Fairview High School 1515 Greenbriar Blvd. Vol. 56 No. 3 February 2016
The Royal Banner 15-16 Staff
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Rachel Grushan Varun Narayanswamy DESIGN EDITOR Maya Jayachandra
February 11th, 2016
Table of Contents 3 Remembering Dina Brown
STORY EDITORS Laura Brack Ben Gelderloos Sage Rose Keren Sneh
4 On The Come Up In the Green
Cameron Walsh STAFF REPORTERS Arvand Aidun Molly Box
6 A Heart to Heart with Chris Choi
James Fernandez Noah Finer Grace Hedlund Jot Kaur
8 After School Special: The Danger of Anonymity
Michal Olesiak Conor Pepin Sydney Russ
9 Advice Between Grades
Ryan Swerdlin Jasmine Vital PHOTO EDITOR Chris Wagers
10 Are We Too Close To Our Guns?
BUSINESS MANAGER Dvir Goldman SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS Sara McCrea
12 Can’t Buy Me Love
Harrison Young WEB MASTER Evan Derby
13 Spot the Difference
ADVISOR Sarah Zerwin staff@fhsroyalbanner.com @FHSRoyalBanner
14 Five Years and Counting: Olivia Kois and Wyatt Dessel
Issue Theme
FHS Royal Banner, Room 339 1515 Greenbriar Blvd
Relationships
Boulder CO 80504 ABOUT THE ROYAL BANNER
The Royal Banner is a 16-page news magazine. The Banner is written primarily for the over 2000 students attending Fairview High School and is distributed free of charge to all members of the school community. Accurate reporting of fact is the goal of the staff. Commentaries, opinion columns and letters to the editor are the
(noun) re·la·tion·ship [ri-ley-shuh n-ship] The way in which two or more people or things are connected. Whether it be to music, art, or eachother, the Royal Banner explored the way in which students relate throughout the school. Have a happy Valentines Day!
expressed opinion of the author and not of The Royal
Banner and its Editorial Board or its adviser. *Disclaimer: Under Colorado law, no expression made by students in the exercise of free speech or freedom of the press shall be deemed to be an expression of school policy. No school district, employee, legal guardian or official of such a district shall be held liable in any criminal action for any expression made or published by a student. The Royal Banner sells advertisements for publicity and to pay for printing costs. We reserve the right to refuse to run any advertisement deemed inappropriate to the Fairview community.
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for realtime coverage of school events, additional coverage of print stories, photos, videos, and more. 2/16
Remembering Dina Brown
Dina’s smile was infectious. No matter what kind of day I was having I could count on her to always be smiling and in turn make me smile. I will always remember how when I would leave lunch she would text me ‘Don’t leave!’ It’s moments like that which I will always miss about her but look back at and find she can still make me smile. Love You Dina. Caroline Cheval
D
ina was our little sun, always brightening our day with her adorable, contagious laugh. Her art was the most superb thing I have laid eyes on, even since elementary school. She added extra enjoyment to Earth Space Geophysical Science, and we had so many laughs there and everywhere else we were together. She made any situation absolutely enjoyable. I only wish I had more time to experience all the little adventures life throws at us, and she is missed and loved more than anyone can comprehend. Helena Schumann
Dina’s smile and laugh were contagious. You couldn’t help smiling every time she smiled, or laugh whenever she laughed. Her eyes always twinkled with her laughter as she brought so much positive energy to everyone around her. She always balanced me out perfectly. Thank you for bringing me so much to me. Josie Rudoff
D
ina was such a beautiful soul. No one around her could stay mad at her, no one saw her cry, and she always put others first. You know those movies that have a dark part but then you see a bunch of lights in the distance almost like stars? Each light in that dark place is a rare person who shines the brightest. Dina was that rare person who shined so bright that people around her felt good to be around her. Now that she has passed doesn’t mean we should let the light that she gave us to go out. We need to let that light soar so that other people who are in the dark and lonely world can have a bright and happy world. I don’t think Dina’s light is gone. It’s in each and everyone of us. She’s my light and I’ll always follow her glow and sunshine wherever I may go. She’s my other half. I love her to the moon and back. Forever and ever. Joanna Parker Her smile could light up a room and did on many occasions. She brought joy to many and her loss can be felt. We all miss you Dina. Andy Oclassen 3/16
Dina always had the best smile and laugh. We would text each other with many jokes when we got bored. We would laugh at all the Facebook stickers we sent each other during lunch time. We always talked during lunch. We would talk about school, life, and generally everything. We always seemed to laugh. I will always love Dina. I will never forget her. Rebekah Mark-Bachus
D
