February 2016

THE STINGER IISSUE 4

VOLUME 41

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FEBRUARY 2016

EMMAUS MOURNS THE LOSS OF COOPER WERTMAN

Emmaus Triangle Emmaus Hotel

Photos of the Morning Call and Lehigh Valley Live.

Colleen Grablick Editor-in-chief In Emmaus, Pennsylvania, rated one of the top 100 places to live in the United States, a 19-year-old man lost his life in a brutal stabbing the night of Feb. 9.

Cooper Wertman, who attended Emmaus High School and earned his GED in 2015, died in Lehigh Valley Hospital around 10:21 p.m. according to news reports, after Steve Dreisbach, 24, stabbed him multiple times.

The crime occurred at the Emmaus Hotel, a block away from the Emmaus Triangle, which had just hosted Snowblast the weekend before Wertman’s death.

News of the tragedy shook the Emmaus community, including current students and those who graduated.

Maura Benner, a 2015 graduate and now a student at Ithaca College, felt complete shock when reading of Wertman’s death during her lunch.

“I was alone and on Facebook, and I saw someone from the Class of ‘15 had shared a link to an article about a stabbing in Emmaus,” Benner said. “The picture with the link I recognized immediately as a place I pass all the time when I’m home.”

Although Benner did not personally know Wertman very well, the news of

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losing a classmate still shook her.

“And then when I was reading the article, they said the victim was Cooper Wertman, and I just froze. I could feel the blood drain from my face and I had to read the line over again to make sure I read it right,” Benner said.

Sierra Hill, who met Wertman in eighth grade, described him as

ing we were both fulfilling our education elsewhere, we kept in contact,” Hill said.

Hill was at work when she heard the news of Wertman’s death, and like many others who knew him, the loss came as a great shock.

“I saw his name and I was just frozen,” Hill said. “I couldn’t believe it, and I couldn’t focus for the rest of the day. I

graduate, shared three classes with Wertman over the course of her high school career.

“We weren’t ‘BFFs’ by any stretch, but he was always sincere and funny, and an all around good person,” Draklellis said. “I was glad to know him.”

According to Draklellis, Wertman’s loss will be felt by the class of 2015, even though they no longer walk the halls together.

“After Cooper’s death, a lot of my friends from high Erifili Draklellis, 2015 EHS graduate school and I got to talking about him,” was just with him the week prior.”

Draklellis said. “I think we can all agree For Hill, she will always remember that he was underestimated. People never Wertman as the jokester who could really valued him as much as they should always make her laugh, no matter the have. His personality was definitely the circumstance. greatest thing about him, but more than “ The first thing that comes to mind that he was a smart kid with a lot of when I think of Cooper is how funny he friends and hobbies.” was,” Hill said. “He has never failed to Dreisbach was arrested by police who make me laugh even when I would try to say that he admitted to killing Wertman. be serious.”

Police charged him with a single count of Even those who did not share close homicide. friendships with Wertman can attest Wertman’s funeral services were to his strong personality and likeable privte. sense of humor. Erifili Draklellis, a 2015

He was always sincere and funny, and an all-around good person. I was glad to know him. a class clown, one who could always put a smile on someone’s face.

“My first impression of him was ‘this guy is a clown’...in a good way,” Hill said. “I always thought he was so funny and didn’t care what people thought of him.”

After knowing Wertman for over six years, the two developed a very strong friendship. She began cyber school around the time that Wertman decided to leave EHS to pursue his academic goals through earning his GED. “I went to cyber school and consider-

THE MINORITY REPORT

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THE LIFE OF PABLO REVIEW

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The Stinger

Colleen’s Corner

Caring is Creepy “One day I’ll be wondering how I got so old just wondering how I never got cold wearing nothing in the snow.”

These lyrics can be found at the end of “Caring is Creepy,” a popular song off The Shins’ “Oh, Inverted World” album.

Most of the music I listen to I enjoy because of the lyrics, and these particular lyrics struck a chord with me. Pun sort-of intended.

I don’t know if it’s like this out in the real world, and I really hope it’s not, but in high school there’s this stigma of not caring. By the time students reach senior year, it’s not normal to care about school anymore. We’re all leaving soon. It’s pointless to waste your time worrying about that calculus test or those two missed homework assignments. None of this is going to matter in six months. Most of us are moving away from our hometown, and some of us are planning to never look back.

But I’ve observed that this idea of “not caring” runs much deeper than the simple, overly cliched joke of “senioritis.”

It seems like not caring about anything, not just schoolwork, is starting to become the norm. It’s hard to put into words how I observe this, but I do and I think other people do too, so I’m going to try.

Take for example, high school relationships. I’ve overheard conversations regarding long-term couples, where someone has said “Why would you want to waste a year or two of your high school career with the same person?”

I’ll tell you why. Real relationships, whether platonic or romantic, involve giving up some of yourself to someone else. Once they see those little parts of you that you like to keep hidden, you’ve given them something you won’t get back. They have a tiny bit of you now. That favorite song of yours that you played for them, the lines of your favorite book that you read them, those intricate pieces that make you “you,” aren’t just yours anymore. You’ve let them into your world. You cared. And that’s why it hurts in a very distinct way when friendships and relationships end. The interaction stops, the texts, the tweets, the hanging out. That’s all gone. But the songs, the books, the moments will always be there to remind you of the parts of you that aren’t just yours anymore. That’s why relationships are worth it. You get hurt, but you learn to live with it. You learn how to care about someone, give someone a part of you, even if they don’t care about you in return.

Today though, it’s not “cool” to do that.

Today, it’s easier “casually” hang out with someone.

You don’t share those little parts of yourself because that would require caring too much. You don’t let them know why you’re terrified of heights or why Ariel is your favorite Disney princess. The less you care, the less chance you have of getting hurt.

I understand that high school isn’t meant to be serious, and not every relationship has to end in marriage, but I can’t help but feel frustrated when I see the Tumblr posts and hear the emo-alternative rock songs about being jaded and cold. It’s as if the less emotion you feel, the better off you are.

“One day I’ll be wondering how I got so old just wondering how I never got cold wearing nothing in the snow.”

I’m not an expert on analyzing poetry, but I think the lyric speaks for itself. Wasting youth away pretending not to hurt or pretending not to care doesn’t help anything in the end. Sitting around a table holding red Solo cups having meaningless conversations about nothing won’t leave an impact. We shouldn’t be so afraid to discuss real things, to be human. I don’t know when the whole idea that “emotions make you weak” started, but it certainly needs to end. The genuine, beautiful people in this world are those who love, who care, and who hurt, but wrap it all up into little packages of memories that shape their lives.

High school is about learning and living. It’s hard to live ignoring every feeling, and it’s hard to learn when there are no deep emotions to learn from. So please, let yourself cry over the close friend that doesn’t look at you anymore in the hallway. Tell the boy you like why Ariel is your favorite Disney princess. Let yourself live, and let yourself hurt. Because caring is certainly not creepy.

Courtesy of Cathryn

Associate Editor Cathryn Seibert @athryncay

Editor-in-chief Colleen Grablick @collllsss

News Editor Lily Day @lilyyyy_d

Assistant News Editor Andrea Klick @aklick2000

Opinion Editor Sophia Wertz @wertz_sophia

Assistant Opinion Editor Angie Stein

Features Editor Rania Draklellis @ou_rania

Assistant Features Editor Izzy Wegner @wegnerisabella

Culture Editor Will Newbegin @free_willy98

Assistant Culture Editor Rachel McQuiston @rachelmcqq

Sports Editor Katie Mest @katiemest

Assistant Sports Editor Abby Moore

Sports Columnist Kyle Carraher

Convergence Editor Darsh Patel

Head Copy Editor Olivia Riccio @Liv120497

Photo Editor Lindsay Harner @lindsayharner

Adviser Denise Reaman

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Fieri Phenomenon There is one name within the realm of Food Network and popular culture that strikes both an immediate recognition and a palpable mirth in those who hear its resonance.

That is the name of Guy Fieri.

According to his website, Guy Fieri is a “chef, restaurateur, author” and the “host of Food Network’s top-rated show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” as well as other programs, but he is known for so much more than that.

The frosted tips. The backwards sunglasses. The outlandish catchphrases.

The simple mention of frosted tips in conversation evokes images of Guy Fieri shoving some greasy food from a hometown diner into his goatee-encircled mouth. And who wears their sunglasses like that? Only Guy Fieri. Those sunglasses have found their home, their nest, on the back of his head. Lastly, there are the loud one-liners he uses to describe how “off the hook” his grub tastes.

“That is the state bird of Flavortown, baby.”

“That’s dreamy and creamy.”

“This is a flavor temple.”

These are just a sampling of the many phrases he can whip out of his board shorts when the culinary occasion presents itself. And they are all easily identified as his.

Fieri has created a vernacular, an aesthetic, a “brand” for himself. Just like McDonald’s displays its big, yellow “M” and jingles off “I’m lovin’ it” in advertisements, Guy Fieri possesses his own symbols.

Frosted tips and multi-colored facial hair may never again be reclaimed as merely poor fashion decisions.

They belong to Guy Fieri now. Flavortown isn’t just some mythical, far-off land, it’s a signature Fieri destination.

The man has become a cultural icon.

Countless Fieri parody accounts on Twitter and Instagram have popped up. People photoshop his face together with figures like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and make edits of him in a variety of situations. One that I found strangely hilarious was an interpretation of the traditional Mother Mary and Christchild painting. In this rendition, though, Mary holds the baby Jesus, but in place of Jesus’s face, Guy Fieri’s holy countenance can be found. There is even a Guy Fieri Halloween costume.

As I write this at production, my friend Angeline is laughing while drawing a picture of Guy Fieri on the whiteboard with a dry-erase marker.

For some reason, so many people derive a strong enjoyment from anything Fieri. I guess he truly is supremely memetic and ubiquitous.

In about ninth grade, my friend and I became swept up in the Fieri phenomenon. We have had many a sleepover where we would stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching seemingly endless episodes of Triple D. Even though all of the episodes are pretty much the same, we didn’t get tired of watching Fieri eat all kinds of fatty fare and rattle off his sayings, then drive off in his red Camaro. It became a kind of tradition for us, and we’d always joke about the episodes we had watched afterwards.

For her birthday, we even went to Guy Fieri’s Mt. Pocono Kitchen. It was quite the experience, and the burger I ordered was as big as my face. I wouldn’t have expected anything less.

But in the end, I have to admit it wasn’t really about the food. We just wanted to go to Flavortown.

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NEWS EDITOR LILY DAY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR ANDREA KLICK

Emmaus makes major curricular changes

AP Psychology

EHS will offer Advanced Placement Psychology next school year. It is a full year course catered exclusively to seniors.

The Program of Studies describes it as “a rigorous and demanding course requiring students to have a strong work ethic, to read at a rigorous pace, and to complete a variety of writing based assignments.”

Laura Witman, the supervisor of Secondary Curriculum & Instruction, proposed adding AP Psychology.

“I approached the history department about it because I saw that it’s a general ed that’s often required by colleges,” Witman said.

History teacher Danielle Walsh trained last summer to prepare to teach the class.

Although it is part of the Social Studies department, Walsh believes that AP Psychology is more accurately described as a science course.

“Psychology is a science course... it’s not enough just to be interested in the topic, it’s really important that the skill base is there,” Walsh said. “The AP Psychology course spans so many different topics... It’s very heavy in statistics, so I would suggest that people have a very strong math background.”

In the Program of Studies, the course description says AP Psychology “does not meet social studies graduation requirements.” However, there is the possibility of changing the course from an elective to a class which fulfills a social studies credit. According to Witman, students have advocated for the change, and it is currently under discussion.

Walsh feels the advanced course should count for social studies credit.

“My opinion is because this is a college-level course, I personally feel that it would be advantageous to count as a social studies credit,” Walsh said.

Walsh believes that one aspect of the course that will make it difficult is that “it is very seldom that anyone has prior knowledge as to what psychology actually is and how it works.”

Walsh, who has a psychology degree

from Kutztown University, believes that the AP course is harder than the introductory psychology course she took in college. “[The AP Psychology course] encompasses subjects that honestly I did not learn until my sophomore year and in some cases even my junior year [in college], so it is very intense,” Walsh said.“[Psychology involves] a different way of thinking and I’m confident our students can do that, but I want them to be prepared.”

Photo by Andrea Klick.

Lily Day Andrea Klick News Editors On Dec. 14, the school board voted to introduce multiple curricular changes to EHS next school year.

Major changes include a new AP Psychology course, opening AP United States History to freshmen and restructuring the science department.

Freshmen in AP Classes

Additionally, EHS will allow freshmen to take AP United States History (APUSH), a course previously reserved for 10th to 12th graders. In years past, ninth graders were boxed into taking the American Studies I course at either a General Preparatory, College Preparatory, or Honors level to fulfill a social studies graduation requirement.

Pam Hunter, who teaches APUSH, encourages interested freshmen to take advantage of the college-level course.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the students who are interested in an even higher level course than what honors provides,” Hunter said.

Hunter believes the change allows “more flexibility” for ninth graders to explore “other AP history classes while they are here at the high school.”

Witman has observed that other school districts open the class to freshmen, and that they are “very successful in that.”

“One of the skills that they obviously need to do well in the AP U.S. as a freshman is writing and the ability to tackle document-based questions, so if students feel like they’re ready for that, it actually made more sense for us to open that up in the freshmen year,” Witman said.

Although some ninth graders face challenges when transitioning to high school, Hunter does not anticipate freshmen having problems in APUSH. “I personally don’t think they will have difficulty with AP U.S. since they were recommended by their eighth grade honors teachers,” Hunter said. “Those teachers know the expectations of AP U.S., so they would know if it was an appropriate placement.”

Hunter expects all students enrolled in APUSH “to be motivated and have good time management skills,” and she doesn’t plan on “changing the course to accommodate for the addition of ninth graders.”

Students work on a science lab.

Science Department Changes

The science department is undergoing several course changes, as well as introducing Science Pathways which will help students select future science classes.

These pathways, laid out in the Program of Studies, are “a recommended guide.” Pathways include the Biomedical Pathway, Career Ready Pathway and the Engineering Pathway.

Global Science Inquiry (GSI) is a new course that will be an option for incoming ninth graders. It is an integrated science course and incorporates “concepts of earth science, life science and physical science” according to the Program of Studies. GSI, a college preparatory course, is designed to give freshmen more options based on their strengths and weaknesses.

Biology is a course followed by a Keystone Exam. According to Witman, EPSD is in the minority of districts who make Biology mandatory for ninth graders.

“Students who are very strong in sciences can go still to Honors Biology,” Witman said, “but we want to get other students excited about science and also give them time to acquire some of the preskills... for the Bio Keystone.”

Science Department Chair Brent Ohl believes that GSI will help students score well on the Biology Keystone, as well as benefit them in future science classes.

“The plan is that this course will help students build scientific thinking and inquiry which is required for being successful on the Biology Keystone Exam,” Ohl said. “At the same time, GSI will help students gain an appreciation for science by exposing students to many aspects and

topics of science.”

Another option open to students with a strong math background would be to take STEM Physics Honors. This class must be taken at the same time as Principles of Engineering, part of Project Lead the Way (PLTW). PLTW, a nonprofit organization, offers a STEM curriculum model that features engineering courses, which Emmaus will implement next school year.

Currently, Eric Smith and Steven Braglio are trained to teach Introduction to Engineering Design and Principles of Engineering, respectively. These two classes are electives, but STEM Physics Honors counts as a science credit. All three courses are only available to incoming freshmen and sophomores. After a trial year, proponents of the program hope to add higher level courses that build off of skills gained in the foundational classes.

Examples of possible additions are Aerospace Engineering and Civil Engineering.

Science Fair, traditionally required for students taking Honors Biology, will no longer be mandatory. This change will occur in the middle schools as well.

Science teacher Debra Barthold thinks that due to the elimination of the science fair requirement, more students will take biology at the honors level.

