THE
Volume 53, Issue 6
Friday, February 14, 2014
The voice of Prospect since 1960
ROSPECTOR
801 West Kensington Road, Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056 - Follow us:
@ProspectorNow
Prospector NOW
Lighting up a debate tive FDA approval of e-cigarettes cause concern for teachers and administrators alike. According to health teacher Aaron Marnstein, the idea that e-cigarettes arBy Nabi Dressler and Andi Hayes en’t as harmful as the classic cigarettes Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor-in-Chief is incorrect because both are unsafe in different ways: regular cigarettes *Name changed for confidentiality Senior Keith Murphy* began smok- contain carcinogens, and the adverse ing regular cigarettes at age 16 by health effects of nicotine still remain in “bumming” them off his friends. After e-cigarettes. “[Smoking e-cigarettes] is looked six months, however, he decided to quit at as a safe alternative, but no matter smoking. To aid in quitting, he found what type of drug you take, whether e-cigarettes with nicotine in them, allowing him to gradually intake less and it’s aspirin, ibuprofen, prescription less of the drug. He purchased his at medications, nicotine, alcohol [or] illea local vapor shop because prior to Il- gal drugs, any time you put a substance linois’ recent law, passed Aug. 15, 2013, into your body that’s a drug, there can and in effect throughout 2014, stating be negative health effects,” Marnstein said. individuals must be 18 to purMarnstein also said nicochase e-cigarettes, “anyone tine is a stimulant that can To find out the could just go in there, into a have addictive properties. Prospector staff vape store, and buy one.” opinion regarding Nicotine decreases blood Murphy has been smoking e-cigarettes, see circulation, increases heart e-cigarettes for the past year the Staff Editorial rate and, when mixed with and a half and has made even on page 11. other drugs, can cause danmore progress in quitting To find out gerous reactions. Women on smoking; he currently only about the new the birth control pill have a smokes e-cigarettes with veglaws regarding much higher chance of getetable glycerine, an organic tobacco use, see ting blood clots if they incompound made from vege“New state laws take nicotine. table oil with no nicotine or bring tough love According to Tedalother harmful ingredients. He for teens,” News, di-Monti, this is the first is undecided as to whether he page 3. year she has seen e-cigawill stop smoking these e-cigarettes at Prospect. Only five rettes, too, but probably won’t. or six students have been caught with “[With vegetable glycerine e-cigathem on campus. For now, the adminrettes], I feel like now that there’s no nicotine in it, it’s just more of a physi- istration takes away any e-cigarettes cal enjoyment, just the action,” Murphy found and gives them back to the owners at the end of the day, along with a said. E-cigarettes in general have recent- verbal warning and a parent phone call, ly risen in popularity nationwide, and, regardless of the student’s age. Murphy isn’t one of the students according to Dean of Students Dr. Pat Tedaldi-Monti, Prospect has seen the who has gotten caught. He has never surge more than any other school in spoken to a dean about his e-cigarettes, though he smokes them on his way to District 214. school. He never smokes in the building While e-cigarettes’ perceived lack of health risks may appeal to a young au- itself but has seen kids who have. While only a handful of students dience, the lack of research and definihave been caught with them, accord-
Love is in the air! To see which Prospect couples know each other the best, take a quiz on which Valentine’s Day movie you should watch with your crush and more, go to...
4-5 In-Depth
ProspectorNow
ProspectorNow
Prospector Now
E-cigarettes’ popularity raises health questions
And the Oscar goes to... The Academy Awards, Hollywood’s most anticipated night, is March 2. For a preview of the event, a history of the Oscars, a quiz putting Oscar knowledge to the test, and more, see...
6-7 Entertainment
Factors of fashion In a society where men and women alike won’t stop giving girls advice on what boys want girls to wear, what’s a girl to do? For Opinion Editor Caroline Binley’s take on the matter, turn to...
11 Opinion
Graphic by Rich Futo ing to Tedaldi-Monti, teachers still feel alarmed when they see students carrying e-cigarettes. Because of the multitude of brands, their designs vary and can look similar to illegal drug paraphernalia like marijuana pipes. All e-cigarettes have a vaporization chamber, cartridge and lithium battery to keep it operational (see “How e-cigarettes work,” page 2). Some e-cigarettes are disposable and therefore only last users a week or two, depending on how often they use it, while other e-cigarettes have rechargeable batteries that require charging every other day. However, e-cigarettes vary greatly in price. According to Murphy, basic
e-cigarettes cost $30 while higher-quality ones cost up to $300, which is why he feels they shouldn’t be confiscated. Tedaldi-Monti has also seen that students don’t want to give up their e-cigarettes due to the high price point. In most cases, parents were already aware of their children’s e-cigarette, as their son/daughter was using it to quit smoking tobacco. Murphy doesn’t understand why these students should be punished by getting their e-cigarettes taken away for the day because they can be legally purchased at age 18.
See E-CIGARETTES, page 2
New state laws bring tough love for teens By Erin McGovern
Associate Editor-in-Chief Recently, a series of new laws affecting both adults and teenagers alike have been passed.
Hands on the wheel As of Jan. 1, all drivers are now no longer allowed to use their cell phone while driving. Previously, only texting while driving had been illegal, but Illinois has now made the step to coincide with Chicago laws and force drivers to go completely hands-free while in a car. If drivers are caught talking on their phones with the device up to their ears, they will be pulled over and given a traffic citation. To compensate for the cell phone ban these new regulations seem to bring, Illinois does allow drivers to use a bluetooth or other hands-free device. Using speaker phone is acceptable as long as the phone is not in the driver’s hand. Since putting the phone on speaker does require picking up the
phone while inside the vehicle, Illinois has made it acceptable to initiate a call while waiting at a red light as long as the car is in park or neutral. Drivers beware — officers have made it clear they will not allow any grace period in which they offer any kind of lenience. It’s a tough $75 for the first offense and $25 more for every following infraction.
Tanning: access denied After much debate, governor Pat Quinn signed a bill into law Jan. 1 prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed. This new legislation targets younger women, especially high school girls, who solicit tanning salons either on a regular basis or for events like prom and Homecoming dances. Many doctors believe most teenage girls who tan do not consult their parents before making the decision. Junior Mary Torossian used to go tanning every week before this new law began barring her from the
tanning bed. “I don’t think it’s fair that they passed this because even though I understand the health concerns,” Torossian said. “I still have parent consent to tan, and I’ve spent so much time doing something that now they just took away.” The reasoning behind the bill comes from the increased health concern of melanoma that begins to develop anywhere from one’s early twenties and later due to excessive tanning bed use or increased exposure to the sun without proper sunscreen application. Health teacher Michele Burnett agrees with the reasons behind the new legislation and in the way they will impact teens. “It will help people stay away from something that increases the chance of skin cancer,” Burnett said. “If students want their skin to look darker, there are many self tanners and spray tans that could be used that are safe.”
See NEW LAWS, page 3