The Antlerette Issue 2 October 2018

The Antlerette October 2018 Volume 93 Issue 2

brutality, discrimination against minorities, and the need for racial equality.

Overall, both the novel and film have great hype and reviews, but as I perused various book reviews and the YouTube comments on trailers, I noticed that there are some out there who are taking the story’s message the wrong way. Some say that the story is just “white-hate”– another film centered around people of color that makes white people out to be the villains of the story. Some people are trying to advertise The Hate U Give as a “black story”, implying that people of other races– especially whites–don’t have a right to watch/read it. Both points of view are completely wrong. Evil is not a skin color.

Not every white person is an intolerant racist, the same way not every black person is a gangster. We, as a diverse society, need to be more accepting of all races so we can all live as equals. All lives matter.

We start by respecting other races and people for their differences and speaking up in others’ failure to do so. We cannot just let injustice reoccur; if we do, all our efforts to change things are futile. In The Hate U Give novel, a character makes a few racist comments which are intended to be jokes. However, these comments are still hurtful to the characters they are geared towards. We hear a racist joke and know it’s wrong, but we laugh anyway, because it’s a “joke”. We’re supposed to laugh… right?

Realizing this dilemma, the protagonist, Starr, says, “We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us. What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in

THUG LIFE in Real Life Jordan Ritchie, Business Manager T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E: The Hate U Give Little Infants F***s Everybody. It’s a vulgar message to be spreading around, but an important one. The phrase was turned into an acronym by late rapper, Tupac Shakur, which brought a whole new meaning to the words: by [society] feeding hate and negativity into the minds of kids, they buy into that hatred and bring it full circle.

Society expects kids to accept our world of oppression, discrimination, injustice, etc. so kids act out and spit out all of that negativity they were fed back into society.

One of the forms that negativity takes on is racism. Angie Thomas focuses heavily on this topic in her breakout youngadult novel, The Hate U Give–inspired by Tupac’s acronym–which has now been adapted into a critically acclaimed film. It holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and stars Amandla Stenberg as the protagonist.

The movie is spectacular and does its novel the justice it deserves and carries out the message it portrays very well. The Hate U Give tells the story of a black sixteen-year old named Starr who witnesses her friend getting shot by a white police officer. As Starr is forced to face the ramifications of the traumatic incident, she must learn to speak out against the injustice and take a stand in her community.

In her novel, Angie Thomas brings up some important topics that are very relevant in today’s world. The list is endless, but some major ones include police 1

those moments you shouldn’t be?” (Thomas 252). This is a situation that has been going on too long that we are all guilty of contributing to. At one point in our lives, we’ve all said something deemed offensive, no matter how insignificant it may have felt at the time–especially if it was unintentional.

In this case, ignorance is bliss. What we don’t know, doesn’t hurt us, but it’s probably hurting someone else.

Now, I’m very proud to be of biracial culture, being both Asian and African American, or as I like to call it– belonging to the “best of both [minority] worlds”. Therefore, it pains me to see fellow minorities–and anyone else who faces discrimination–being mistreated. And though things are being done to change this, the progress is slow. We have long been waiting at a stand-still. So when will things get better? When will it all change? How much longer will equality be on standby?

The answer is simple: when we, as a society learn to open our arms wide to all people, no matter their race, social status, or situation in life; when we stop giving hate, rather than love; when we follow Tupac’s advice, “We gotta start makin’ changes.

Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers…”

Things will change for the better.

I’ve witnessed proof of that. As I watched The Hate U Give in theaters, what I experienced that night could only be described as beautiful. I looked all around me and I saw blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, and various other races. I heard the sobs and laughter that echoed in the theater as this diverse audience became

immersed in the story. I felt an intense sensation circulate in the room, emanating from each and every person in the theater. I still can’t put my finger on the name of that feeling, but it was the complete opposite of hate. It was warmth, compassion… unity.

If we start using our voices to speak words of love, not hate; using our arms for embracing, not assaulting; and by taking a stand, things will change.

We can change...together.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hate_U_Gi ve:

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Isle of Dogs, Another Gem from Wes

of Dogs, making for a well-rounded and often hilarious cast.

The cast combines with the skillful use of stop motion animation, a filming style that implements Claymation to create a precise and thoughtful style. The typical elements of Anderson’s work can be identified in the film, as well, specifically Anderson’s mastery of symmetry and color.