“Over the years we have heard students say that they would have taken Honors Biology but due to a lot of their other commitments, they felt that they would not have had time to do a good job with the science fair project,” Barthold said.

Students interested in science fair will still be able to complete a project as part of a optional club.

“We’ll be able to actually mentor those students who really want to do a science fair project,” Barthold said.

Changes on the Horizon

These changes are just the beginning of course revisions in East Penn. According to Witman, the district is currently considering new courses including AP Language and Composition and AP Computer Applications. In addition, she says the social studies department is “the next major department under revision at the high school and middle school level.”

These curricular changes are contingent upon several factors.

“Right now I think we’re just really waiting for our budget to pass and get a better understanding of our staffing, and then also get course requests from the students to know what our next steps are,” Witman said.

Emmaus music groups go to district festivals and chorus and orchestra, [students are] all very serious.”

Senior Ryan Hynes, who has performed in the competitions for band, chorus and orchestra multiple times and went to the district competitions this year, agrees.

“The huge amount of practice everybody put[s] in before the festivals and during the rehearsals in the days leading up to the performances all [comes] together into a successful performance,” Hynes said. “That’s something special to be a part of.”

Other musicians, like senior Erica Haas who performed at district band and orchestra, enjoy challenging pieces.

“Specifically at district orchestra, we were able to play more traditional pieces by well known composers, like Tchaikovsky,” Haas said. “The level of musicianship at districts is really amazing.”

One of the other reasons that students enjoy going to districts, regionals and states is meeting kids from other schools who share their interest in music.

“I’ve met a lot of interesting people and friends that I still talk to on a regular basis,” Hynes said.

Junior Kevin Williams, who participated in the district band and chorus festivals, agrees.

“It’s always cool to meet kids from the other schools,” he said.

Overall, students have a positive experience with the competitions and many choose to participate multiple times throughout their high school career.

“They are great experiences and you really learn a lot

Photo courtesy of Millan Patel.

Chloe Gerhard News Contributor EHS is home to a number of successful music programs, including band, orchestra and Chorale.

Some members of these groups will attend regional competitions at the end of this month and early March.

The Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) holds separate annual music festivals for band, chorus and orchestra students. East Penn falls into PMEA District 10, encompassing schools from seven counties.

The festivals are held at district, regional and state levels. First, interested students audition to go to the district level and, if they are accepted, practice and perform at the districts festival with students from the other schools.

At the district level performances, which were held in January and early February, students have the option to do another audition. Some students move onto the regional level, where they perform with an even more selective group. The process repeats and students at regionals have the opportunity to move onto the state level. All three levels of competition offer students the unique opportunity to work with other skilled musicians and conductors that they normally would not be able to perform with.

EHS band director Ryan Harrington believes that the opportunity to work with other serious musicians is one of the main reasons that students enjoy the competitions.

“At any high school you have the really serious ones and the dabblers,” Harrington said. “[At] district band...

EHS students at district orchestra festival.

from the guest conductors,” Williams said.

Williams and Haas recommend that even those not involved in music programs watch the performances.

“It would be really cool for kids and staff to see them,” Williams said.

“Emmaus sends a lot more students than the average school to each festival, especially chorus, so chances are you would know someone performing,” Haas said.

Hynes appreciates the value of the PMEA festivals.

“They’re definitely a great way to see the talent of many hardworking students on display,” Hynes said. “It’s a great way to support musicians and the programs that taught them so many things over the years.”

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THE STINGER

FEBRUARY 2016

NEWS

The Minority

Data from East Penn School District website.

Courage

By Honghui Ren Ren, a sophomore, studies in the English as a Second Language program.

Two years ago when I live in China I never thought I would move to the United States. So when I went on the airplane I was excited about my place of live. Soon my mind changed to nervous, because in the airport my mom and I couldn’t talk to anybody. That made me very nervous. But we used sign language, it worked!

That’s an example of how no English made me nervous.

The second day I came here, I walked on the sidewalk. I was afraid of people talking to me, because I couldn’t talk in English.

Although I went to school, I was still scared to talk to people.

Soon later I changed again. I got some English from ESL class.

Little by little my English was getting better. ESL class did change me!

Now I know when you see the disappointments you can run away, but facing the disappointments head-on and beating them can let you grow. Also it doesn’t make you feel scared again. In my opinion, even if you fail the process it also makes you grow! So we should try facing the disappointments.

Never Give Up

By Melina Diaz Diaz, a junior, studies in the English as a Second Language Program.

When I first came here from the Dominican Republic, I didn’t know any English and it was so stressful because I couldn’t even understand what people were talking about. I was like “What are they saying, I just want to go home, I don’t like to be here.” Each minute was so long to me. The teachers were finding ways to help me. The only classes that made me feel at home was at English class and Spanish. I was always asking questions to my other classmates, but they did not want to be distracted in class and would say,”Oh my God, I want to pay attention.” That made me feel really bad, but you always find people by your side that want to be part of your life and make you feel like you don’t want to give up, and give you courage. The people that never helped made me never give up. Everytime that I thought about their unkindness when I asked them for help made me grow up and tell myself, “You can do it, you can do it for you!” I wanted to prove to them that with their help or without their help I could do it! So now here I am, with my growing English skills, helping other new students who come here from different countries. I always tell them my story so they won’t feel bad, because I know how it feels to come from another place where you can’t understand anything.

It’s really bad. I am always looking for a way to make them feel at home instead of alone, like I felt before. Accomplish your goals and never give up because of the comments of others. Stop saying, “I can’t do it,” because you can.

Andrea Klick become accustomed to life in America.

Lily Day “So that’s just the problem, I think, is the lanIzzy Wegner guage,” Ren said. “And the culture, because I’m Editors from China, some things we don’t do at China Growing up in Allentown, senior Ashley Rivera but people do here.” was surrounded by people who spoke Spanish and When he first came to EHS, Ren had trouble understood her culture. People just like her. When making friends outside of his ESL class, but she lived in Allentown, and later Whitehall, she felt recently it has been getting easier for him. comfortable and outgoing.

One particular challenge that Ren faces is his Then, Rivera’s family moved to the East Penn search for a job. In one case he applied to work School District. That year, she entered the second at Dorney Park, but because he struggles with grade.

English, the manager denied him a job.

At a young age, she noticed that most people in “I don’t have much English so I want a job but her new school did not look like her. She drew back the manager told me I can’t because I don’t know socially, becoming quiet and reserved--characteristics much English,” Ren said. she believes can still describe her today.

Despite this setback, Ren did not give up. He About 10 years after the move, Rivera does not is continuing to look for jobs, and his English is always feel comfortable talking about her culture and improving. heritage in school because of her fellow students’ Although Diaz and Ren had a challenging assumptions. transition moving from their home countries to “It’s because, if I tell people that I’m Spanish, they America, sophomore Chris Vassell said “it was automatically assume that I’m the Mexican-type laeasy” for him. borer,” Rivera said. “I’ve gotten that a lot. People ask Vassell, who lived in Jamaica for 13 years, me if I’m Mexican, [but] that’s not the only type of stayed in Brooklyn for a year and five months Spanish. People just, like, assume everything, so I’d before moving to Emmaus. Initially, in Brooklyn, rather just leave it and not even bring it up.” he faced challenges with bullies.

Rivera classifies stereotyping comments such as “First, when I started going [to school in that she “works in the yard” as “everyday stuff.”

Brooklyn] there was a lot of bullies, but I get However, in the Latino Leadership Club, of which through the year,” Vassell said. “They just liked Rivera is president, she embraces her culture and to pick on smaller kids.” feels that others are able to do the same.

He has been in Emmaus for a year and two “We’re all so comfortable with each other,” Rivera months, and has not faced bullying during that said. “We love to like listen to Spanish music together time. and dance and just have fun together. And I’ve seen a ESL teacher Tammy Kita believes that the lot of kids in the club, they start speaking Spanish in ESL program at EHS is a “transition time” and the hallways to each other. I’ve noticed a lot more of can be “kind of like a little comfort for [students that.” who come from other countries].”

However, not every student feels this acceptance at “Usually by the time they finish ESL they Emmaus. have demonstrated with their English that they’re Junior Melina Diaz emigrated from the Dominican capable to operate in the regular classes by themRepublic about two years ago with no knowledge of selves,” Kita said. the English language.

However, not all students who may struggle At first, students helped her by answering queswith the transition to America are eligible for tions, but their tolerance slowly faded away. Diaz ESL. According to Kita, since ESL “is governed asked a number of questions, and her classmates by laws that the state of Pennsylvania sets out,” responded with phrases such as “I want to pay attenshe is required to tests students’ proficiency in tion.” Because of this Diaz struggled in her classes the English language. If their English skills are and “just [wanted] to go home.” advanced enough for these students to go right She feels that students should be understanding into regular classes, they skip the ESL transition and kind “because it’s hard for the people that came period. to a new country and don’t know like the language.”

“There was just a case last week where a Now that she has improved her English through her English as a Second Language (ESL) class, Diaz strives to help students who moved from other countries and struggle with learning the language.

“It’s really hard,” Diaz said. “So that’s why when new peoples come here from other countries I like to help them, ‘cause I know how it feel.”

According to the East Penn School District website, of the nearly 2,700 students at Emmaus High School, 79.86 percent of students are white, 4.3 percent are black, 8.64 percent are Hispanic, 5.83 percent are Asian, and 1.33 percent are multi-racial.

Sophomore Honghui Ren travelled to America two years ago from China and “didn’t know English at all.”

For him, drastic differences in language and culture Photos by Rachel Reed. Edited by Angie Stein. made it harder to

young lady came, and I tested her on that test to see how much English she had and her English was actually pretty good,” Kita said. “So she didn’t have to be in ESL, but she was coming from Puerto Rico and I think culturally she did feel a little bit odd.”

To help the girl feel more comfortable at Emmaus, Kita allowed her to join ESL classes for a month to “ease into it, have some friends to talk with.” Although this helped the girl transition, Kita would like “a study hall, where they could come in here and ask for help and things like that.”

Noor, a freshman who requested her last name not be used, is Muslim, and she wears a hijab to school. She feels that she is sometimes treated differently by “some students and people that I walk past” because of her religion. She has faced blatant racism and Islamophobia at school in two cases, both times by the same person.

“The Monday after the terrorist attack in Paris that person said, ‘How was your trip from Paris?’ And that person also said once ‘Oh God’ when he passed by in the hall,” Noor said.

However, she does not let such comments affect how she views herself, her religion, or her culture.

“I don’t care what people say,” Noor said. “They can think whatever they think, doesn’t mean it’s true.”

She also recognizes that “the racist comments are only a little of what other Muslims receive. I’ve heard of abuse as well.”

She thinks that the school could work to educate students about different religions and cultures, and that parents should also do more to ensure their children do not make ignorant or hurtful comments.

“People say that all Muslims are terrorists and that they are bad but that’s not right,” Noor said. “They get that from the Internet and believe everything that they see, and even I’m pretty sure that the parents of the kids that make those ignorant comments are also racist.”

Noor believes that a way in which the school could do more to prevent Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination against students would be to “have classes that are required once in high school and tell [students] about the main religions and educate them about that.”

She also thinks it would be beneficial to “have a teacher of the religion [teach about that particular religion] so they don’t lie or make up things and [students] will have a true source.”

From talking with her Muslim friends at other school districts such as Parkland, Noor believes they do not face such strong discrimination because “their schools are strict about equality.”

Although students such as Rivera and Noor face discrimination, some teachers and administrators rarely hear about problems regarding racial prejudice at Emmaus.

Tenth grade Assistant Principal Tabitha Rodriguez does not believe that racial discrimination is a prevalent problem at Emmaus.

“I haven’t had students come to my office due to issues regarding racism or discrimination,” Rodriguez said. “It is not a common occurrence.”

Spanish teacher and Latino Leadership Club advisor William Montepeque thinks most students understand and accept diverse cultures and languages.

“Students understand that they have a different language, culture, and tradition that many times are different from others,” Montepeque said.

Kita believes that students encountering prejudice in school and telling a teacher about the encounter is “definitely a rarity.”

“I mean, I would hope that students don’t encounter prejudice in the hallways,” Kita said. “I don’t know if that’s always the case, but I would hope that they don’t.”

Kita also believes that EHS can be a welcoming environment for students of dif-

ferent races, especially in comparison to other school districts. For example, a few years ago a student came to her from Puerto Rico knowing little English.

While she taught him how to open his locker, a girl with a physical disability came by on crutches. The boy looked at Kita and said, “You know why I like this school? Because this is her school.”

Kita believes the boy was telling her that “there’s a place in the school for everybody and you don’t have to be a certain way, or look a certain way, or act a certain way to be a part of this school. And evidently at his old school there was only one way to be.

“So I think that says a lot for Emmaus High School,” Kita said. “That we’re all kind of free to be who we are, so I think that’s a good thing.”

Kita cites a lack of diversity in the East Penn community as a reason for any cultural ignorance that may occur at Emmaus.

“The thing is, I think where we live there is such an abundance of white people, for lack of a better word,” Kita said, “that people don’t have a chance to interact with people who maybe appear different from them whether it’s religion or race or whatever.”

Kita believes that, because some students are culturally unaware, they could say hurtful comments even if being rude is not their intention.

“It’s not because they’re trying to be mean, but in some cases they just don’t know [because] maybe they’ve never interacted with somebody of a different culture before,” Kita said. “So, I think we could certainly do a lot to build cultural awareness.”

One way that East Penn seeks to celebrate students’ diverse cultures is through the International Fair, which will be held this year on March 5 in the EHS cafeteria. The free event will feature live cultural performances, ethnic foods and music from around the world.

Rodriguez previously worked as a Spanish teacher at Morris Knolls High School in Rockaway, N.J., for 11 years. At Morris Knolls, teachers attended professional development workshops on culture in order for them to better interact with students of different backgrounds.

One of the workshops that was offered, Understanding Diversity, “focused on cultural proficiency and issues prevalent among individuals of various backgrounds and cultures,” Rodriguez said. Another workshop, Working with English Language Learners, had the goal of giving teachers “the tools to foster positive interactions and help ELL [English Language Learner] students be successful academically.”

Rodriguez believes that these workshops positively impacted interactions between faculty and students by providing faculty members with “the opportunity to begin a meaningful conversation on cultural proficiency.”

However, Rivera thinks teaching students about various cultures won’t change their prejudiced viewpoints.

“Most of that kind of thought process comes from home,” Rivera said. “So you learn it growing up. You can make people knowledgeable, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to put that knowledge to use or even care about it.”

Kita feels when students are placed in a safe environment, they feel comfortable asking questions to understand other students’ cultures. For instance, one year Kita had a Muslim girl who wore a scarf around her head. Her classmates did not understand why she wore the scarf and generated a genuine conversation to understand her culture.

Kita believes these kinds of interactions could foster cultural awareness at Emmaus.

“Well, I think anytime there’s an opportunity for interaction among different people is a good thing,” Kita said. “And any opportunity where any of the Emmaus High School students can interact and support the students is really good.”

As president of the Latino Leadership Club, Rivera tries to teach about her culture in various ways, such as cooking traditional foods at club events.

“We do try to make a lot of Spanish foods like to show people what real Spanish food is and it’s not all like Mexican food,” Rivera said. “We’re not only Mexican, and I think people seem to think that Spanish food is typically looked at as Taco Bell, and that’s not it. So when we have club events we try to make different types of Spanish food and stuff like that just to show people there’s more to it.”

Rivera also believes that preserving culture is important and a necessary part of oneself.

“It’s important to remember what your ancestors went through to make you the person you are today.”

Data from Allentown School District website and Parkland School District website.

In the news...

Paris Attacks

Photo from bbc.co.uk

Report

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FEBRUARY 2016

Photo from blacklivesmatter.com

THE STINGER

Photo from dailynews.com

NEWS

On Nov. 13, 2015, Islamic State terrorists committed a series of deadly attacks in Paris.

Gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a concert hall, a stadium, restaurants, and bars almost simultaneously, killing 130 people and wounding hundreds more.

The attacks caused a spike in Islamophobia across the United States. According to thinkprogress.org, 65 anti-Muslim incidents and attacks occurred in America since the Paris attacks as of Feb. 10. These statistics include violent assaults, attacks, threats, airport profiling and anti-Muslim vandalism.What these numbers do not include is the increase in Islamophobia in the political sphere with presidential candidates such as Republican Donald Trump making anti-Muslim comments and planning to bar Muslims from entering the country if elected.

Police Brutality and Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2012 after George Zimmerman, a white police officer, killed 17-year old Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. In July 2013, Zimmerman was found not guilty for Martin’s murder.

Since Martin’s death, numerous other deadly incidents occurred between unarmed blacks and white police officers. These include Eric Garner, 43, whom another police officer choked to death in Staten Island on July 17, 2014; Michael Brown who was shot and killed in Ferguson, MO on Aug. 9, 2014; and 12-year old Tamir Rice who was shot to death in Cleveland on Nov. 23, 2014. In all three cases, the officers were not indicted. Incidents of police brutality led to Black Lives Matter protests in cities across the country including Ferguson, Baltimore, and Chicago.

Prejudice Toward Mexican Immigrants

On June 16, 2015, Republican Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election and made headlines with his comments on illegal Mexican immigrants.

Trump accused Mexico of sending criminals, rapists and druggies over the border illegally and proposed building a wall paid for by Mexico to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country. Incidents of racism toward Mexicans include postcards sent to businesses in Milwaukee owned

by Latinos. Some businesses received several postcards with messages referring to Mexican immigrants as “trash” and demanding deportation.

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FEBRUARY 2016

NEWS

Reppert crowned Mr. Emmaus 2016 Lily Day stood out in Izzy Wegner his humorous Editors Amish-inspired On Feb. 2, 11 Emmaus High outfit.

School seniors competed in the While the 4th annual Mr. Emmaus pagboys were eant. At the end of the night, preparing themthe judges crowned Jaeden selves for the Reppert 2016’s Mr. Emmaus. next part of the The event is run by the competition, Student Government AssociaSGA encourtion (SGA), and all proceeds aged audience went toward supporting the participation organization and helping them through the host more student events in the giveaway of future. $10 Amazon After an opening video giftcards. to introduce the audience to The contesthe 11 contestants, the boys tants showed performed an opening dance off a range of number. The participants then abilities durLang drumming for the talent portion. vied for the crown in formal ing the talent wear, swimwear, and talent competitions. segment of the competition. Kevin Lang The five boys with the highest scores at the impressed the audience when he played end of those categories moved on to the tenor drum while hanging upside down. final part of the competition: the interview. Ben Whitby and Ryan Paradise teamed In the formal wear portion, the competi- up to amuse the audience by lip syncing tors were accompanied onstage with an OMI’s hit song “Cheerleader,” as Whitby escort of their choice. Sam Buck’s escort, came onstage dressed in an EHS cheerhis little brother, charmed the audience. leader uniform. Noel Vinovskis and Dillon During the swimwear category, Reppert Briggs both showed off their singing abili-

Contestants pose with Mr. Emmaus, Jaeden Reppert. Photos by Lindsay Harner.

ties, while Reppert performed a solemn monologue on a topic close to the hearts of many EHS seniors: senioritis.

The five participants that advanced to the interview segment of the competition were Matt Grispo, Lang, Paradise, Reppert and Whitby. The judges asked each of them a unique question which they were required to answer on the spot.

Lang said that the one thing he would change about his past would be to become involved in more sports. Grispo proclaimed that the key to success is to not go with the flow, but doing what makes oneself happy instead. One improvement Whitby wishes to see at EHS is a decrease of cliques, and more overall acceptance.

The three judges ultimately decided to give the Mr. Emmaus crown to Reppert, with Whitby capturing 2nd place and Lang in 3rd.

Reppert was not expecting to win, but he is proud of his accomplishment.

“I did not think I was gonna win, but it was a huge surprise,” Reppert said. “I’m obviously glad that I won but everyone was great, we were all well-matched I thought, I felt like it was very close.”

He decided to enter the competition for a variety of reasons.

“I decided to enter the competition because one of my good friends [Andrew Ferguson] won last year and I felt like I could represent my class really well and I had several friends who did it, too,” Reppert said.

Lang’s favorite part of the Mr. Emmaus experience was the rehearsals with the other contestants. He enjoyed “getting to know the other guys, laughing with them as we tried our best to do the dance and joking around about plans for the event.”

“It was a great group of guys to work with, and we all clicked together in a great way,” Lang said.

Reppert practiced for hours leading up to the event. His favorite category in the competition was the talent portion, because he is normally not able to perform “for many kids beside the theater-goers,”

Reppert hugs Gabbie Zukowski, his escort, after being awarded the crown.

and he enjoyed the opportunity to “branch out to other kids.”

“I wrote my monologue, and I chose to do it because I love writing and I’ve actually been working on a play, so I decided to write this because it kind of combines two talents in one,” Reppert said. “I’m writing, but also acting it out which is my passion and the only thing I really do outside of school.”

Reppert’s advice for future Mr. Emmaus contestants is “Don’t do it to win. Do it to have fun.”

OPINION

THE STINGER

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F E B R U R AY 2 0 1 6

OPINION Y O U R T H O U G H T S , O U R S . . . I N O N E B I T E - S I Z E PA C K A G E

OPINION EDITOR SOPHIA WERTZ A S S I S TA N T O P I N I O N E D I T O R A N G I E S T E I N

Mass shootings in 2015: a call for reform Sophia Wertz Opinion Editor

2015 saw numerous events which held ramifications far past Dec. 31. Russia intervened in Syria. A refugee crisis shook Europe. But for the United States, 2015 tested the validity of a single sentence: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The Second Amendment, already a hot-button issue, became even more controversial as an astounding 372 mass shootings occurred in the past year, according to research by the Mass Shootings Tracker. The Tracker defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are killed or wounded. By this definition, 475 people were killed and 1,870 people were wounded in 2015 in mass shootings.

Charleston.

Chattanooga.

Roseburg.

Colorado Springs.

San Bernardino.

These events demonstrated the darkest, most violent capacities of humans that allow them to brutally kill innocent bystanders without guilt or remorse. They showed us the twisted delusions and horrifying ideologies that led people to murder people.

They made us question if this could happen to us.

The terrifying element of mass shootings in 2015 was the fact that they made us all wonder if we were truly safe.

Dylann Roof murdered nine in a church.

Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer murdered nine in a college. Robert Lewis Dear murdered three in a Planned Parenthood building. Syed Rizwan Farook and Pakistan national Tashfeen Malik murdered 14 at a party.

People didn’t usually enter businesses, schools, government properties, or places of worship and fear for their safety, but mass shootings changed that.

Americans are relatively isolated in their fear surrounding gun violence.

The United States has a disproportionate amount of gun violence. Although the country holds less than five percent of the world’s population, it boasts about 35-50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns, according to 2007 research by the Swiss organization Small Arms Survey. U.S. gun murders per capita in 2012 were 30 times higher than those in the UK at an astounding 2.9 per 100,000 according to UNODC statistics.

Gun violence in 2015 begged one simple question: What can we do to stop it?

Regardless of political ideology, we can all agree that shootings are horrific events that demonstrate people’s capacity for evil. Where we will disagree is how we should go about solving the issue.

If too many people die of guns, is the solution to have more guns, less guns, or no guns?

With an election in our midst, politicians and presidential-hopefuls are quick to discuss their opinions

on gun violence and regulation.

Republicans argue that we need guns to protect ourselves from people that have guns but shouldn’t.

Democrats counter that if we limited access to guns (or eliminated them completely), we would reduce gun violence. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, strong critic of gun regulation, believes that controlling firearms is unconstitutional: “You have the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. You have that right and [gun control proponents] want to take it away,” Trump said.

Democratic President Barack Obama sees gun regulation differently. In a January address the president discussed his plan to reduce the “gun violence epidemic” facing America, chiefly noting the necessity of stronger background checks for gun buyers.

Unlike foreign allies Australia and the UK, where legislators put strict gun laws in place to prevent more mass shootings, America’s gun regulation remains relatively lax despite continuous mass shootings.

The current state of American gun control prohibits certain people from owning firearms. Those with criminal records, drug addicts, illegal immigrants, those with permanent restraining orders cannot purchase guns. Federal law also stipulates licensed gun dealers run background

checks on potential customers through an FBI database to ensure the buyer is allowed to buy guns.

As with any government system, gun control requirements have loopholes. Small-scale gun sellers (think gun shows) get a free pass on conducting background checks.

The law prohibits people who are adjudicated (reviewed by a judge) as mentally ill from buying a gun, yet the vast majority of people with serious mental illnesses never receive the adjudication, according to research by the New York Times. This explains why friends and neighbors recognized many mass shooters as mentally ill, yet the shooters were able to legally own guns.

Surprisingly, the majority of guns used in mass shootings were obtained legally.

Dylann Roof purchased a gun from a South Carolina shop. Although he should not have been allowed to buy the gun due to past drug possession, the F.B.I. examiner conducting the background check never got the police report. Roof’s gun purchase was legal.

Christopher Harper-Merer owned a total of 14 firearms, all purchased legally.

Syed Rizwan Farook bought two handguns legally at a California gun shop.

The trend continues. According to research by Mother Jones, 82 percent of guns used in mass shootings are obtained legally. The majority of mass shooters are not breaking the law, yet the guns they legally obtain are used to kill 475 people last year alone.

The paradox in which murderers legally purchase guns begs for gun regulation reform. Half of America’s battle with guns lies in the fact that there are too many.

Pew Research estimates there are between 270 to 310 million firearms in the United States -- nearly enough to give every American a gun. With this in mind, the belief that more guns are necessary to prevent gun violence is ludicrous.

I don’t believe that our mission should be to eradicate guns completely. Historically, we’ve never had success in banning perceived vices.

Example: Prohibition.

Although we can’t stop all criminals from getting guns, and one could argue that criminals will try to get guns regardless of the law, we can tighten regulation to make sure that no murderer can legally obtain firearms. With our track record on gun violence, there is no place in the United States for gun show loopholes or porous legislation that allows the mentally ill to purchase guns. The fact that we had to create a Mass Shootings Tracker should be a red flag that something has gone drastically wrong in the United States.

Firearms fanatics are quick to find fault in gun regulation, which they feel overshadows the Second Amendment. But gun regulation does not equate a ban on guns.

Stricter gun control does not attempt to deprive Americans of their right to carry guns. It simply ensures that Americans are carrying them safely. Law-abiding citizens shouldn’t be worried by the implementation of mandatory background checks. The majority of gun owners are not criminals, but the ones who are cause hundreds of preventable deaths.

The alternative to implementing stronger background checks would be to wait.

We could wait for one more Newtown.

We could wait for one more San Bernardino. We could wait for one more Colorado Springs. If we want 2016 to also be known as the year of mass shootings, we’ll lose another 475 lives.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

People can take the Second Amendment too far. When the right of the people to bear arms deprives innocent citizens of their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we must reconsider the way we deal with guns.

Gun Control: Conflict of Opinion “What we can do is to provide just some common-sense enforcement.”

- Obama

“If you had more guns, you’d have more protection because the right people would have the guns.”

- Trump

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THE STINGER

Psychology of Trump Sameer Lal Opinion Columnist

Appealing to citizens of every social class, a charismatic speaker preaches racism. His subordinates fear him, and he molds his political ideologies to mirror public insecurities. He thinks himself to be an infallible leader; the apex of society. Time magazine even shortlisted him as “Person of the Year.”

But how exactly does Donald Trump, today’s leading Republican candidate, gain worldwide acclaim despite his controversial viewpoints?

Persuasion. The Greeks were the first to explore the art of persuasion by emphasizing rhetoric in politicians. They asserted that the three rhetorical proofs for persuasion are ethos (credibility), logos (reason) and pathos (emotion). Binding the three coherently, they reasoned, one can become the master of persuasion and manipulation. In today’s society, we see the remnants of the Greek philosophy through Trump’s political campaign. As more and more naive voters succumb to his false claims and political tactics, we begin to align ourselves with a misrepresented candidate who could likely become president of the United States. Disaster is inevitable.

Trump is commonly regarded as a rich celebrity who happens to be quite snide in his remarks. He remains the center of attention during debates, where he is quick to speak and eschew ‘political correctness.’ The media, only concerned with bringing in revenue, feeds on him, turning his scathing remarks into laughable entertainment for hungry viewers. Recognizing that he can gain popularity through his television personality, Trump continues to torment others in today’s society. For citizens not involved in politics, Donald Trump becomes a familiar name that they see trending on social media. Trump is able to shadow other candidates and emerge as an apparent winner. But as informed voters, it is our duty to look past the ethos and realize his true identity.

We must realize that his credibility is false and the media only supports him for revenue.

“His tactic of logos is quite clear, and many voters believe that his past intellect and superiority will enable him to become a great president.”

Trump claims that it is only logical for him to become president. He is quick to assert his wealth and social status as a means for authority. While his competitors often spend millions of dollars in taxpayer money for propaganda, Trump likes to state that he self-funds his campaign, ridiculing others. He uses his company as evidence and preaches that he has the knowledge, experience and money to “Make America Great Again.” In fact, Trump often references his Ivy-league education to remain intellectually superior. He humiliates his candidates by calling them “losers” or “lacking energy” to bring him to higher ground. When his opposition calls him a bully, he simply retorts back by calling them “weak.” His tactic of logos is quite clever, and many voters believe that his past intellect and superiority will enable him to become a great president. To properly consider Trump, however, one must set aside his past success and solely concentrate on his current political ideologies. After all, past success is no indicator of the future.

The most powerful means of persuasion is emotion. Walking past the homeless, we cannot help but to feel gut-wrenching sympathy. Conversely, when we finally face the villain to our protagonist, we are enraged and teeming with anger. Trump recognizes this human psychology and tries to employ pathos. The frustrations of Americans regarding illegal immigration are only magnified when Trump states that “They’re [Mexico is] bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” His tactic of targeting emotional appeal is quite effective, and when he offers the charismatic solution of building a “giant wall,” emotionally compromised Americans accept it immediately. He makes Mexico a fictitious enemy and continues to play on public fear to gain support. As informed voters, we must look past his bombastic nature, set aside fear and realize the true nature of his controversial solutions. We have to question whether his solution is the right solution.

Trump’s political tactics earn him the title of a master magician.

He manipulates his audience to feel fear and then modestly offers a whimsical solution for them to cling to. He uses humor as a weapon. As memes satirizing his signature “dodgy” hairstyle continue to spread on the Internet, he attracts more and more supporters, encompassing a wide range of demographics and gaining an overwhelming popularity. It’s our duty to look past his comedic temperament and see him for who he truly is. When the crowd chants, “Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!,” we shouldn’t jump on the bandwagon of racism. We should think to ourselves, is it ethical to throw out a Muslim woman? Is it okay to say that Mexico only produces criminals? Will heavily bombing the Middle East and taking lives of innocent people solve our problem?

When looking for an executive leader, we value a calm mind that can act quickly during crises. Trump is undoubtedly an expert psychologist, but in reality, can he lead our country?

OPINION

FEBRUARY 2016

The hateful eight: flaws in EHS grading Chloe Mathieu Opinion Columnist

It’s report card day, and you’re currently struggling to quash your rising anguish at the sight of a 91.42 percent in your AP Physics “Marking Period 2 Grade” column. We’ve all been there.

One dreaded “Parkland A” has crushed everyone’s hopes of having a straight-A semester at some point in their high school careers. 90s and 91s cut Emmaus kids so deeply because at other schools, those grades would be As. The same goes for Bs, Cs, and so on. When it comes to an eight-point grading system, nobody knows its cold, cruel nature better than Emmaus students.