ina was more than just a good friend to me; she was the light of kindness. Her endless compassion and laughter will be missed. Standing by her in the hospital being strong as I can to hope that she’ll wake up. Holding her hand and breathing the words: We all love you and always will. She woke up in another realm. I am sure she is watching us from up above, smiling. Dina Louise Brown, I love you so much and am so proud to be your close friend. I will miss your sweet hugs. Amanda Hessey
On The Come Up In The Green By Conor Pepin @conorpepinRB. Photos by Chris Wagers
T
he Ill Dynasty movement, Boulder isn’t the only thing that gives CJ spearheaded by CJ Lough and his inspiration. Griffin Henry, is the biggest “I’d probably just not even go to school thing out of Boulder since 3OH!3. Its if I didn’t have Charlotte. I’d probably just beginnings lie in springtime rap sessions make music like 100% of the time,” he recorded with a phone, but since last year, said, laughing. CJ Lough, aka “Melough” (pronounced Through a website company that helps “mellow”), and his partner Griffin upcoming artists called Afton Shows, Ill Henry, aka “G Mula,” have grown into Dynasty landed their first gig at The Other a sensation among high school students Side in downtown Denver. Melough from Boulder and its surrounding areas. and Mula were the second to perform. “I feel like I started a They took to the stage with movement, you know?” confidence as Melough Lough said. “[People] from ushered the crowd of over Fairview and Boulder are a hundred people to come starting to drop songs on closer to the stage. First on Soundcloud now… that’s the tracklist was “We Dem gotta be something.” Boyz.” CJ took control of the CJ grew up in Boulder, stage and the crowd bumped which he refers to as The along to the catchy, upbeat Green. chorus. Charlotte and other To check out the Ill “I [have] idols like Drake Dynasty, scan this QR Fairview supporters in the who call his city The Six, code! front row helped hype others people from Atlanta call that up, and by the end everyone the ATL, so I wanted to be the first to seemed to be singing along. give Boulder a name that can be part of G Mula and Melough traded off songs, the Ill Dynasty movement,” said Lough. providing backup vocals when the “In the future when others call it The other was rapping his verse. The energy Green, I’m going to know that I was the continued through their final and most first.” popular song “Come Ride,” which CJ credits his relationship with his fortified the Dynasty’s stage presence hometown as a huge inspiration for his even further. All the Fairview kids sang rapping. along: “Come ride, just vibe, hop on this “It’s a different place, the Boulder Ill Dynasty tide,” and the rest of the crowd Bubble,” he said. “And I try and talk easily caught on. about the truth, you know? It’s true that When they said good night, everyone in some kids take Adderall and don’t follow the audience gave them a final applause. the rules all the time. But as rich as it is, If you want to listen to Ill Dynasty’s it’s not true that people don’t struggle. music, Ill Dynasty, Melough, and G Mula That’s the thing that I try to rap about are all on Soundcloud. and people from here really love it.” 4/16
Ill Dynasty Performing at The Other Side
5/18
A Heart to Heart with Chris Choi By Jot Kaur @JotKaurRB Photos donated by Chris Choi
“A lot of people, when they hear art, think, ‘Oh, that’s a high school course’ or ‘ Oh, I did that in middle school’, but I think art is always present in the current time wherever you go. It’s important to express yourself, because art isn’t just painting or pencil drawing.” Chris Choi is a senior this year and has a passion for art and more specifically sculptures. Chris attended art school in Korea his sophomore year and said it was when he realized he loved art. “When I finished an art piece, I was like ‘Wow I put so much effort into this, this is something I actually feel proud of ’. [Art school in Korea] was a lot of work… I think the hard part was that I started with all of these ideas but I didn’t know any means to portray them onto my paper and as soon as I learnt how to do the basics it got easier to express myself,” said Choi. Chris Choi describes his relationship with art as an expression of feelings and a healthy outlet of emotions. “[A] lot of the times when I do my art, it’s about how I feel, like what mood I’m feeling, at that certain time… let’s say [I feel]
happiness, that’s how I want to portray my art. The way we feel is always changing and I feel like it’s very random and very diverse… I think if you express yourself easier you will be happier and be yourself more.” For Chris Choi, art is something he is passionate about and hopes to ingrain into his future. “I think [art school] is something I want to do in the future. Like fashion design and industrial design.” Even though Chris Choi has a strong passion for art, he says others are more hesitant. Chris emphasized the importance of trying, even if you may not like the final result. “They get scared and put if off like ‘I don’t have the skill’. I think it’s important to try.” said Choi. Art is a means of expression for Chris Choi and for him, art can change person to person. It doesn’t have to be just painting, drawing, or sculpting. “I think it’s anything you can express yourself with. I think if you express yourself easier you will be happier and be yourself more.”