Overall, Isle of Dogs is another stroke of genius from Wes Anderson, enabling him to continue his unfaltering streak.

Anderson Emily Kennedy, Editor in Chief

As Wes Anderson continues to create movies his audience is confronted with a question. With each new masterpiece, viewers are left in awe of the precise cinematography, use of vibrant colors, and quirky character development that Anderson implements with an unnatural consistency.

Over the years, his audience was only bound to develop an unease upon entering the theater with each new release. How is it possible for Wes Anderson to produce films of this impressive caliber on such a regular basis? When is he going to run out of his bizzaro ideas? He has been directing movies since the early 90’s, and not once has he come out with a film lacking in his distinct style. As Wes Anderson enthusiasts across the globe venture to theaters to see Anderson’s new film, Isle of Dogs, they may enter with this fear, but they will most definitely not leave with it.

Isle of Dogs takes place on an island off the coast of Japan, in which dogs who’ve contracted a mystery dog disease are separated from Japanese society. The island is referring to as garbage island, a term inspired by the heaps of trash that arrive daily and compose a majority of the island.

The story follows a young boy named Atari as he journeys to the island in search of his lost dog, Spots. A quest of sorts ensues, as Atari meets a group of dogs who agree to assist in the matter of both finding Spots, as well as finding a cure for the disease they’re afflicted with.

These dogs are voiced by Anderson’s infamously included actors, such as Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton and Bryan Cranston. Regardless of whether the film is created using stop motion animation or Anderson’s traditional stunning cinematography, these actors always seem to play a role. Their distinctive voices are complemented by the style of Isle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Dogs_(fil m)

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Why Is Halloween Dying?

Esmée Teresi, Staff

everyone celebrated. Everyone wanted to know what their friends were going to be and it was not odd to walk up to a stranger’s house asking for candy. While these things are not uncommon and different these days, the tradition of Halloween isn’t nearly as popular as it once was. In reading an article written by The Chicago Tribune’s Christopher Borrelli, he mentioned that it seems to be a common practice for young children to go to gatherings and flock to places designated to Halloween festivities whether that be a neighbor’s house or a church. As someone living across the street from an elementary school I can second Borrelli’s claim; while children will be out walking around and trick or treating, a lot of them can be found playing games and celebrating at their school.

It can also be assumed that the day of the week that Halloween falls on may impact people's willingness to pass out candy for hours. People wake up early on weekdays and may want to get into bed before 10 P.M. But if it falls on a Friday or Saturday people may be more inclined to stay up later and join in on the festivities. In our modern society being antisocial is widely expected with our day to day lives revolving around technology. This means that now, more than ever, people may opt to just stay in and watch a movie and grab a bag of candy to eat without the hassle of going house to house. Either way the holiday is celebrated, it seems that even though trick or treaters may not be as bountiful as they once were, there is still plenty of celebration going on, maybe just in a more evolved way.

As the month of October approaches, the weather begins to cool down and we see pumpkins and scarecrows, and the first inklings of fall. Then the end of the month nears and Halloween is here. However, in more recent years it seems like Halloween is dying and is not as heavily celebrated. And while ABC Family still continues with their 31 Nights of Halloween movie marathon and a Spirit Halloween store can be found in nearly every shopping center, it is not uncommon to wander dimly lit streets with houses not giving out candy on Halloween.

Seeing little kids all dressed up and excited to get candy, only to find that just a few houses on any given street are celebrating, is heartbreaking. People have lost the excitement and enthusiasm that Halloween used to bring. So what exactly has caused this goofy night of terror to cease in celebration?

As a young child, Halloween was an exciting time of year that seemingly

https://www.mnn.com/family/familyactivities/blogs/how-preserve-carvedpumpkin

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The Journey of Jaco and the Elk Azariah Martinez, Staff

Oregon. My dad said we should definitely head back to the car and not even look back at the creature. By the time we returned to the car, the sun was about to set and night was creeping up. I believe that what I saw in that forest and what scared those elk wasn’t a bear. I believe it was Sasquatch.

When we returned home, and I had service, I researched Bigfoot sightings. I noticed a lot of sightings were in Oregon, but not in The Lake of the Woods. Maybe my dad and I were the first people stupid enough to go into those tree filled, snowy woods.