THE CONS: The cons to Emmaus grades are the obvious problems (and causes of heartbreak) that come with a smaller grading

scale. That feeling of just not THE PROS: being able to get the elusive That’s right, I do believe 0.2 points that will bump you that our trusty eight-point from a B to an A is frustrating grading scale has its benefits, and disheartening, to say the however difficult they may be least. I think that most students to acknowledge. Students at will agree when I say that the Emmaus have gotten used to “so close, yet so far” mentala more diligent work ethic out ity is one of the worst things of pure necessity. If you want Emmaus has to offer. As if this to succeed, the fact is you need scale to try slightly wasn’t “As if this scale wasn’t bad harder than bad a student on enough, enough, there is always an average there is the realization that it is not 10-point scale always does. As a the real- universal.” result of this, ization getting a good that it is grade is also not universal. Knowing that, at just a little more rewarding than another school, those 0.2 points it would be otherwise. Plus, would not matter adds insult there’s also the added benefit to an already painful injury. of being able to astound your That 91.42 might’ve just cost friends from other schools. you your 4.0 GPA, and there’s “Really?!,” they’ll ask, “Your A nothing that you can do about it is 92 percent and above?!” The except lament the fact that you next time this happens (and you just had to go to the one school know that it does happen), you in the Lehigh Valley that grades have my explicit permission to in eighths. However, speaking be a little smug when you say, of other schools does lead me “Yes.” to...

Let it go: putting senioritis in place Ying Zheng Opinion Columnist

All my life, I knew that a deadly disease awaited me in the year 2016 -- my senior year of high school.

Implanted when students start kindergarten, the virus (I’ll call it the S-virus) remains dormant for 12 years, awaiting its time of awakening during the students’ senior year.

Though the average student has three years before the onset of the disease after they enter high school, the lucky ones have three and a half years and the unlucky ones may begin the struggle their freshman year.

The illness in question is senioritis.

The S-virus replicates in the students’ systems over twelve years as response to the stimuli of constant schoolwork, homework, and tests. Just like how an over-inflated balloon ultimately explodes, the accumulation of school-related stress eventually erupts. Yet, the latter explosion lasts more than one second and unfortu-

nately manifests itself in form alive and strong against the of deadly senioritis. Don’t be virus of senioritis. mistaken. The terror rests not And yeah, that’s all in the disease itself but in the bull***t. My academic focus results, as the S-virus enfeehad bid its farewell on January bles the minds and debilitates 1st (the deadline of all my the motivation of high school college applications) and any seniors to work. The “let’sdesire for lingering had disapnot-dopeared work-and- “Senioritis is a once-in-aJanuary just-party” (the lifetime experience, so just 27th pathogens last day invade let go and enjoy the fall.” of midthe body terms). through the Some widening of my gaps of the “I-need-to-dofriends seem to still have their work” mentality and ailments head in the straight-A game like plummeting grades, class but honestly, I think they are skips, school absences, and just faking it. Unlike the other procrastination combine to seniors who already have sucengulf the student. cumbed to senioritis, these But just like how living a friends of mine have refused healthy lifestyle strengthens to let go of their ten fingers, the immune system and mitistill clinging onto the “I-needgates the symptoms of a disto-do-well-in-school” cliff. ease, methods exist to prevent My advice? and possibly even to avoid JUST LET GO. It’s really senioritis. For example, all not that bad: death doesn’t these years I’ve been a good await at the end. A trampoline student, forming good habits at the bottom allows a rebound of studying and doing homeback to academic prowess in work. Through many years college. Senioritis is a once-inof hard work, I’ve cultivated a-lifetime experience, so just an intellectual curiosity and let go and enjoy the fall. a proactive academic attitude I’ll be waiting for you at the that will keep my motivation bottom.

Editorial Policy The Stinger is a student-run newspaper published six times per year. Its content, which is the responsibility of the student staff, is not subject to direct administrative approval. The newspaper, which is designed as an open forum, serves to inform and entertain its readers as well as enrich students interested in print media studies.

Have an opinion & want to be heard?

Submit an editorial to stingerehs@gmail.com 2.5 page maximum, doublespaced Letters to the Editor also welcome

OPINION

THE STINGER

250

Sophia Wertz Managing Editor of Opinion It asked me to describe my biggest fear in 250 words or less.

I read the prompt a few times before beginning to compose a response. It was pretty generic; I said I was afraid of failure. Fear of failure seemed boring and perhaps a

bit pretentious.

I tried to create a fake fear that would sound better on paper-- something that would culminate in a profound revelation at the end of the essay, but I couldn’t do it. Fear of failure would have to be good enough.

I gave the essay a couple read-throughs. I didn’t see any glaring errors in the writing. I pressed submit.

Something about my college essay created an inordinate amount of stress. After junior year, my GPA was fixed, as were my ACT scores and my AP results. My essay was the last thing I could change to get into college. The essay was my last chance to leap over the hurdle. The final variable in the admission decision.

When I got a rejection letter, I blamed it on the essay. Even though my GPA was not quite high enough, my test scores not quite good enough, my extracurriculars not quite impressive enough, I looked to my essay as the cause of the rejection.

I spent a lot of time wondering what went wrong in the essay. I wrote about what I knew. I avoided passive voice. I perfected the word count to an even 250. Yet, this delusion of perfection is precisely the cause of the crippling doubt that plagued me after I opened that letter. I only thought it was a good essay before I thought it caused my rejection. Then I started to hate it.

If I had a funnier fear, I would have gotten in.

If I had a more original fear, I would have gotten in.

If I had a more meaningful fear, I would have gotten in.

I’m not sure what admissions counselors looked for in the essay, but I am pretty sure mine lacked the “it” factor. Maybe it is better to be humorous or serious when describing your fear.

Maybe you should choose a fear that leads to some big epiphany at the end of your 250-wordsor-less. I still don’t think that’s possible.

But in retrospect, the essay wasn’t the problem in my admissions decision. I was the problem.

All throughout the college admissions process, I had created a mentality of meritocracy. If I maintained a high GPA, got good test scores, and wrote an amazing essay, I should be rewarded with an acceptance. Moreover, I should get that acceptance over someone else who blew off studying, slept through the SATs, and slopped together a barely-legible, two-sentence explanation of her fear.

Admissions decisions don’t follow the same train of thought. You can be an overly-qualified applicant and get rejected. I probably could have written a much better essay and still been rejected. This was hard for me to accept-- if I tried hard enough, I deserved acceptance.

I turned to my essay as a way to comprehend why I was rejected. I turned to my essay to decide why someone else was chosen over me. I never found an answer.

What I realized through this experience was that it’s not always about me. Essays are subjective. Admissions decisions aren’t all based on merit. Reading so far into the rejection didn’t give me the satisfaction of knowing why I wasn’t accepted. Blaming it on my essay didn’t make me happier.

I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of Freud, but I’ve found comfort in one of his most well-known quotes. Freud was famous for interpreting symbols and attributing meaning to them. When asked about the significance behind the cigar he smoked in photos, Freud replied, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

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FEBRUARY 2016

A week of freedom Tori Delhagen Opinion Columnist

You wake up late because you slept through your alarm clock. Go to school, sit in class, and enjoy lunch with your friends as you tell them how crazy last night was.

It’s Friday, so you’re excited for the weekend. Come home from school.

Call your friend on the land line and make plans. Eat dinner with your parents, tell them you’re going out and will be home tomorrow. Ring your friend’s doorbell and pick her up.

Or, you wake up and roll over your phone. You’re late for school because you slept through your phone’s alarm. Check Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, then get ready for school. Walk to school, sit in class, talk to your friends at lunch and further explain how crazy last night was, but they don’t really care because you already texted them about it. Come home from school and see tweets about people wanting plans for the weekend. Text your friend about your plans for the night during dinner with your parents. Tell Mom and Dad you’re going out and will text them when you get there. Send “I’m here” when you pull in your friend’s driveway.

Most likely, a lot of us experience the second scenario.

My dad once told me he felt bad for me and the rest of our generation when he saw me on my phone ignoring his attempt at conversation. Because I was younger, my reply probably went something like, “You’re the one I should be feeling bad for, because you had to use those weird dial phones and drive ugly cars. How could you even survive without cell phones?”

But the truth is, I spend so much of my day looking down, just like most other teenagers, when I should be looking up.

Now I know that Twitter is usually stupid, posting Snapchats just for others to see is pointless, and no one really cares about your tweet saying “screw fake friends.” But even though I know how irrelevant social media is to the real world, I still check each app multiple times a day, every day.

So as I sat in my AP Spanish class, and my teacher began to discuss the

topic of “nomophobia,” the fear of being out of mobile contact, I was open to admitting that I may have a slight case. Although I was one of the few in my class to raise my hand, I’m sure most of them suffer like me, at least a little.

I daringly decided to hand over my phone to a friend for seven days and have zero connection to social media on any platform.

The truth: those seven days sucked.

I almost gave up and told my friend to return my phone to me. She refused and reminded me that we shook on it. Some people thought I was crazy and didn’t make any sense for following through.

As I went through the week, I found myself more frustrated as I attempted to engage in conversation.

My friends lacked eye contact with me while they scrolled through Twitter. I felt out of the loop because I wasn’t able to keep up with everyone else. I was worried about the texts I wasn’t receiving and the calls I was missing.

But at the same time, I felt a weight lifted off of me. My only way of contact was in person, email, or my house phone. It felt simpler. No one knew anything about me, and I didn’t know anything about them unless they told me.

Since I’m being honest, I didn’t go through any remarkable change during this week. And I wasn’t being super productive, climbing Mount Everest and running marathons. In fact, I turned in my research paper at 11:50 the night it was due. And even after my experiment, I still use social media very often.

But what I learned about myself and other people continues to amaze me. I don’t want to share my best stories to everyone in a tweet, but to my friends in real life. And I’ll always enjoy talking to people, making new friends and learning about their backgrounds face to face. Some may call me weird, but I am an open person and I love engaging in meaningful conversations.

Sadly, many people would rather receive a birthday tweet than a “Happy Birthday!” in the hallway. Or post a picture with a parent on Instagram, captioned “Happy Mother’s Day” when their mom doesn’t even have an account. Take to Twitter to vent about problems instead of turning to a friend. Break up with someone over text because they don’t want to deal with confrontation. Or try so hard to make everyone else think you’re having a great time and forget

to enjoy the company around you.

Life is full of moments. I still remember the rising fear in my stomach realizing my sister let go of my bike but never daring to look back as I raced down the pavement. And of course I’ll never forget the time I told my friend to ask my crush if he liked me at the sixth grade picnic.

He said no. Or the day I stood in the outfield when the ball came at me so quickly that I fell on my back in the grass, but I stood up with my glove held high as everyone cheered for my hilarious catch.

Or when I felt so alone, crying in a bathroom stall when a friend walked in because somehow she knew I was upset. Or the pain I felt when I learned someone I cared about harmed themselves for many years. The realization that someone I looked up to got involved in an abusive relationship but couldn’t find the courage to leave. The opening of the first college acceptance letter and being confident that my future will be pretty damn amazing. Looking at myself in the mirror and being happy with who I am, and who I am becoming. These short moments of time will always be more significant than the favorites on a Tweet or the likes on a selfie.

The points of pure bliss, when you feel high off of nothing but life and the times when nothing could be worse are what make each day worth living. Beauty is the ability to truly feel raw emotion and happiness and pain -- even if it’s all at once. But I would never have these unforgettable moments if I was looking down at a screen, debating what filter to put on my Instagram picture.

It’s okay to use social media. It’s not a crime to share cool pictures that you take. But keep your Internet life and real life separate. We post our best face for everyone to see, with the most flattering angle and the prettiest filter. And your eye can’t be squinty and your stomach has to look flat. But nothing about that is genuine and you never really know someone until you get to know their passions, weaknesses, and humor -something social media can’t do. My life is not what is seen on Snapchat, my ideas are not just what I tweet, and my experiences aren’t solely my Instagram posts. So take a moment.

Put down your phone and appreciate the beauty in life. You don’t need Snapchat to prove it.

Your Opinion In our most recent Twitter poll, we asked you which 2016 presidential candidate had your support. Out of 250 votes, here are the results:

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RANIA: III. “TFM”

F E AT U R E E D I T O R R A N I A D R A K L E L L I S A S S T. F E AT U R E E D I T O R I Z Z Y W E G N E R

Sophomore starts up clothing website

Izzy Wegner Asst. Features Editor Emmaus High School sophomore Emory Eckenrode has been around fashion and design her whole life, and wanted to create her own line for the past few years.

Eckenrode’s mother owned a jewelry business, which piqued her interest.

Preface: Google “50 ways to be the perfect After years of mulling over the idea college girlfriend.” Click on the Total Frat of creating her own fashion line, she Move link. Read it. Scream. Channel your decided to officially start it in the July of anger into something useful, like screaming. last year and began to sell her designs in Once you’ve cooled off, come back to read November. The line is called Gypsy Soul this, something that was written by an actual Outfitters person and not an idiot.

“Going into Gypsy, I didn’t think it’d Welcome back. First thing first, yes. I know be so much work,” Eckenrode said. “But the article is two years old, but the mindset it paid off so quickly because I love what still applies. How scary is that? People right I do. I’m literally living my dream.” this second are walking the Earth with that She quickly learned how much time exact mindset and they haven’t spontaneously and effort running a fashion line takes, combusted. contrary to her original thoughts.

I’ll just jump down to the worst of it. How “[It takes] lots of time and energy to be the perfect college girlfriend? for sure,” Eckenrode said. “We check 39) “If you ask us how many people we’ve the website for orders every day, email had sex with, don’t get mad at the answer. people back, look for design inspiration, Ignorance is bliss.” and plan pop-ups for the most part.”

40) “Lie about how many people you’ve Eckenrode draws inspiration for her had sex with.” line from her own personal style, such as So, obviously this is unacceptable for… the brands Pacsun and Brandy Melville.

Wait, I want to make sure I get the number Whenever she has an idea, she immediright… 12 million reasons. But I’m not going ately writes it down. to waste my time in explaining why that double As spring nears Emmaus, Eckenrode standard is wrong. looks forward to summer fashion.

So I have come up with a response to this “We’ve been writing down some garbage and everyone at TFM. And we know ideas and looking at trends for spring what I am writing isn’t trash because I am the and summer style,” Eckenrode said. “I’m human form of a pug. Everybody loves me, so excited for the new pieces. I’m a huge and if people think I’m ugly, I do not have time fan of summer style.” to care because I’m a pug. I have things to do.

So, here are a few ways to not be an absolute piece of garbage in your relationship: 1) If you have high standards, keep them.

2) Be honest with your intentions.

Bibi Correa 3) Be honest all the time.

Features Contributor 4) Compromise.

There are two sides to the Internet -5) But if something is important to you, let the pretty and flawless, and the personal them know. and real. Sometimes we don’t see both, 6) Looks do not at all matter if you’re a just what we want. good person.

One side shows the happy side of a 7) Don’t drop your friends. person’s life. The filters and theme that 8) It’s okay to hang out with other people.

Instagram has made people thrive and If your person is worth it, they’re going to be lunge for, just for that perfect aesthetic. around for awhile.

The other side shows people’s real lives, 9) Respect them. not just what followers want to see.

10) Respect yourself.

Users post natural selfies and talk about 11) Apologize. how they truly feel.

12) Listen.

Emily Bianchini, a senior at Emmaus 13) But don’t try to fix everything. Sometimes a person just wants their problems to be High School with over 27k followers on Instagram, knows this from personal acknowledged. experience.

14) If something is wrong, talk about it.

Bianchini first gained her popularity 15) If something isn’t wrong, great.

16) Just don’t bring up past arguments. It’s by co-owning accounts on Instagram that ranged from couples’ accounts to Tumblr unfair and confusing. accounts, each gaining more and more 17) It’s okay to step out of your comfort followers. zone sometimes.

With all of this fame, companies 18) Don’t hate their favorite movie. It’s started noticing Bianchini. your favorite movie now.