6/16
“The hanging mannequin represents creativity which we often force ourselves to find. It is easy to get burnt out when we chase the ideas we are after.” -CC
“This piece is about finding the passion in myself. Passion is not a fire that burns out, it is a river that keeps flowing.” -CC
11/18
After School Special: the dangers of anonymity
By Sara McCrea @sara_mccrea Photo by Keren Sneh @KerenSneh
Millions of teens are using anonymous apps to post their secrets and thoughts. And most parents have no idea. Cyber bullying is something you’ve heard of and gotten lectures on before, but anonymous social media platforms such as “ask.fm” and “After School” take the problem to new levels. The anonymous connections that students make over these websites often do more than provide forums for students to express themselves. They can actually be harmful. While ask.fm has been around for a few years now, After School was only launched in October. The app says that already over 600 students from Fairview alone are active, and over 22,300 high school campuses have forums. After School, similar to Yik Yak, acts as an anonymous forum for students. When making an account on the app, it asks to access your Facebook, insuring that the students on the app really do attend the same school as the forum they are looking at. The Washington Post confirms that “parents and others who want to access the app would have to lie to do so, saying on Facebook that they attend the high school.” Though the makers of the location-
based app state on their website that the new update contains “proactive anticyberbullying measures, additional moderation, and state of the art threat response,” the forums for Fairview still contain comments mostly directed at specific students. Besides the concerns about targeting specific students over the websites, students making threats has also been an issue. The app says that they have a solution for this issue. “If you post a message on the app like, ‘I’m really depressed right now, I’m not sure what to do with myself,’ a pop-up will come up and we will provide you with 24-hour support with a live, trained crisis counselor,” said co-founder Cory Levy in an interview with Fox news. Assistant principal Rose Lupinacci acknowledges that while she hasn’t heard of After School specifically, having a place for students to express themselves is important. However, she also thinks it can be taken too far. “Though they have potentially someone screening the responses, they don’t know who the person who puts something very concerning is. They don’t really have a way to tell what the student is going through and how to fix it. How would they know that (the student) is okay?” said Lupinacci. The website says it monitors every answer that comes through for threatsand that they have a live counselor ready to help. However, the forum can still serve as a way to put students down. Most of the comments on the app are compliments, but often they are of a sexual nature, which may make the subjects of these comments uncomfortable and feel unsafe at school. In a statement to Fox News, child psychologist Dr. Karen Ruskin said that the app poses more risk than reward. 8/16
Ask.fm, on the other hand, has zero moderation from adults and has been linked to numerous suicides around the world. It’s easy to see the appeal of the site; everyone has a secret desire to find out what people really think of them. But whether or not a student is receiving compliments or hate, being judged anonymously is not something that should not be taken lightly. After the suicide of a 14 year-old girl in Britain who had been bullied on Ask.fm, British Prime Minister David Cameron told The Guardian, “There’s something all of us can do as parents and as users of the internet and that is not to use some of these vile sites. Boycott them, don’t go there, don’t join them – we need to do that as well. I’m very keen we look at all the action we can take to try and stop future tragedies like this.” When the Prime Minister called for changes, the founder of ask.fm, Mark Terebin, made a shocking statement. “We have only this situation in Ireland and the UK most of all,” Terebin said. “It seems that children are more cruel in these countries.” However, after some simple investigating of public pages on the site, it is clear that there are students at Fairview that are receiving nasty and hurtful comments. The Daily Telegraph asked a PR company hired by the firm to clarify these comments, as well as homophobic ones reportedly made by the brothers on their Ask.fm pages. No response has been received. The facts are that these anonymous websites do way more harm than good. They link self esteem to random opinions. If you have a compliment for someone, go up to them and tell them. It will be much more meaningful to them when they know who you are. If you don’t like someone, hiding behind computer screens and shooting hateful comments to them isn’t worth your time.