The existence of Sasquatch is a widely debated topic among archaeologists, historians, and even scientists. Many people throughout the world claim they have seen the fabled beast. However, a large portion of those people go by their memory of their experience and have no real evidence. I myself believe in the creature due to a past experience.

My family and I went to Klamath Falls, Oregon to celebrate Christmas so there was a lot of snow and many of new things to do. It was Christmas day and after we finished eating, we wanted to go do something fun, so we went to the forest and had a snowball fight. The forest was called The Lake of the Woods and it indeed was a peculiar place. Beforehand, we ventured into the forest to see exactly how far we should go into the woods and what we could see.

All we found was an tree surrounded by ice and a few icicles. However, when we finished the snowball fight, due to my brothers throwing ice, we had to leave.

On the journey back to our room at the timeshare, my dad spotted some wild elk, so immediately he pulled to the side of the road to get his camera. My brothers were in trouble and my dad was mad at them, so I, of course, was the one who went with my dad to take pictures. The sun was still up when we went about a mile into the woods to get some nice pictures of the wild elk.

When my dad was taking his pictures, we noticed that the elk ran away even though they couldn’t see or hear us. I then noticed a creature hunched over as if it was looking at the elk, perhaps trying to hunt them. When I first noticed it, I said nothing to my dad and just started walking back to the car. That’s when I noticed the creature again and mentioned it to my dad. The creature stood upright and I could tell from how far we were that it was relatively tall. Now, I know what a bear looks like, and I have never seen a gorilla that tall nor skinny, especially in

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/o utdoors/xtreme_idaho/

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Origins of Samhain Hannah Villarreal, Editor

aside from Halloween. The offerings of food to spirits became leaving out candy for kids to come fetch in the middle of the night.

Dressing as animals to disguise yourself from evil spirits has become dressing up as your favorite movie character. Even the monsters have changed. The only monster that is still involved in Halloween from Celtic history is the Headless Horseman, originally known as the Dullahan. Witches, mummies, vampires, werewolves, zombies, and Frankenstein have nothing to do with the original Samhain. These differences should be more important and recognized because while it may just be Halloween, it is still history that has been severely changed.

With the loss of this holiday, it may be the start of other holidays losing their true meaning.

To fully understand the meaning behind Halloween and its seemingly odd traditions, you have to understand what it’s centered around. Halloween was originally called Samhain, a mythological figure that represented all that was evil and surprisingly, a Gaelic festival. Samhain was created about 2,000 years ago in Ireland, representing the winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year, beginning on October 31st and ending midday on November 1st. During this period of time, people believed the line between the physical and spiritual world would become thin enough for spirits to interact more with humans. Due to this belief among the Celtics, to protect themselves from the monsters of the underworld, they would prepare food offerings for the spirits and disguise themselves as animals or spirits to avoid being kidnapped by the actual monsters among them.

The more specific monsters connected to the mythology of Samhain are Pukah, Lady Gwyn, the Faery Hosts, and the Dullahan, who were believed to be a death omen if seen and would sometimes appear before humans as headless men riding flame-eyed horses.

All these traditions eventually combined into the holiday we know as Halloween. While some traditions have stayed, others have been completely cast

We Be Stressing Joshua Omoruyi, Staff Stress. Anyone who's been in high school for at least a week or two knows about this. We all at one time or another have been completely stressed out.

Specifically though, what is stress and since we can’t get rid of it, what can students do to deal with it?

According to the American Psychological Association, the healthy stress level of an individual is 3.6. The national average, however, is 5.6 and it rises up to 5.8 during the school season. This is almost twice the highest it should be! 42% of students say that they expect their stress levels to rise in the upcoming year and 30% feel depressed due to stress. In actuality stress is nothing more than your body's way of responding to a demand (positive or negative) and releasing chemicals throughout your body. This in itself isn’t bad, as we need stress to survive, but just like any other chemical in your body, an oversupply is dangerous. An oversupply of these chemicals can cause many health problems including a weak immune system,

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2 017/10/8-ways-to-celebrate-samhain/ 6

depression, brain damage, and many other physical and mental problems.