“Some of the tumblr account owners 19) Be considerate. had little shops [and] started noticing 20) They’re not perfect. That’s fine. me,” Bianchini said. “Then I DM’d 21) You’re not perfect. That’s also fine. some bigger companies and they said 22) Get to know their friends. they loved my page.”

23) Get to know their family.

But life wasn’t always peachy for 23b) Even if their family is awful. Trust me. this Internet personale. Last year she I get it. moved back to the United States from 24) Don’t tolerate cheating.

25) Additionally, don’t cheat. Can’t believe China after living there for 13 years.

Most of her friends in China were from I even have to say that, but here we are. her international school and came and 26) Don’t try to control them. went, leaving her to say goodbye to 27) Be appreciative. Let them know how many people. When she moved back to lucky you are to have them.

28) Gifts are not necessary. The small things the United States, Bianchini didn’t really have many friends, but she found go a long way.

29) People make mistakes. Understand that. them through the Internet.

Whether they’re from accounts she 30) Support them. co-owned to followers who constantly Do: take this information and digest it. comment on her pictures, she feels as Don’t: take anything from Total Frat Move. if she does have real friends.

Do: not ever join a frat.

“People always say you can’t live your life on the Internet,” Bianchini said. “But that’s not true. They make

THE COLUMN

11

February 2016

featuring rania draklellis

NOW

F E AT U R E S

After she finishes a design, Eckenrode ships it to a manufacturer who sends back around five pieces made from the design, which range from sizes small to large.

“I really like [that they send back about five pieces],” Eckenrode said. “Because it makes every piece really unique in the sense that only five other people in Above photo left to right: the world will have it.” Emory Eckenrode, Delaney Although Eckenrode Worley, Rory Nicholls. Photos has yet to take any fash- courtesy of ion or design classes at gypsysouloutfitter.com EHS, she wishes to do students so in the future. and friends “The teachers in the fashion courses involved in know what they are doing,” Eckenrode her fashion said. “They could give really good tips endeavor. and I feel like I could learn a lot.”

Sophomore Delaney Worley models But going into the fashion business for the line, and she said loves it. isn’t just about promoting herself. One “I like that the pieces can be dressed up part of her venture is donating a portion as well as they can be dressed down,” of every sale to the Dress a Girl FounWorley said. dation, which gives dresses to girls in Sophomore Rory Nicholls also modAfrica. els for Eckenrode, as well as runs some “It’s important to give back,” Eckof the social media. She said she is also a enrode said. “When you give back, you big fan of the line. continue to receive good things.”

“I love the clothes,” Nicholls said.

The amount she plans to donate is “[And I love] the prices, the colors the still to be determined, she said. prices...but yeah it’s great.”

Eckenrode has also gotten other

Senior is #InstagramFamous me happy because I can be anywhere in the world as long as I have Internet connection. They always find a way to make me happy.”

Yet she keeps her personal account separate from her Tumblr. Bianchini’s personal account mainly consists of her life in pictures, only showing the happy news. Meanwhile, on her Tumblr account, her followers know who she really is. It’s a place where she can tell them if she’s having a bad day and rant and they won’t judge her.

Like most who broadcast their life on social media, Bianchini gets criticized.

“I used to not be able to handle the hate, being like ‘I didn’t do anything wrong why do they hate me,’” said Bianchini. “But after a while, I realized people will always hate on you, no matter the reason.”

Bianchini’s main goal is to shed light on China. Many people don’t see

the beauty of it, just what they believe to be true. So many people aspire to live in well-known cities such as California, New York City, or even Hawaii. But Bianchini wants to show the world that there’s more beauty the world has to offer than just what we know.

She hopes to continue her popularity for as long as possible, maybe even starting her own store or a YouTube Channel.

However, her main goal isn’t to be famous. Bianchini hopes to get a job either teaching, or working with neurobiology.

She looks at the highs and lows of each job as she thinks about for her future.

While that’s all years away, Bianchini is graduating soon, she hopes that college, wherever she goes, will give her more experience and help her change for the better.

12

THE STINGER

you what you need to do to get out of that situation.”

Although Eastland just joined Title, Tucked between Peking Asian Cuisine she has seen improvements in her balance, and a vacant grocery store in Trexlertown coordination, and hand-eye movement. sits a small boxing club.

“Maddie told me about [Title Boxing Inside several women take turns Club], and I got my membership a month punching, jabbing to the repeated comago,” Eastland said. “The workouts have mands. They robotically follow the gotten a lot easier. When I first started, patterns, as well as the mantra that hangs it killed me. As it got on, I could see from the wall: “Today I will do what changes in my body.” others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what Senior Megan Forstburg also joined others can’t.”

Title after hearing about it from McGeary, The class continues and the trainer but she stopped due to the start of volleyshouts. ball season.

“Spleen, uppercut, cut, cross,” trainer “I think [boxing] did make me a Faith Alicea repeats, calling the moves stronger and quicker volleyball player,” over and over.

Forstburg said. “All the hitting increased Emmaus senior Maddie McGeary my strength, so that helps, and the agility responds: “I hate switching.” you do there really helped with my quick“You hate switching?” Alicea says. “I ness on the court.” forgot this was all about you.”

Among the list of pros, boxing fineΔ tunes coordination, helps strengthen the Title Boxing Club opened its Hamilton brain-body connection, and boosts body Boulevard location 14 months ago, and awareness, according to Shape.com. although it is relatively new, The MornAlicea finds working at Title to be very ing Call dubbed Title as Reader’s Choice humbling.

2015’s Best Gym. “Being a trainer is not about screaming The club offers a unique workout conat someone,” Alicea said. “It’s figuring out cept where people can burn up to 1,000 where people are on their fitness journey, calories an hour. and instead of trying to push them to a Title’s staff goal, which is our job, includes a foursometimes you need to time World walk beside them.

Kickboxing Sometimes people champion, are going through former and really rough stuff. professional “I have a woman boxers, black who’s going through belts, and a divorce, and some amongst days it’s hard for them, former her to get here,” social worker she said. “All she has Faith Alicea. to do is show up, so “We’re not that day I might need your average to push her more. gym,” Alicea said. “We’re a But there might be a club and a family.We do know day where she needs to cry after class. everybody that comes in. Everybody is on I have another female who is about 400 a certain journey or path to fitness, from pounds and we’re here to save her life, so the 300-pound person who’s trying to it’s a very serious journey.” lose weight, or to the 81-year-old ParkinClasses last one hour, and the boxing son’s patient who’s doing this to combat class includes eight rounds, starting with a Parkinson’s.” warm-up and ending with an ab workout.

Title offers 35 classes, seven days a “We do a warm-up in the beginning, week to its members, which are mostly which is like jumping jacks, then it’s 45 women -- women like Emmaus seniors minutes of boxing,” McGeary said. “It’s Maddie McGeary, Ashley Eastland, and exhausting, and I’m dripping in sweat Alyssa Hilmer. afterwards with the intensity of it.”

“We actually are predominantly Sophomore Sam Garcia has been boxfemale-based,” Alicea said. “So either ing for eight years in New York City, and females have more anger or I think, for recently she began competing for titles. females, hitting and learning proper form “[I’ve won the title of] Most Comis a great way to exercise, but I feel like petitive Female Boxer,” Garcia said. “I it’s also very empowering to know how to just started boxing more competitively, hit.” so there’s not McGeary many titles that can relate to I’ve gotten yet. the feeling of Lightweight empowerment Champion and in the sport. stuff like that, in “We do some the district that I street-fighting box in.” rounds,” Garcia took McGeary said. up the sport at “That part of the age of nine. me is in there “When I was somewhere, that younger, I really skill, so there’s didn’t have any a little more patience,” Garconfidence.” cia said. “So my Title even ofdad said ‘Maybe fers self defense if we do boxing, classes. it’ll get better.’ “[We teach you] how Eastland stretches before the I like it because it’s a form boxing rounds begin. to carry yourself so that of expression that not many someone would not apfemales do. It’s something proach you,” Alicea said. “And if they different.” did, God forbid, approach you, we teach Garcia recalls a time she did the most

February 2016

F E AT U R E S

Rania Draklellis Features Editor

damage on an opponent.

From left to right: Alyssa Hilmer, Ashley Eastland, “It wasn’t on purpose. She Faith Alicea, and Maddie McGeary. was talking before the fight,” be aware of your surroundings and to not Garcia said. “What gets me annoyed is be on your cell phone while you’re walkfemales who talk all big before the fight, ing to the car, you park in an area where so she only lasted like four rounds and I made her nose go to the left side, and I felt your car is underneath a light.

“I know you hear it all the time, but it’s bad, but she should have never been talktrue because if you’re parked where it’s ing in the first place.” dark, no one’s gonna see anything. Also McGeary, on the other hand, says that checking in with people. If somebody she would not fight another person. knows you’re leaving work at a certain “I would just be too scared,” McGeary time, or if you’re checking in with your said. “One of the trainers who just left parents,” she said. “It might seem annoyTitle in Macungie -- he’s like a pro now. ing, but then by the time you’re supposed I can’t even imagine. I’d be too scared, I to be home, if not, at least they would would just back away.” know where to go.”

Garcia acknowledges the mental benForstburg appreciated learning skills to efits of boxing. defend herself.

“Boxing disciplines me,” Garcia said.

“It’s important to be able to protect yourself as a girl,” Forstburg said.

“They do teach you things in case something does happen to you, and I really enjoyed that.”

Garcia agrees with Forstburg, and believes more girls should be encouraged to box.

“Males dominate the sport; a lot of boys do box at the gym that I McGeary punches the bag. box in,” Garcia “It shows me how said. “It’s hard to train next to them to value everybecause they’ll just say, ‘You can’t do this thing I get. It brings more determination because only boys can do it.’ I really think and hard work.” more girls should [box] because they’ll Alicea agrees with Garcia. open up the opportunity for more female “If they’re feeling better about themprofessional boxing, not just the divas selves, they’re gonna feel more confiwho fight on wrestling every Monday or dence, so overall it’s a great workout for Sunday or whenever it happens.” mind, body, soul,” Alicea said.

Alicea feels that women are sometimes The cost of a membership at Title Boxafraid of boxing because it is a male-doming Club depends, but the average price is inated sport. $65 a month, according to Alicea.

“Women need to take care of them“We kind of customize it to people,” Alicea said. “If you’re gonna go off to col- selves from inside out,” Alicea said.

“From how you eat, how you exercise-lege, we have a special rate for you. We everything. Exercise is healthy if you want try to work with the individual to make to have a good, quality life. You have to sure they can achieve their fitness goals.” take care of yourself. My major thing is Those who can’t make it to class in females have to take care of themselves time are encouraged to come to Title and because we can do anything.” work out using their weights and cardio equipment.

“We even teach women how to stand when they meet somebody new to put themselves in a protective stance all the time,” Alicea said. “[We teach women] to

13

Olivia Riccio Features Contributor

“I was figuring myself out at the time, and I figured going somewhere where I could ask questions and not be judged was the best decision,” she said.

Senior Sydney Wilcoxson, a member of GSA for two years, felt that joining GSA was a good option because she knew it would be a place where she could learn more about the LGBTQIA community.

“I had heard of GSAs online before and they

involve the LGBTQIA community.

According to Grim, running these events and promoting the club increased the amount of tolerance.

“I have noticed a difference in the way students are treated by their peers and in general,” Grim said. “I think in talking to the teachers at faculty meetings the past two years, it has helped teachers feel more comfortable in asking questions and in trying to adjust some of their practices.”

EHS’s faculty is not required to take a class to be educated on the LGBTQIA community, but GSA members have given presentations to teachers at monthly faculty meetings.

Swanston feels that EHS has definitely made progress, but could still be better educated.

“Our school is on its way, but it still has a long way to go, and other schools in the area, too,” Swanston said. “I’m hoping that, because of how hard we’re trying, more and more people will learn seemed like a really great resource for LGBTQIA about the community, and more and more people students, which I had just begun to identify as,” will come to understand and accept, instead of fear Wilcoxson said. “I saw the GSA as a place to meet and reject,” other LGBTQIA students, as well as become betDr. Jen Clements, a professor in the Departter informed, create a safe space for conversation, ment of Social Work and Gerontology at Shipand basically build a support system.” pensburg University, has promoted equality for GSA hooked Wilcoxson from the first meetstudents since she was a member of the University ing. She found that the community’s energy was of Maryland’s GSA. enough to keep her coming back.

“There was a very active GSA there and I was GSA helps run several activities that hope to thrilled to be more involved in social action,” Cleinvolve all students in school. ments said. “A good friend of mine connected me Each year, GSA teams up with No Place for to the club and I felt a strong sense of community Hate to run a, “Week of Acceptance”, previously as soon as I walked in the door.” called “No Name Calling Week” and “Pride Clements advises a similar club on ShippensWeek.” burg’s campus called SAFE (Students Advocating This week ends with the Day of Silence, where For Equality), which has two goals on campus: to students can choose not to speak for a day in provide both social and educational resources to remembrance of LGBTQIA students who couldn’t LGBTQIA students. or can’t come out for the fear of judgement or “The group tries to provide a safe place for bullying.

LGBTQ folks and their allies to meet and support “During the week, we promote acceptance and each other,” she said. “ The club can be social and pride by running ads on ETV and selling pride provide a network of friends when life can be very themed merchandise,” Wilcoxson said. isolating. The other goal of SAFE would be to Aside from “Week of Acceptance,” GSA runs provide education and outreach to the community. holiday parties and organizes a gathering with ” other GSAs around the Lehigh Valley. GSA also Clements has also noticed that groups like features guest speakers and shows movies that SAFE make a difference in students’ awareness of LGBTQIA issues on campus.

“Certainly since I went to college in the 90’s it has gotten better,” Clements said. “It is not perfect and we have a lot more work to do but students now are typically more open-minded and accepting of difference and understand more about discrimination.”

With more LGBTQIA clubs forming in schools, LGBTQIA students are being provided with more resources, and a safe place to be themselves.

“Isolation is a scary place to be and when we open up to conversations and are more inclusive, individuals can feel like they have a place Senior Sydney Wilcoxson.

Senior Cyrina Swanston. to be themselves,” Clements said.

Wilcoxson offered some advice to students who might be hesitant to joining GSA, and said that it is a place that can make a difference in the community.

“The more people showing their support, the safer our LGBT students feel, the more our entire school community can be educated and understanding, and the more we can do to make a difference,” Wilcoxson said. “The more support we have, the better we can make Emmaus.”

Accepting. Safe. Inclusive. All of these words are necessary in providing an adequate school environment, and equally important to a club at Emmaus High School, known as GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance).

Students in the LGBTQIA community have faced many obstacles over time, the most challenging obstacle being bullying.

Often targeted for their identities and sexualities, LGTBQIA youth have always dealt with verbal, physical, and online bullying. In 2011, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) conducted the National School Climate survey and found that 82 percent of LGBTQIA students had problems with bullying during the previous year. The Human Rights campaign conducted a survey and found that 92 percent of LGBTQIA youth say they hear negative things about themselves at school, on the internet or from their peers.

GSA is a club that offers support to students in the LGBTQIA community, especially to those struggling with bullying. However, the club is open to anyone, including straight students. Every week, students meet in room 566 to discuss topics that are relevant to the LGBTQIA community, and the promotion of tolerance.

GSA strives to provide safety in school, according to GSA’s advisor for three years, Kristen Grim.

“The goal is to work together to make EHS a safer, more inclusive environment for every student,” Grim said. “In working with students it seemed like there was a need for students who are LGBTQIA to have somewhere safe in the building that they could know they had support as well as to talk to other students who can relate to what they are going through.”

Many unique students attend GSA meetings, coming together to share their stories and help other students who might be going through similar experiences.

Having such a diverse club allows members to feel more equal, no matter how they identify.

Sara Waldman, a freshman and member of GSA, finds that the meetings aren’t her favorite, but that the people who attend are.