“It gets better. I promise. By the time you’re applying to college, you will feel like a real person who has opinions and is a person who contributes to society.” Mason Noteboom, 12
“In 17 years of law enforcement, the number of times that I have had to physically restrain somebody or take them to the ground to arrest somebody is maybe 10 to 12 times. Even somebody who's in trouble, I still treat them how I would want me or my family treated.” Cory Nicholas, officer
“In the long run, it’s what you learn and not how well you do on the test. Tests don’t measure how smart you are.” Chonzie Bhota, 9
“My best friend’s dad would always say, ‘Hey, you gotta follow through.’ If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you’re going to do something, don’t do it halfassed. Follow through.” Matt Mowen, counselor
“Keep an open mind because you never know what to expect… Try not to always be looking ahead so much because I feel like the high school kids are always like ‘next step next year, next year, college,’ atime being young, because it goes by fast.” Lesley Lundeen, counselor “Marching band is cooler than it looks at first.” Elaine Smith, 9
9/16
“A lot of people think that living life is a set meaning that other people determine for you.” Lucius Wang, 11
“We often set a plan for our life and it’s never going to go as you planned. But your path is going to twist and turn and go up and down. Just ride it, and trust that you are going to get to where you need to be.” Becky Roetto, teacher
“I would tell juniors not to stress out. I think other things in life are more important. It’s better to focus all of your energy into relationships and actually learning.” Helen Magowan, 12
In a school environment, it’s easy to think that everything we can learn here at Fairview surrounds academics. However, we can also learn life lessons. With every passing year comes the chance to grow and learn from mistakes and an opportunity to pass on that wisdom to others. Whether or not people choose to take advice is their prerogative, but learning from each other’s experiences can help us grow as a community. Learning from our peers builds a relationship between who we are now and who we want to be. We asked a handful of people in the Fairview community to give us the best advice they have ever received or the best advice they could give. Some responses will make you laugh, and others might even teach or inspire you.
“Don’t freak out. Chill, just chill.” Emeshe Amade, 12
“Don’t give up, always give one hundred percent and in the end it will be easy.” Daniel Torres, 10
A DV I C E BETWEEN GRADES
By Sara Mccrea @sara_mccrea and Grace Hedlund @RBgraceh
ARE WE TOO TO OUR GUNS “The FBI has reported a record of over 23 million background checks performed in 2015.”
23,000,000
“The United Kingdom [...] outlawed the use of guns by civilians completely in 1997. Since the ban, violent crime (sexual offences, assaults, robberies, and homicides) has increased by 77%.”
“63 percent [of people] say that having a gun in the house makes it safer, 30% say it’s more dangerous, and 7% are undecided.”