With all that information, what can we do to lower our levels of stress? One big piece of advice that's often not told is to accept that you will make mistakes and fail at times. Once in a while, you will forget your homework, fail a test, do something embarrassing, or lose a game. Yes, none of these are good, and hurt, but blowing them out of proportion is worse. We all do this and have many other chances, so there is no reason to act like the world is going to end from one small event.

Another one, even though many hate it, is exercise. You don't have to do a full workout routine, but going for walks, playing sports, and working out once in a while has proven to improve health and reduce the stress of individuals. Along with exercise is sleep. Everyone knows that you need 8 hours of sleep a night. This is easier said than done. Some ways to catch up on sleep are to sleep in on the weekends, control your media use before bed, and to once in a while, sacrifice homework for sleep (not always though).

One other important thing is communication. You need to have constant communication with your parents, teachers, and friends. If one of these people is not ready to help you, talk to someone else, like your counselor or grandparents. With a constant flow of communication, the people around you know what everyone else expects and can make better compromises and make it easier for you and them. One last little thing that greatly reduces stress levels is pets. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, pets help provide a sense of security and provide emotional and social support. If you have a pet, play or cuddle with it before or after you do something that causes you stress. If you don’t have one, you can volunteer at a shelter or set up a system with a friend who has one.

Without a doubt, high school will stress you out, so it is important to have

methods like these and others to lessen the level of the stress you experience. Doing so will cause the campus to become a better and less tense place for the students and staff. If you need professional help, please talk to your counselor or another trusted adult.

https://www.hercampus.com/school/ ycp/tips-know-and-remember-moving-out

Importance of ADHD Vivian Scherrer, Staff ADHD is an diagnosable, incurable, attention hyperactivity disorder. ADHD became well known as a mental disorder in the late 1960’s, although the symptoms have been assessed since 1902 and were discovered by a British pediatrician named Sir George Still. 6.1% of American children are being treated for the disorder with prescribed medication.

In 2006, October became the official ADHD awareness month. There are events and activities in not only America, but all over the world. People who suffer from the condition of ADHD most commonly suffer from these symptoms: short attention span, body movement, bad memory, and difficulty following instructions.

Over the past 8 years, the diagnoses for ADHD has gone up 42% . Since the percentage of those who suffer from ADHD went up that high over the past 8 years, many are wondering how people get ADHD or what kind of people suffer from this disorder. Most people say that people can get ADHD from too much screen time.

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People also say that kids can get it from lack of discipline or a chaotic family life.

People all over the world suffer from this mental disorder, so there are medications for it. There is no cure for it, but people may take medications to help with the symptoms. The most common ADHD medication are stimulants. They have the longest record for treating ADHD and have the most research to back up its effectiveness. Overall, ADHD is something many people suffer from, but there is hope that proper treatment will allow suffers to live a full life.

many as 2 to 3 percent of children between 6 and 12 may have serious depression, and 6 to 8 percent of teens as well. There are stigmas involved against these statistics saying that children are just being lazy, which is most likely the reason for about 80% of kids with depression not getting the proper treatment.

Another argument against homework is that it’s an outdated concept. It was originally outlawed in the U.S. because the government didn’t see a real need for the population to get a higher education. It wasn’t until after the Cold War where the country was in need of more scientists that would require higher education and homework became a regular for the common child. According to Vokka.com, the amount of work has been doubled since 1981.

Because of this, many parents and kids have acknowledged the fact that times have changed and there are not as many reasons to force them to do this much. Recent studies show that 90 to 120 minutes of homework has been detrimental to students’ learning, too. The more homework needed to do, the less effort the student puts into it.

With all of this in mind, most likely nothing will change because there are not as many people speaking out about this. It will have to take a whole organization or social group to protest, but too many are accustomed to it so there are no apparent reasons to change anything. Although as times change, eventually everything will.

http://raisingtheextraordinary.com/adhdmedication/why-we-chose-medication-totreat-adhd-1/

Would No Homework Be Beneficial?

Daniel Thomas, Staff Homework has been given out for so long that it has become second nature for students. A lot of us accept it as something you just have to get it done, but there has been continuous debate on whether or not homework should be given. For most schools, children at the age of 8 are given a comparable amount of work to what most adults have to do for their jobs. Parents have argued that homework and studying are common causes of anxiety and depression in their children.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, as

http://store.teachers-choice-plus.com/nohomework-pass.html

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Benefits of Going To College Tess Sommer, Design Manager

to go in life, which is why high schoolers, like us, should choose to go to college.