“The people in the group, we’re such a diverse bunch and no one judges each other,” Waldman said. “People are themselves in GSA and we are all there for a similar cause.”

A typical GSA meeting begins with each member introducing themselves and what pronouns they identify with. They then provide an answer to an officer’s random question.

Senior Cyrina Swanston, GSA’s secretary, has been a part of the club for three years, and finds the question part of the meeting to be her favorite because it gives each member a sense of equality.

“When every member is answering the exact same question of the day, like how midterms went or their favorite things, it lets people know that we’re all equal while giving them a sense of individuality,” Swanston said. “Their answer doesn’t have to go be the same as everyone else’s.”

Swanston joined GSA because she knew it would be a place where she wouldn’t be judged.

Group photo of GSA in September. Photo courtesy of Sydney Wilcoxson.

EMPTY LANES...

Colleen Grablick Editor-in-chief

15 years after accident, losse

One night 15 years ago, three swimmers -- teammates, friends -- piled into a 1991 Audi, their hearts racing, beating with excitement.

Maybe just a little too fast.

They rode around Lower Macungie Township with intentions of decorating houses for a swim meet the next day, with 17-year-old junior Robert Barnum driving.

Maybe just a little too fast.

As the Audi headed north on Macungie Road, the fourth car in a three-vehicle caravan, its speed increased. Barnum began to race another swimmer, John Zayaitz, going faster, faster, faster. Approaching 80 mph, he rounded a curve that February night in 2001.

Maybe just a little too fast.

Barnum, an All-American swimmer, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree, killing the two passengers in his car, 15-year-old Matthew Kush and 16-year-old Tommy Gray.

Quickly after the accident occurred, swim team members and other EHS students arrived at the scene, according to Tim O’Connor, who served as an assistant coach that year, before assuming the position of head coach the following year. Mike Seip, head coach at the time, declined to speak.

“There was a lot of panic amongst the kids,” O’Connor said. “Within 10 seconds of me answering my answering my phone, I heard the sirens. The whole team was [at the scene].”

Principal at the time, Herman Corradetti opened the school in the middle of the night for the students to warm up and eat food. The accident happened around 1 a.m., and around 5 or 6 a.m. the grief counselors came to tell the students waiting at EHS that their two friends had passed, according to O’Connor.

The swim team participated in the “last chance” meet the next day, which in swim-language means the last meet where swimmers can qualify for districts. According to O’Connor, the decision to continue with the meet meant much more than just racing for a time on a clock.

“The decision to participate in the meet was a very simple decision. It was great that we did it,” O’Connor said.

At the meet, the swimmers were met with a huge support group from swim teams across the area. O’Connor says there’s something special that

bonds a group of people who jump in a pool before 6 o’clock in the morning.

For high school swim teams not only across the area, but across the nation, it was like losing two of their own.

“The swimming community is tight. There was a huge support group there for the kids,” O’Connor said. “It was pretty impressive. The wall of the pool was covered with cards for the kids from across the country.”

The weight of the loss was not only felt in the water, but in every class, every hallway.

English teacher Susan Arnold taught Barnum. She easily recalls the atmosphere of the school in the time following the tragedy. “[The tone] became very somber. There’s always that period of blame,” Arnold said.

“It’s a tone of sleepwalking for a few days.

There’s empty seats, empty desks, empty lunch tables.

It’s horrible.”

According to news reports, Barnum admitted to two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of racing. The driver of the car that Barnum was racing, Zayaitz, 17, admitted to two counts of reckless endangering other people and one count of racing. Barnum was placed on probation until age 21 and lost his license during that time.

Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg ordered both swimmers to pay a fine of $500 a year for 10 years in order to create a scholarship fund in memory of their two lost teammates. Zayaitz was ordered 500 hours of community service, while Barnum was ordered 1,000 hours. The judge expressed that he wanted both boys to share their story with high school and college students in order to prevent more tragedies of this magnitude.

Barnum declined to speak to The Stinger.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of death in people between the ages of 16 and 20. In 2001, the NHTSA reported that police listed street

Within 10 seconds

es of Gray and Kush still felt racing as a factor in 135 fatal crashes. The total was up from 72 street-racingrelated fatalities reported in 2000.

Barnum continued onto West Chester University on a swimming scholarship before quitting swimming and transferring to East Stroudsburg University. According to English teacher Joseph F. Pirro, a longtime friend and baseball coach of Barnum, the swimmer felt a weight that no one could image.

“He obviously carried physical, emotional, and mental burdens,” Pirro said. Barnum suffered from broken bones and a lacerated liver in the accident, according to news reports.

“What’s harder, to have died or have lived after and lost friends?” Pirro said.

According to Arnold, Barnum exhibited the traits of a well-rounded Tim O’Connor, EHS head swim coach young man. “[Barnum] was always friendly and very much outgoing. He was just an all-around nice kid,” Arnold said.

“Bad things happen to good people,” Pirro said. “That’s a good way to describe that accident.”

In times of tragedy it is hard to see the light in anything, according to Pirro. But Emmaus did learn a few lessons from the loss of their two classmates. “ It becomes a reminder for us today that no matter how careful you think you’re being you can never be careful enough,” Pirro said. “It makes us much more compassionate, careful and more in tune with how quickly something bad can happen. And how quickly something can be taken away.”

The accident marked yet another tragedy in a lost list of hardships that Emmaus had suffered since 1995. By 2001, eight Emmaus students had died from accidents and homicide since 1995.

“Back then a series of bad things all happened at the same time,” Pirro

of me answering my phone, I heard sirens.”

said. “And that accident was the pinnacle of that.”

Although EHS houses over 2,500 students every day, 15 years ago the school was much smaller. With this smaller size came a stronger sense of community, according to Pirro.

“We were smaller and I think you felt the impact much more,” Pirro said.

“But kids tend to be resilient.”

That season, as the EHS swim program mourned the loss of their teammates, several swimmers continued onto states. According to O’Connor, the team wore caps with Tommy and Matt’s initials written on them. Although technically illegal to wear, PIAA allowed it. The rest of that season, the rest of that year, the rest of their lives, they would no longer be swimming for themselves or for their coach. They would be swimming for their teammates, their friends, Matt and Tommy. Those empty lanes at morning practice pushed teammates harder and left a constant reminder of what they had lost.

“They dedicated the rest of their lives to swimming for Matt and Tommy,” said O’Connor. “Because they valued them as swimmers and friends.”

Each year since the accident, the EHS swim coaches award two swimmers with a Tommy Gray Memorial Award and the Matthew Kush Memorial Award. The Matthew Kush awards goes to an athlete who demonstrates leadership and modesty, while the Tommy Gray award is based on the fun side of swimming, with Tommy being a light-hearted spirit on the team.

“Matt was very humble, dedicated young man,” said O’Connor. “He was a very positive but silent presence. Tommy was more of a jokester.”

Throughout the season, the coaches look for the swimmers who demonstrate those same traits of the two athletes taken too soon from their swim families.

Tommy’s parents, Joseph and Doris Gray, contributed to Memorial Field, a project initiated in 2009 to honor the lives of lost members of the Emmaus family. The Grays purchased a scoreboard and donated money towards bleacher expansion. They also started a scholarship fund on Tommy’s behalf.

CULTURE Rachel-ly Diverse

Confessions of an Instagram stalker

By Rachel McQuiston As I look across the room in attempt to confirm that the coast is clear, I begin to slowly type on the keyboard on my phone, making sure not to accidentally tap something.

The precision.

The accuracy.

The cold determination.

They all play a part in what I am so cautiously doing.

And yes, I am shamelessly Instagram stalking the girl I hate, the boy from gym class or maybe just a really cute dog.

The subject doesn’t matter, however, and though I can’t imagine the guilt trip I’d be on if I was caught, man does it feel good.

What is it about Instagram stalking that makes it so satisfying? Perhaps it’s the control you feel knowing you can see what someone likes or does just from a quick glance at their Insta page. The girl from your class has a weird infatuation with Avril Lavigne circa 2001? Interesting. The boy who sits next to you has a sixth toe which he proudly parades on his Instagram? Noted. Accidentally found your history teacher’s profile? Oops.

Whatever the reason may be, there is just something oddly rewarding about visiting someone’s Instagram page for the ninth time in one day.

So, yes, social media stalking is all fun and games.

That is until you’re 156 weeks deep stalking the girl you hate, and you’ve just accidentally liked the selfie of her with side bangs and regret. You could quickly unlike the picture, but any Instagramsavvy woman would get the notification on her phone immediately. Ok, yes, you might be exposed for the Instagram stalker that you truly are. But just remember, she was the one with the repulsive side bangs only a mere three years ago.

The situation also worsens when you come across a private profile. You’ve got to be kidding me. How dare they try to prevent you from scrolling down their profile all the way back to Christmas.

Okay, Christmas of 2011 but still. However, you’ll figure out a way past the lock on their profile, you always do.

Despite the mistakes you’ve made along your Instagram-stalking journey, you know you’ll never give up your stalker tendencies. The errors have only sculpted you into the more careful Instagram creeper that you are now. For instance, you know better than to ever let the tips of your fingers -- heaven forbid -- double tap an old picture. You, as you know it, are an Instagram-stalking goddess.

Contrary to popular belief, Instagram stalking everyone that you know (or don’t) isn’t a creepy activity, but instead a craft. One that takes time to completely perfect, and reach its highest potential.

As I finish up my hour-long stalking sesh, I take one last look around the room.

Phew, no one is around. As I commend myself for the impressive stalker qualities that I had just demonstrated, I nearly forget the most important step. I click on settings and scroll to the bottom. I calmly select the “Clear Search History” button and then appears a box with the words “Are you sure?” Oh, I’m sure. With my head held high, I click “Yes, I’m sure” and the anxiety of this day’s stalking session quickly fades away. However, the refreshing feeling of this past hour’s activity lasts. But seriously, who needs therapy when you have Instagram stalking?

CULTURE

THE STINGER | FEBRUARY 2016

CULTURE EDITOR WILLIAM NEWBEGIN ASSISTANT EDITOR RACHEL MCQUISTON

More like “Fail, Caesar!”

Edward Coleman Culture Contributor Well, it’s safe to say that getting lost on my way home after seeing “Hail, Caesar!” was more interesting than the movie itself.

While “Hail, Caesar!” had an all-star cast featuring Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix, George Clooney as Baird Whitlock, Ralph Fiennes as Laurence Laurentz, Scarlett Johansson as DeeAnna Moran, Channing Tatum as Burt Gurney, and Jonah Hill as Joseph Silverman, the movie still disappointed me. Johansson, Hill, and Fiennes were in the movie about as long as they were in the trailer. In addition to the star-studded cast, the movie was directed by renowned brothers Joel and Ethan Coen (“Fargo,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” “No Country For Old Men,” “The Big Lebowski”).

“Hail, Caesar!” takes place in the 1950’s, and follows the struggles of Eddie

Image courtesy of rogerebert.com.

Mannix. Throughout the film, Mannix is conflicted with his bad smoking habits and his job of running Capitol Pictures, a movie industry. His latest movie is a film called, “Hail, Caesar!” starring Baird Whitlock, who is kidnapped after being knocked out by extras who sneak something into his drink on set. Whitlock wakes up and realizes he was kidnapped

by communists who have different views of the movie industry. The communists persuade Whitlock into thinking their way, and he ends up pursuing their lifestyle.

Basically, the story finds a way to randomly put in the popular cast in any way that they can, even if it makes no sense. At one point, I was very confused about what the main conflict actually was.

Apparently, “Hail, Caesar!” is a comedy and mystery. I found this peculiar, considering I seldom laughed during the movie. In fact, the biggest mystery was why I hadn’t gone to see another movie.

The screenplay was bland because of the way they tried to mix religion, communism, the movie industry, smoking problems, 1950’s references and family issues. It seemed as though the screenwriters were writing five different movies mixed into one. As “Hail, Caesar!” showed us some of Capitol Pictures’ other filming techniques, it seemed as though no one really cared that Whitlock was gone except for Mannix.

One of the film’s lowest points included Burt Gurney’s (Tatum) musical number, which came about in one of the most unnecessary movie scenes I’ve ever viewed.

Some of the quotes that were supposed to be hysterical were ruined by the fact that they made no sense toward the plot of the movie. However, I did enjoy one scene in particular in which George Clooney was slapped in the face repeatedly. Clooney was persuaded to be in this movie somehow, like the communists in the movie did to his character, and someone had to knock some sense into his career.

Its production budget was only $22 million. The reviews have been shockingly positive toward this movie, which I obviously don’t agree with. It currently holds an 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, a 72 percent on MetaCritic, and a 7.0/10 on IMDb.com. As you have seen my opinions upon this movie, please take my advice and don’t waste your time with it as I sadly have. For anyone looking for a good movie, it’s not “Hail, Caesar!”

Win two floor tickets to R5 Image courtesy of pinterest.com.

16

Rachel McQuiston Culture Editor The Stinger will be raffling two floor tickets to American pop-rock band R5, who will be performing at the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading on March 7.

R5 -- consisting of Ross Lynch, from Disney Channel’s “Austin and Ally,” Riker Lynch, Rocky Lynch, Rydel Lynch and Ellington Ratliff -- recently released their sophomore album, “Sometime Last Night.” The 11-track album has largely received positive reviews and debuted sixth on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart on Aug. 1. In fact, it sold 31,000 albums during its first week.

One of the band’s most popular singles, “(I Can’t) Forget About You,” reached number 47 on the Billboard Digital Pop Songs.

In April 2015, the band announced its “Sometime Last Night” tour in the United States. The tour started last June and runs through March across the nation, including one of its final stops in Reading, which is about 30 miles from Emmaus.

To win two floor tickets to R5, come to period four, five, six and seven lunches on February 22-26 to purchase a raffle ticket. The lucky winner will be announced February 29 on the Stinger twitter page, and will be personally contacted by the newspaper staff. Floor seats sell for $39.50 to $49.50, but students have the chance to win two seats for $1 for a ticket, or 10 tickets for $5. And if R5 isn’t your genre, you can always gift them to your little sister!

Tarantino keeps it rolling with Hateful Eight Elias Dreisbach Culture Contributor Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, “The Hateful Eight,” is a three-hour spectacle that defies audience’s expectations and delivers something entirely unique, something like a humorous western-style take on John Carpenter’s “The Thing.”

The film was announced two years ago, with the script leaking shortly afterward.

Although Tarantino threatened to cancel the film, he decided to go through with it after all, and us, the audience, get to reap the rewards.

The film is split up into six chapters, with a middle intermission/narration by Tarantino himself, similar to Tarantino’s previous “Kill Bill” movies. The plot concerns bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) en route to the town of Red Rock with a fugitive (Jennifer Jason Leigh), in hopes of turning her in for a reward. On the way, he encounters another bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). However, due to a blizzard, the four are forced to take refuge in a barlike haberdashery, owned by a man named Oswaldo (Tim Roth). However, things turn deadly when someone poisons the tea the characters are drinking, and the movie drifts into ultraviolent mystery territory.

I won’t spoil anymore, but the film really does defy expectations. Those going

in expecting a straightforward Western plot showing the characters’ interactions. with old west style shoot ‘em up action Some are quite funny, but others could will be disappointed and/or confused.

In fact, the majority of the film takes place inside Minnie’s Haberdashery. With the film being shot on 70mm, one might expect large pans of scenery. While the film does have a few of those, the 70mm is mainly used to give the viewer the same claustrophobic tension the characters snowed in feel.

Ennio Morricone, best known for his signature work on the Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy, composes the score. It is impeccable and brilliant, as to be expected from such a master as Morricone. Tarantino liberally lifts music from other films, Image courtesy of pinterest.com. such as Wes Craven’s “Last House on the Left” in a particularly brutal scene, to have been easily trimmed. Samuel L. good effect.