10/16
O CLOSE NS? By Michal Olesiak @RBmichalolesiak and Jaxson Whittle Infographics by Cameron Walsh
Civilian militias were critical in winning the independence of America. Guns have been valued as symbols of freedom and protection from 1776 till today. It’s even written into the Constitution that Americans have the right to bear arms. But is the liberty to bear arms more valuable than the three unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Which to 14 people in San Bernardino, 9 people in Roseburg, 3 people in Colorado Springs, and 9 people in Charleston have been taken away. 440 other people also lost those rights in 2015 due to mass shootings, and 64 out of the 372 mass shootings in 2015 were done in schools, according to EveryTown Research. And even though 8,124 crimes were committed with a firearm, according to the 2010-2014 FBI crime report, 63% of Americans say that having a gun in the house makes it safer, 30% say it’s more dangerous, and 7% are undecided, according to a Gallup poll. Americans have an immensely strong connection to their guns, but that relationship has started to become ever more toxic. The current American obsession with guns has become a national addiction rather than a cultural value, and it costs people their lives every day. Gun control isn’t some idealistic concept that only works in fiction novels. After a mass shooting at Port Arthur in 1996, the Australian conservative government began passing gun control laws, and now, according to the New York Times, the rate of gun suicides per 100,000 people dropped by 65% from 1995 to 2006, and the rate of gun homicides fell by 59%. Gun control is now more necessary than ever. The second amendment says, “...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” But it also calls for a “well regulated militia.” Standoffs between armed groups and the authorities like the Oregon occupation are not the sign of a wellregulated militia. Times have changed, the US is now the number one military force, a civilian militia won’t win another revolution, but the influx of guns required and desired by this “militia” will kill more citizens. Gun control isn’t a debate anymore. It’s the solution. // By Michael Olesiak
YES
NO
11/16
When the British attempted to take away our rights in 1776, the people of colonial America responded in a decisive way: revolution. Americans’ ability to own and bear arms against the British was critical in obtaining freedom from tyranny. Thus our founding fathers wrote the right to own and bear arms into the Constitution as a way for citizens to protect themselves from those who would seek to do them harm. Today, the government infringes on this right constantly. On January 5th, President Barack Obama gave an executive order attempting to strengthen gun control laws, specifically through curtailing the sale of firearms, the President’s latest attempt at cracking down on gun violence. The attempts have backfired, however, as the FBI has reported a record of over 23 million background checks performed in 2015. Obama’s attempts at gun control are only the beginning, however, and in the future, it is possible that Congress could further attempt to restrict or even ban the purchase and use of firearms. However, banning guns does not correlate with lower crime levels, a common excuse used by gun control advocates. Take the United Kingdom, which outlawed the use of guns by civilians completely in 1997. Since the ban, violent crime (sexual offences, assaults, robberies, and homicides) has increased by 77%, according to The Telegraph. There is a negative correlation with gun ownership and violent crime throughout the world, according to a study published by Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. From Japan to Switzerland to the U.S., more guns means less crime. Even Australia, who touts a decrease in crime after disarming their citizens, can’t produce contrary statistics as their homicide rate was already plunging in the decade preceding their ban on guns. Not only do guns decrease crime, but most guns used in crimes are not obtained legally. Only about one-fifth of guns used by criminals are obtained legally according to the National Justice Reference Service, which means that the guns that cause crimes wouldn’t be affected gun restrictions or a ban. On the other side of the argument, liberals and gun control proponents have taken a position based on emotion instead of facts. These people use mass shootings as a reason to limit the sale and type of firearms allowed, and while these shootings are tragic and must be stopped, banning guns is not the answer. If a killer wants to kill people they will find a way to do so, with or without guns. Sandy Hook and the Aurora theater shooting could have just as easily happened with a dirty bomb as with a gun. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” // By Jaxson Whittle
Can’t Buy Me
L OV E By Evan Derby @EvanDerby_fhsrb
A
s Valentine’s Day approaches, you might be pressured into watching “The Notebook”. Movies play a large role in how we view relationships and the idea of romance. Unfortunately, lots of romantic movies are bad, both in movie-making quality and implied messages. Relationship movies are some of the most prolific movies in society’s collective consciousness and some of the most profitable movies ever. This means most relationship movies aren’t built to be movies - they’re built to be money generating machines. In order to make as much money as possible, these movies are often bland and safe in their themes. Exposure to these movies can dull our acceptance to non-traditional relationships and twist our ideas of what traditional relationships should be like.