Colleges expect so much out of young people nowadays. Previously, teenagers only had to worry about getting good grades to get into college. Now, to get accepted to their dream university, teens have to get good grades; become involved in their community; extracurriculars; sports; get good scores on the SAT and ACT. There are tons of things that you, as a teenager, have to do to prepare for college. As much as preparing for college stinks, there are positives about going to college.

Once you are in college, you can have complete control of your classes. In high school, you have to go to six classes, seven hours a day. While in college, your classes can be as infrequent as two days a week, based on the career choice you would like to pursue.

You have the ability to take classes that will actually benefit your future instead of useless ones. Of course, in your first two years of college you may have to make up classes from high school. In college, you don’t have to ask your teacher, “When am I ever going to use this in real life?”

Another positive thing about going to college is that you can graduate earlier; you are able to graduate college earlier if you take AP college courses in high school and earn college credits. Doing this will allow you to graduate early and to skip a few of those unnecessary classes and years of college. Taking AP courses in high school will make colleges more eager to admit you.

A final positive about going to college is you’ll get higher job pay than if you only graduate high school. Many resources say that if you go to college, you are more likely are accepted in job interviews, earn more money, and be less likely to be unemployed in the future.

College is a fun experience to explore growing up and becoming independent and choosing where you want

https://nashuproar.org/774/opinion/advice/c ollege-application-checklist/

Benefits of Changing the School Starting Times AdriAnna Delabra, Staff For all students in California who attend public school from kindergarten to high school today, ¾ of the schools start before 8:30am. The question is, would starting school at a later time improve the overall well-being of the students? The wellbeing of students is important. Psychological, physical, and social health are major factors in students’ lives and can very well affect their academics in a negative or positive manner.

Currently, there is a debate on whether to start school times earlier or later in California, while some schools in Davis and Sacramento have already been set to start at later times. Many parents are against later school times for fear of their child not being supervised in the morning or having to walk to school while they are at work. There is also the concern that the later the start time is, the later their kids will get out of school, leaving less time for extracurricular activities.

While other parents who have experienced their child going through high school have recognized that their children 9

are sleep deprived. As a result, this affected not only their academics, but their overall health as well. Personally, as each year passed by in high school, it seems the less sleep I got. Juggling six classes a day, including AP’s, I would come home after an eight hour school day to do four more hours of homework for each of my classes. I wake up before 6 am every day to get ready and take my siblings to school and still barely make it to my own school by 7:55 am. This left me stressed, sleep deprived and did not help my mental health issues at all, only making them worse; my schedule left little to no time for myself.

I think there could be an argument made to start high school and middle school times at a later time and keep the elementary times the same. As high school and middle school students have more classes and responsibilities then those of elementary students. This will also benefit the parents of elementary students as they can make sure their child is safe at the school before they head to work.

surprisingly relatable to the audience. The way they are said, and the way they portray a picture in the mind is usually in a calm and smooth manner. Even harsh or sinister poems have that graceful touch of darkness on the mind. It is nothing sudden and nothing alarming either. We are eased into what the words are trying to present. The long and graceful words, are seen as used by the intelligent and successful. William Shakespeare’s poems are a great example of how he uses words in such an odd yet rewarding way. Poems like Sonnet 18, the very first line reads, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Supposedly, there is surprise as to how these complex words somehow connect to us. Even those who do not see themselves as smart, find that these words connect to them.

There are some poems that use the language style that we are more accustomed to. However, you might find that the poems with a more unusual writing style, might be more fetching to read and reflect on.

Power Behind Poetry Darian Toca, Staff Poetry has existed for ages among in this world. It has changed in many ways over the years, and has touched many people’s hearts. To some, nowadays, many might find it very odd and difficult to understand. Being a poet myself, I can see how poetry can tend to stray away from our average, everyday way of speaking, but if we manage to break down the words into something we understand, we realize how relatable or how powerful the piece can be.

But it is usually in complex wording, so how and why does it pull the heartstrings of so many people?

There may be many explanations as to why more complex words are seen as poetic, but from my experience, it is the words we don’t hear that often, that are long and graceful in a way, that can be 10