not for what was mentioned about myself, but for what was mentioned about the girls here at school,” Steutermann said. Steutermann said the tweets were disrespectful and caused a lot of hurt feelings. “Boys at this age are immature and in five or 10 years when they have daughters of their own, they will think twice about this,” Steutermann said. “They would want to hurt someone pretty bad for saying something like that about their own daughter.” Others took it more lightly. “I thought it was funny. I wasn’t offended at all,” senior Tanner Morris said. Senior Brandon Youk supported the account. “I thought it was the greatest thing ever,” Youk said. “I retweeted what they said about me.” Youk said the account may have been shut down, but to look out for more. “It may have got caught, but it won’t be stopped; it’s too much of a force,” said Youk.
Stereotypes may define some
Haleys, Dees say gender makes a difference
whitney mcdaniel reporter In today’s society, sophomore Kenna Haley said she feels compelled to act a particular way in public. “I feel pressured to act quiet, innocent and sweet all the time and to have my makeup and hair done, and to do my nails and go shopping in my free time,” Haley said. Dees said he thinks guys have different societal expectations. “Guys are expected to be tough, sporty and masculine, whereas women are seen as the weaker and more vulnerable gender,” Dees said, “I don’t feel that either gender is inferior to the other, people just don’t tend to take [stereotypes] seriously.”
Haley said stereotypes between boys and girls also tend to overflow into the classroom setting. “Girls are always expected to have their homework done and have good grades, but it’s OK for guys not to,” Haley said. According to counselor Justin Elliot, of the 14 seniors with the potential of a 4.0, 3 percent of them are male while 6 percent of them are female. According to the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement, 53 percent of students who graduate high school are females. It shows the majority of college students today are women, but less than 1/3 are majoring in math, science, engineering or another technical field. Instead, they are more likely to study literacy and writing. Dees said he doesn’t think teachers treat people differently whether they are a boy or a girl.
Stereotypes: see page 4