Jackson’s character has a sick-but-funny Like Tarantino’s previous western, anecdote (complete with flashbacks) that “Django Unchained,” the film contains its I will not spoil, but it must be seen to be fair share of graphic violence and splatbelieved. ter effects. As a fan of gory horror, I find While it’s not without flaws, moviegothe practical effects very well done and ers can easily overlook these when taking effective. Due to the film’s comedic tone, the film as a whole. “The Hateful Eight” is they’re not too sadistic, but not too ridicu- yet another ultraviolent winner from Tarlous, either. antino, and is for sure one of the wildest With a three-hour runtime, the film movies you’ll experience this year. Could graciously takes its time to develop it be shorter? Yes, but with characters this characters, with scenes not relevant to the fun to watch, you won’t even notice.

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THE STINGER | FEBRUARY 2016

CULTURE

Kanye’s Life of Pablo shows mortal flaws William Newbegin Culture Editor It’s that time again. The flowers bloom, the temperature climbs, and the snow melts, for a new season is here. This year, however, the heat catalyzing this annual change is not due to the Earth’s tilted axis. No my friends, this is something completely different.

This heat burns from the fire of Yeezy Season.

The man needs no introduction -- in fact, he’d probably end up interrupting you if you tried. This February, Kanye West came back with his seventh studio album, entitled “The Life of Pablo.”

The album’s release rode a hype train almost as big as the Chicago rapper/producer’s ego itself, and was a very intriguing release. Since being announced more than two years ago, the project underwent numerous name changes, several teaser singles (some of which were not even included on “Pablo”) and huge Twitter drama, all culminating in one of the biggest questions of the year so far: What on EARTH will Ye’s new album sound like?

As a fan of Kanye West, I was personally curious to see as to how he would follow up 2013’s disappointment, “Yeezus.” Though that album’s sonic difference from any other of Kanye’s works had intrigued me, the poor songwriting strewn throughout the album made it otherwise mediocre. Nevertheless, when I heard two of the official album singles -- “Real Friends” and “No More Parties in LA” -- released in January of this year, I was hooked instantly. The former was consciously withdrawn, pensive, and reflective, which was complemented by the gloomy instrumental. The latter was quite different, but even more of an earworm. Produced by the renowned Madlib (MF Doom, Freddie Gibbs, Talib Kweli), the song featured intelligently sardonic lyricism from both West and guest Kendrick Lamar. After being graced with these two beauties, I could not wait for the album’s release.

Finally, on Feb. 14, Kanye West released “The Life of Pablo.” Much to my chagrin, the album was released exclusively to rapper Jay-Z’s music streaming service, TIDAL -- a highly controversial move that added to all the extraneous melodrama associated with the album.

Nevertheless, I could not pass up on listening to Kanye’s

newest installment, and set out was well-done, which was a relief conto do so. sidering my expectation of him had been From the get-go, I knew the equivalent to that of a rock after his latest album’s production would be album. On the negative side, the song impressive. Such contributors wastes a phenomenal instrument with a included Plain Pat (Drake, Red lazy verse from West. The tune’s partner, Hot Chili Peppers, Kid Cudi), titled “Pt. 2” helped allay the feelings of Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, disappointment I had just had, thankfully.

Public Enemy, LL Cool J), and Up next came “Famous,” featuring a none other than 2015’s bigvocal performance from Rihanna -- and gest producer, Metro Boomin’ a subpar one at that. The rest of the song himself (Future, Travi$ Scott, was overly self-indulgent, and served as Drake). Per tradition, West also horrifying callback to “Yeezus.” Blegh. helped to produce the whole “Pablo” then earned back my attention album, maintaining his reputawith “Feedback,” which featured a brash tion for producing musically lyrical delivery, and the most memorable cohesive albums. He didn’t fail line on the LP: “Name one genius that to keep this reputation steady, ain’t crazy.” Good stuff, Ye. Good stuff. either. Sonically, the album If you’ve not already noticed, it seems blew my mind even during my as if I had enjoyed every other track on first listen. From back to front, the album so far, and yawned at all the there is not a boring instruothers. Well, buckle in ladies and gentlemental. Moreover, the album’s Photo of rapper Kanye West. man, this roller coaster of musical quality Image courtesy of streetdose.com. beats remain diverse, keeping essentially continues for the rest of “The the listener engaged through the Life of Pablo.” The weaker points include album’s 58-minute-long duration. In essence, if you’re a “Highlights,” “Freestyle 4,” “Waves,” and “Facts.” If sucker for some killer backing tracks, this album should you want a good laugh, listen to Young Thug’s feature in be a go-to.

“Highlights” -- the line about a GoPro, which I cannot This, however, is where the album’s unimpeachable include in a school newspaper, is cringeworthy at best. nature ceases.

Let me be clear though; I did enjoy “The Life of PabMy biggest bone to pick with “The Life of Pablo” lo.” The dense quality of other tracks such as “Wolves,” came with its lyrical consistency, or lack thereof. While “FML” and the cheeky-but-short “I Love Kanye” helped listening to the album, I stumbled upon a few tracks that the album keep pace despite the aforementioned snooze came to bore me as I listened to them more. fests. Those songs, coupled with the sheer attention to de“The Life of Pablo” begins with the tune “Ultralight tail in production, helped assemble a better-than-average Beam.” Upon listening, I was instantly wowed. Featuring (if not underwhelming) album. gospel samples and angelic-sounding choirs throughout, In the scheme of Kanye’s illustrious discography, it it also includes a phenomenal verse from fellow Chicago will not go down as one of the best, but it will most cerMC Chance the Rapper. This ended up being one of my tainly not go down as one of the worst. favorite songs on the album.

Cheers, Yeezy.

Yet the next track, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” brought my interest crashing down. The Kid Cudi feature

St. Lucia explores new territory Michael Monte Culture Contributor This past January, South Africa-Native Jean Philip Grobler, or St. Lucia, released his sophomore album under Columbia Records, called “Matter.”

The album marks a significant stylistic change in Grobler’s approach. “When the Night,” St. Lucia’s first album, brought light-hearted, summer-themed imagery to the forefront of the listener’s imagination. “Matter,” which sounds completely different, serves as a total throwback to synth-pop legends of the 1980’s through its entire length of 53 minutes.

While making “Matter,” Grobler collaborated with his fellow bandmates Nicky Paul, Ross Clark, Dustin Kaufman, and Patricia Beranek. Towards the end of the “When the Night” tour in November 2014, St. Lucia premiered a new song entitled “Love Somebody.” The song was driven by a very 80’s-sounding synth that captivated the audience, and left those who heard the song desiring more.

For the next two months, the band remained quiet

about their new music. That is, until the middle of January when the group announced they had begun recording their second LP. In April of that year, another song from the forthcoming album leaked from St. Lucia’s performance at Coachella. I enjoyed the tune, entitled “Physical,” very much. The 80’s style dance-groove found in the song later proved to be quite a common sonic theme throughout “Matter.”

Then, in October 2015, the band released their official first single from the album called “Dancing On Glass.”

Once again, the song leaned heavily on elements of 80’s synth-pop while the lyrics talked about the struggles of being in a relationship while being young.

The band then performed on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic in early December opening with a new song entitled “Home,” which was the first song Grobler wrote for the “Matter.” “Home” is probably my favorite track off the record because it just reminds me of my childhood and listening to classic 80’s superstars like Prince or Kashif.

Between the numerous releases and teaser perfor-

mances, St. Lucia had me, as well as many others, anticipating “Matter” heavily. However, compared to their debut album, I feel “Matter” pales slightly.

The album opens with “Do You Remember,” a song co-written by Jack Antonoff of Bleachers. The song rings through blasting synths and a vamped up feel, while Grobler tells about his journey from South Africa and ending up in America. “Winds of Change,” the 6th song on the album, reminds me of Madonna’s “Lucky Star.”

Grobler described it as his favorite track on the record, calling it the most challenging on to finish. I love this track’s lyrics, which touch on the cyclical nature of life, and how even the best of situations can turn horrible in the blink of an eye. “Rescue Me” is a six-and-a-half minute song with a groovy synth bass line and analog style sounds.

In conclusion, I do not feel this album is as good as their debut, but I feel they did an incredible good developing their sound and experimenting with new ideas.

Renee Martin Culture Contributor From starting off as cover band in Vegas to becoming a major influence in the pop-rock scene, Panic! At The Disco is nothing short of impressive.

Panic! released its newest album “Death of a Bachelor” on Jan. 15, making it the band’s fifth studio LP. The band maintains the reputation of not shying away from any changes in lineup, sound, or aesthetic, and “Bachelor” is no exception.

In fact, Urie is the last remaining original member of Panic!, with former bandmates Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Jon Walker all leaving for different reasons over the years. Urie now travels with touring members, including bass player Dallon Weekes, who until recently had become a full-time member of the group.

Panic’s other albums have been unique in their own right, from the steam-punkish feel of “Vice and Virtues” to the hippie-centric “Pretty. Odd.” Both albums provide a variety of musical styles with songs that mesh well together. However, this is not the case with “Death of a Bachelor.” Unlike the other LPs, these tracks just don’t seem to have any connections with each other and feel thrown together.

Yet, the album does have its bright spots, despite its lack of unity.

Urie described the album’s influence stemming from the musical stylings of Frank Sinatra and Queen, and that shows in songs like “Impossible Year,” “House of Memories,” and in the title track “Death of a Bachelor.”.

Urie cited the album’s musical approach as a sort of

homage to Sinatra, praising the influence of his music. “[Sinatra’s] music has been a major player in the soundtrack of my life,” Urie said. “So it’s only right that I return the favor and pay it forward.”

“I wrote an new album this year and even in the few songs that don’t sound remotely similar to any of his music, I still felt his influence in the writing and the need to relate so personally to each song,” Urie said.

The album’s better points include songs such as “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time” and “Victorious.” These hypnotically anthemic and spacious tunes are filled with energy and excitement that can get you on your feet in an instant.

Conversely, tracks such as “Hallelujah,” “Emperor’s New Clothes,” and “La Devotee” feel out of place, with little meaning behind them. The repetitiveness of lyrics and beats grow weary after a while, and definitely hurt the album’s overall quality.

With six tracks being released early and hype brewing quickly, and excitement bubbling over in the fandom, I had high expectations for this album. However, I was sadly disappointed with the outcome.

Overall, this album does not warrant a full listen more than once, but there are songs that Panic! fans are sure to enjoy.

Panic! At The Disco offers bright spots with Bachelor but lacks unity

“Death of a Bachelor” album cover.

Image courtesy of zumic.com.

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CULTURE

THE STINGER | FEBRUARY 2016

Why society still accepts the “S-word” -and how EHS feels about it Rachel McQuiston Culture Editor “Slut.”

“Whore.”

“Skank.”

Not the most charming words to ever grace the mouths of teenagers by any standards. Spend one day in Emmaus High School, however, and you may hear them quite often. Slut-shaming, in an attempt to lessen women’s confidence and make them feel ashamed for their actions, has become a frequent occurrence in today’s age.

But what do these words really mean? Is a “slut” defined by someone wearing provocative and revealing clothing? Or perhaps having numerous partners during one period of time?

These terms, when used loosely, seem to have lost all meaning somewhere along the road. Wearing a tight shirt or short-shorts could prompt people to label a female a “slut” in an instant. However, the definitions of these words vary from person-to-person.

To junior Hailey Child, the words “slut” and “whore” carry a similar connotation.

“I think a ‘slut’ is someone who sleeps around, and the word ‘whore’ is kind of the same thing,” Child said.

But this vocabulary did not originate in today’s tech-savvy society. The usage of such derogatory terms date very far back, although the meanings have changed greatly.

The first recorded instance of the word “slut” was in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in 1368, in which he described a man who had an unkempt appearance with the adjective “sluttish.”

Thomas Hoccleve, an English poet, used the word as a noun in 1402 to describe a woman who kept her house dirty and messy. As time progressed, the word left behind the connotation of “untidy” and assumed the definition of someone who was more “loose” or “promiscuous.”

The term has continued to be overused today in the eyes of many.

Although the word “slut” first began as an adjective to describe a man, it soon was modified to describe women, and it has primarily been that way ever since.

Emmaus English teacher Aaron Gavin notices a double standard when it comes to the usage of the terms “slut” or “whore” between men and women.

“They are highly gendered words;

we don’t castigate boys with these words,” Gavin said. “Saying that girls who are engaged in sex is bad, but that it is not in that way for boys, is completely ridiculous.”

However, junior Andy Wilson firmly believes that although hurtful, femaledirected words like “slut” are not used for males, there are comparable terms used specifically for men.

“The words ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ specifically are used toward women, but girls are not the only ones that are socalled ‘slut-shamed,’” said Wilson. “There are words that describe men that are the equivalent meaning to slut, such as ‘man whore,’ ‘player,’ and ‘ladies’ man.’ These words exist because women aren’t the only ones doing these types of actions.”

Wilson also believes that the Internet plays a large role in the expansion and acceptance of derogatory terms to both sexes, due to its anonymous nature.

“Social media causes these words to be used toward both men and women because of gossip,” Wilson said. “Social media is a way for people to say things that they may not say in real life to the person’s face.”

Emmaus social studies teacher Melissa Moxley agrees that the Internet is a contributor to the usage of these terms, due to its inability to demonstrate the consequences of hurtful actions and the luxury of remaining undisclosed.

“I think a big problem is the Internet,” said Moxley. “There is no type of accountability with the Internet. Words hurt and it is not okay to hurt people because of who they are.”

As it is clear, the Internet is an obvious factor in keeping these terms alive, and it can even be argued to expand and encourage such language. The Internet makes it possible to say hurtful words without visibly seeings the repercussions.

And words do hurt.

Sixty students at Emmaus were asked if they would be personally hurt if they, or a family member, were called one of these words. Thirty-seven people (10 male and 27 female) said that they would be hurt, and 23 (14 male and 9 female) said that they would not be offended by this name-calling.

Regardless of how personal one takes these insulting remarks, the hateful nature remains the same. But through the many occurences of randomly using these words, it’s difficult to determine the true

meaning.

So, what do these words really mean?

Well, that’s up for interpretation.

In author Leora Tanenbaum’s 2015 book “I am Not a Slut: SlutShaming in the Age of the Internet,” Tanenbaum views the definition of “slut” as positive in some ways. Tanenbaum believes that for some teenagers, “slut” can be a good thing if the girl is maintaining her notoriety and exercises efficient control over her actions. Tanenbaum explains that a girl must not only obtain “good slut” status, but that she also maintain this reputation without falling under the status of a “bad slut,” who is shamed for her behavior.

On one hand, the word “slut” can suggest a person’s number of sexual partners and promiscuity.

A study published in the Journal of Personal Relationships surveyed 810 men and women, aged 18-23, to discover how exploited and secluded people feel in connection to the number of sexual relationships they had. The study showed that although people with more sexual partners felt less lonely and more sociable, they also suffered more discrimination; more specifically, “slut-shaming.”

On the contrary, a study in 2004 conducted by sociologists from the University of Michigan and the University of California at Merced, demonstrated a strong link between slut-shaming and one’s social class.

Sociologists Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton occupied a dorm

room in a Midwestern university where they studied 53 college women about school, friends, sexuality and more over a span of five years. The experiment found that wealthier women who partook in more sexual relations applauded themselves for being classy, while they slut-shamed less affluent girls for being “trashy,” even if the less affluent women participated in less sexual activity.

Whether slut-shaming is related to sexual partners, social class or various other factors, the hurtful connotation of the word remains the same. So before you throw around derogatory terms, ask yourIllustrations by Angie Stein.

How do EHS students define the “S-word”?

A girl who dresses minimally to try to entice others.

Someone who sleeps around with a bunch of people and has many very short relationships.

Someone who wants male attention.

An individual, usually female, who gives access to her body for sexual activities without care.

Someone who cheats on another person.

Based on a survey of 60 students.

CULTURE

19

THE STINGER | FEBRUARY 2016

Millions of users, next to no info - how this new trend affects teens

Angie Stein Assistant Opinion Editor It’s something we can all picture. An Empublicly state what’s in the product.” maus High School student bursts out the door A particularly popular pro-vape argument is that at the end of the day, swipes something from vaping helps tobacco users quit. Of course, this their pocket, and lights up, leaving a wispy claim hasn’t been investigated nor approved by the trail as they trudge away from the building.