The Money Makers
$ THE NOTEBOOK $ This movie represents an ideal “mom” movie: full of cliches and extremely sappy. The plot is blatantly manipulative. “The Notebook” also suffers from the second symptom of “mom” movies: it completely ignores a central tenet of relationships, sex. However, in the movie, all the characters want to do is kiss in the rain and go on boat rides with swans.
$ 50 SHADES OF GREY $ Where do I even get started with this one? Now, so far we’ve looked at some worse movies made for profit, and some good movies made to tell stories and for their artistic value. However, only greed on a colossal scale could lead the movie industry to create this monstrosity. This movie is cinematic excrement and a middle finger to strong female characters and good writing. The screenplay was adapted from Twilight fan-fiction, so the writing is awful. It’s softcore porn, but without the great plot and characters that “Game of Thrones” has. The main protagonist, Anastasia Steele, exists only as Grey’s plaything, and is a hilariously weak female character. Grey uses cultish methods to entice Steele into the wacky sex scenes, making the relationship shown in the movie nothing less than abusive. In short, “Fifty Shades” is an affront to “regular” and “alternate” relationships alike. Please don’t go see the two planned sequels. 12/16
The Love Makers
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS This movie succeeds where “The Notebook” fails because it is realistic about the presence of sex in relationships. Sure, it carries the cliches of other romantic comedies, but it also understands the characters’ chief interest in each other. For most of the movie, sex is what drives the plot; real trouble starts when the characters realize just how complicated romantic relationships can be. Such marked interest in being different sets “Love and Other Drugs” above “The Notebook”s low fantasy.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN When so many movies are made to be watched by a broad demographic, we can lose focus of what other relationships might look like. Luckily, movies that break away from this trend are often well made. This movie confronts us with one of the most genre and trope-defying stories ever. It helps that it’s also a really good movie itself. How trope-defying is “Brokeback Mountain”? This movie takes the staple of American manhood, the cowboy, makes him gay, and throws him at the feet of society and says, “look, this is what you’re doing.” The story isn’t manipulative. It’s not only for your mom and it’s not trying to please anyone. It’s a great relationship movie because it teaches us something about relationships other than what we want to learn about.
spot the difference Can you spot the 10 differences between these two photos?
by Noah Finer @RBNoahFiner
5 Years and counting
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I1l (
by Molly Box @mollybox
Relationships started at ages 1214 usually last around five months. Wyatt and Olivia have been strong for 12 times the average. Kate Fogarty, “Teens and Dating,” Education.com.
If you’ve ever attended a FHS boys’ soccer game, you’ve seen the guys often dominating the field, dedicated friends and parents in the stands, and Olivia Kois standing on the sidelines cheering for number twelve. “She comes to all my soccer games,” said boyfriend Wyatt Dessel said about his girlfriend Olivia Kois, who he’s been dating for over 5 years. “We met at outdoor ed in seventh grade. We dominated the canoeing trip,” said Olivia. “He asked me out a while after that in the hallway, after Spanish class.” The devoted couple has been going strong since then. What’s Wyatt’s favorite thing about Olivia? “Everything.” he said. Wyatt and Olivia are possibly better known around Fairview as 2015’s Homecoming Queen and King. “We didn’t care if we won or not, but it was so special,” said Olivia. “It was sort of like a mini reward for being together so long.”
14/16
For this couple, “so long” has been five years. The vast majority of high school relationships last an average of two years; Olivia and Wyatt have been dating for more than double that. At a glance, Olivia and Wyatt are picture perfect high school sweethearts, spending afternoons together paddle boarding and skiing. But it takes a lot more then becoming homecoming queen and king to sustain such a successful relationship. So what is the key to dating during a time as difficult as high school? Wyatt and Olivia are not only dating, they’re best friends. “They are such a fun-loving couple, [and] they’re best friends. They make each other better,” said Olivia’s younger sister, sophomore Lily Kois. “He just makes her so happy,” added senior Bryn Redal, a close friend of the couple. “He brings out the fun loving side of her. When school gets hard, or they’re in a tough situation, they’re always there for each other.”
Photo donated by Olivia Kois
2010
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2016
Photo by Cameron Walsh
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