FDA. Or maybe it’s a group of kids, huddled on “The FDA has not approved any e-cigarettes as the curb, laughing, puffing, passing. Parents, a safe or effective method to help smokers quit,” teachers, and kids, no matter what generation, ALA says. “Until and unless the FDA approves a know these familiar sights. specific e-cigarette for use as a tobacco cessation It’s a reality some might call inexcusable; aid, the American Lung Association does not supothers, inevitable: teens and tobacco go toport any direct or implied claims that e-cigarettes gether like a lighter and the end of a cigarette. help smokers quit.”

However, you’re less likely to find those In addition, a 2014 study on cancer patients in a things in the hands of teens today. Instead, smoking cessation program found that e-cigarette slim pen-like devices rest in their fingers. users were as likely or less likely as those who did Walking by them might not bring a whiff of not use e-cigarettes to still be smoking. tobacco, but rather cotton candy, watermelon, Without constant research and regulation by the or maple syrup. government, the true helpfulness or harmfulness It seems that cigarettes are so yesterday, and of vaping can’t be determined. However, many vape is in vogue. believe this uncertainty makes it as dangerous as Vaping, in its simplest definition, is the act can be. of inhaling water vapor through a personal “‘[Parents and teachers should be] very convaporizer or electronic cigarette. An alternacerned,” Bednar says. “The fact that there’s no tive to smoking tobacco, vape pens and other regulations is a concern to me as an educator and vaporizers, collectively known as ENDS as a parent.”

(Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems), generThough the use and the buzz climbs higher ate vapor from e-liquids or “vape juice,” a mix each day, the future of vape seems uncertain. As of a base, colors, flavors, and other additives the industry grows, health organizations such as that may or may not include nicotine. Users, ALA push for the FDA to regulate e-cigarettes and known as “vapers,” have many reasons in e-liquid. If the government does not begin mandatcommon with smokers: they vape to relax, reing, this trend may spiral out of control - and we lieve stress, or fit in with friends. Beyond these have no idea what damage could be done. Until simple facts, however, it gets ugly. then, vape remains a hot-button topic in today’s Though vaping in the U.S. first became world.

Counter-clockwise from top: A user common in the 2000s, its popularity - and “I don’t give people rants about my opinion on blows vape rings; personal vaporizers/ media attention - seems close to peaking vape,” Espinosa says. “Like, if people choose to do vape pens; a bottle of vape juice today. Once upon a time, only pharmacies it, I’m not gonna approve of it, but... I don’t necesis this stuff, really? sold e-cigarettes, which contained one flavor sarily force my opinions on people.”

With opinions ranging (tobacco). Nowadays, over 3,500 specialized “vape “I don’t think that’s that big of a deal,” Alexis from “100 percent safe” shops” exist in the U.S., in addition to mall kiosks and says. “I don’t think people should be completely to “worse than a pack of Marlboros plucked from the online stores. According to a poll conducted by Reuters against it or completely for it. I don’t think that people Devil’s pocket,” that last one can be hard to answer. last year, about one in 10 American adults vape, almost should care that much. You do it if you want, and if you “I’ve heard that the ones that do contain nicotine are four times higher than the U.S. government estimate in don’t, no big deal.” actually worse for you than cigarettes,” Alexis says. “If 2013.

For now, people can only use their own judgement it’s nicotine free, I think you’re okay, but you can get As for youth? According to the 2011-2013 National regarding vape. Whether that judgement is good or not addicted to anything.”

Youth Tobacco Survey of middle and high school relies on the public’s willingness to educate themselves.

“The people who use it say that it’s not harmful,” Esstudents, the number of youth who used e-cigarettes inIntegration of vape into the health curriculum at public creased from 79,000 in 2011 to 263,000 in 2013. For the pinosa says. “I choose not to do it because I do feel like schools remains to be seen. it’s harmful. It seems like another form of smoking.” first time ever, teens are vaping more than smoking.

“It should be a discussion,” Bednar says. “It could The truth? No one can say vaping is completely Alexis*, a sophomore at Emmaus, is one such teen. definitely be talked about. I would say once we start to “safe,” because it is not regulated by the FDA. “The first time I ever vaped was last year during collect more facts.”

“The health consequences of the use of e-cigarettes finals,” Alexis says. “I was at a friend’s house and every“Everybody be careful,” Alexis says. “Just be carebody was passing around a vape pen. So I was like, ‘Oh, and exposure to secondhand e-cigarette emissions are ful.” unknown,” says the American Lung Association in their I’m gonna try this, because it’s not bad…’ It didn’t have *name has been changed most recent e-cig fact sheet. “There is currently any nicotine… So I tried it, and I really liked it.”

Alexis vapes a few times per month, without nicotine. no scientific evidence establishing the safety of e-cigarettes.”

“I just think it’s something fun to do. And it tastes EHS health teacher Eric Bednar reiterates the good,” she says. “It’s like stress relief. It’s a way for me uncertainty surrounding vape. to bond with my friends.”

“The problem is that there’s no studies,” Bednar On the other hand, junior Xavia Espinosa can’t get says. “We don’t really know what’s in these behind the hobby. products… and we don’t really know the effects of “It’s not beneficial in any way,” Espinosa says. # of users Est. 40 Est. 32 long term use.”

“There’s no point. I would like to see vapers’ opinions... in the U.S. milllion million “Pro-vape” advocates often state that no mysI would like to see how they feel that it’s necessary, or tery surrounds e-liquid ingredients, and vapers beneficial, or even fun. I mean, there’s a lot of other Cost $20-200 per know exactly what they inhale. Regardless of things that are fun.” whether that’s true, the fact still stands that most, Vape’s spike in popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed. $5-12 per pen if not all, e-liquid contains harmful compounds.

Across the board, everyone from news outlets to health pack $10-15 per Beyond the well-known health risks of nicotine, organizations to common people debate on the safety of vapers can potentially inhale carcinogens and othENDS, and what their spread means for our collective 15 mL of juice er cancer-causing chemicals. In lab tests conductculture. Vaping of the rich and the famous, including a ed in 2009, the FDA found detectable levels of recent fiasco involving Leonardo DiCaprio, the Golden Nicotine?

Always Optional carcinogens in two leading brands of e-cigarettes Globes, and a classy tuxedo-coordinated vape pen, further increase awareness - and sometimes outrage - for and 18 various cartridges. And according to the # of >4,000 Varies the trend. More teen-friendly celebs, such as singer Katy same tests, even cartridges labeled “nicotine-free” chemicals contained traceable levels of nicotine.

Perry and supermodel Cara Delevingne, also showed “[The CDC] believes there are small traces of their love for vapor in recent times.

FDA Yes No formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen, in vape,” As its use becomes more widespread and apparent, it Bednar says.

“I think the biggest concern is that seems vape is caught in a crossfire of questions: should regulation? companies that [vape companies]... do not have to people do it? How should others react? How dangerous

Cigs vs. Vape Cigarettes

Vape

20

THE STINGER

FEBRUARY

SPORTS Sports Editor Katie Mest Assistant Sports Editor Abby Moore

Totally Kyle Kyle Carraher Sports Columnist

Concussion protocol discourages athletes from check-ups

21

THE STINGER | FEBRUARY 2016

SPORTS

DOUBLE TEAMING IT

Twin starters lead boys on the basketball court

Abby Moore throughout the years Sports Editor being involved in his Juniors David and Matt Kachelries program.

In my life I’ve seen over five people knocked have a distinct feel for the basketball “They’re learnout-cold in in front of my own feet. Some of court allowing them to connect and play ing the system, so as them friends---some of them opponents. Seeing with ease. leaders of the team this is one of the scariest sights I’ve ever witSince both boys possess exceedingly they’re becoming an nessed. Watching a human being drop---looking high athletic ability and court awareextension of me on lifeless as they hit the ground. ness, it was no surprise that they both the floor,” Yoder said.

You then stand there praying, helplessly that “They play together whoever it is just gets back up. You know that it were varsity starters as well leaders like one and they could’ve just as well been you. You then see him on the team. Despite the challenge of handling varisty duties in their freshhave that connection slowly open his eyes looking around, terrified man years, their hard work helped them that you don’t usually because he most likely has no idea where he is. see anywhere else.”

All this is in sacrifice for the games we love. It succeed and become a good fit for the Yoder holds high may seem strange to an outsider why any human program.

David was excited to have the oppor- expectations for the being would possibly put themselves into these twins and admires the situations. In my opinion however getting into a tunity to start his first year and claims he has anticipated his chance for a long way they contribute car can be just as dangerous and no one questime. to the success of his tions that.

“It was just an amazing feeling and I team.

In recent years the game of football has been “I expect both of under attack. Even President Barack Obama has was very excited and honored to be able to start varsity as a freshman,” David them to be highly said, “I would not let my son play pro football.” successful both If you ask me, that’s just purely un-American. said. “It was always a goal of mine as students and as We have the freedom to educate ourselves in this since I was a kid.”

Matt, on the other hand, was a little athletes,” he said. “I country and form our own choices based on what more hesitant, but he soon got the feel think anybody who we think is best for us. of what it was like to be a varsity player. watches us can see The game of football has always been “At first I was a little nervous to the many ways that dangerous and always will be, but so is life. My start,” Matt said. “I realized that soon they are the engine of father had at least nine concussions in his lifeafter the season went on I was fine, and the train on both ends time, and most occurred while playing football. there were no issues.” of the floor.”

If you were to ask him if he’d known the risk of Like many twins, the Kachelries Dr. Alexandra Burt playing with that many concussions today, would brothers share a unique bond, both on is a professor at Michigan State Univerhe’d do it all again? I’m sure that’d he’d say, and off the court. sity and has conducted twin studies and “absolutely.’ He’d say that the game made him “In general, we both get along pretty is able to see the connection between the man that he was. twins.

One of my best friends has suffered several well,” Matt said. “On the court... David is the point guard, and I’m the shoot“It’s not too unlikely for twins to concussions in his life as well, and the most ing guard, and we know each other’s have similar athletic ability mostly recent of which caused him to be hospitalized. skills and tendencies, so it just works because they’re usually in competition However, this did not stop him from playing together.” with each other and tend to egg each sports, because sports are just such a big part of David other on,” his life.

“Seeing them play together is Burt said. “It’s likened his conThe game of football has al- nection with pretty much like magic... That also because Matt to a “sixth they just enjoy ways been dangerous and al- sense” when has never changed over all the watching their other half sucways will be, but so is life. My concerning years.” their ability to ceed.” father had at least nine concus- play together.

Teammate Joey Polczynski Being fraterSenior basnal twins, Dr. sions in his lifetime, and most player Burt explains occurred while playing football. ketball Joey Polczynthat fraternal ski has known the twins for a long time twins are just as related as non-twin Although I have never personally been diag- and grew up playing on numerous teams siblings and share 50 percent of their with them. Polczynski has seen them DNA. nosed with a concussion, I’ve had my fair share “It’s not just genetics that determine of blows to the head in many events. Sometimes both grow and connect with each other as just normal kids and as basketball their ability, it’s also a huge role of the you’re dizzy or slightly disoriented, but if at all environment as well,” she said. “So possible you want to be out there for your team- players.

“Seeing them play together is pretty overall the difference between ability mate if it all possible. of a set of twins, whether it’s academic Is this the right thing to do? I personally have much like magic,” Polczynski said.

“They have that twin connection, and or athletic, can be half genetic, half enno idea of the effects this can have. they have always been just great teamvironment, or the relationship between Something needs to change with the concusmates. That has never changed over all the two.” sion protocol however, because it discourages the years.”

Having that support from his brother athletes from getting checked to see if they Polczynski also admires their modand his team, David has already reached have a concussion. The policy at Emmaus High 1,000 points in his career at Emmaus.

School will lead to you not being cleared to play esty and their ability to back each other up.

“Getting 1,000 points was definitely for at least five days (even if you don’t have a “David is in the spotlight most of the a goal of mine and I set that goal after concussion.) time and never brags about it, and Matt I watched Brian Hunter, a former EmThis is quite frankly ridiculous, because maus player, reach that same accomwhy would any athlete that cares about his team hurt his leg last year and never complained; they’re both just very positive plishment,” David said. “It felt amazing go to the trainer, unless he is sure that he has a teammates,” Polczynski said. “As a and when I too achieved it I was just concussion. The protocol should be in place to team we trust them, and if someone is very happy with myself.” see if a player truly has a concussion. Someone having a bad game, they’re always there Matt also has great memories to look should not be punished for taking himself out to pick up the load. The difference from back on from his overall basketball of a potentially dangerous situation to see if he their freshman year is just night and career. has a concussion. The player should then be day, and they’re future league all stars “When I was only in 8th grade I monitored for the next day or so to see if he has for sure.” placed 6th in the nation when I went symptoms of a concussion.

Coach Steve Yoder has helped to Florida for nationals,” Matt said.

Unfortunately concussions are here to stay, instruct and watch them both develop “I’m just very happy my brother and I and all we can do is to try to prevent and treat them in a responsible and practical way.

decided to stick with this sport.

“This has definitely been my most fun season of high school so far, and we’ve been doing so well. We’re really looking forward to our senior year.”

Photos courtesy Konnor Durante

Four

22

Luke Rheiner

Fast Facts Height: 5’10” Favorite driving song: “Runnin’ with the Devil”

by Van Halen Favorite film: Guardians of the Galaxy

Luke Rheiner knows the stigmas of ice hockey, and as a fan, he’s seen plenty of fights involving his beloved Philadelphia Flyers.

Sticks to the head. Teeth knocked out. All-out brawls.

But as a high school player, he says fighting is left on the ice for the professionals.

“Yes, there are a lot of fights in the pros, but in our league, there are none,” said Rheiner, captain for the Emmaus ice hockey team. “You do get hit and knocked around, but you get hit in football, too.”

And he should know. He used to play football.

While the team is a club sport in the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League, Emmaus’ team has attracted a sizable numbers, Rheiner says. Emmaus’ varsity squad boasted a roster of 15, while JV listed roughly 13.

This year marked a few highlights that included playing at the PPL center, a notable event for the athletes, many of whom have sat in the stands to watch

the Phantoms play.

“It was really cool because we have season tickets,” says Rheiner, whose hockey idol is retired Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen. “So to be on the ice where they play and look up in the stands, that’s just amazing. And then to go back and watch the games there and see them play, it’s just a really neat experience.”

While the Phantoms play hard, Rheiner says the high school team truly is a lot of fun.

“The best thing is just being on the team with your friends,” he says. “It’s not an individual sports, and you have to play together to win. You have to rely on each other and connect with one another.”

His first loves were football and baseball, but that began to change, thanks to his cousins who were ice hockey fans.

“I would go skate with them,” he says. “So once I learned how to skate, I just started to play.”

It hasn’t come without injury, however.

Rheiner has suffered one concussion, and bruising is to be expected even though they wear full cages.

Right now, he admits, “I sprained my ankle. It’s still sprained, but I’m still playing.”

He’s on the ice four nights a week, either in Whitehall at Lehigh Valley Ice Arena or Bethlehem at Steel Ice Center, depending if he’s playing for school or for club.

Teammate Braxton Grom, a winger who has been playing on the team for a year, says Rheiner has been an asset to the squad.

“Luke is a great captain,” says Grom, who also plays for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Youth club team.

“He cares about all [of] his teammates, and he knows how to motivate the team.”

Under Rheiner’s leadership, it’s been a good season, Grom says.

The highlight, according to Grom, was Rheiner’s winning

Meghan Cilento Cathryn Seibert Associate Editor

Fast Facts Height: 5’5” Favorite movie: The Birdcage Favorite food: Spaghetti and Meatballs

Senior Meghan Cilento feels that if she had not joined fitness team, her life “would be completely different.”

Cilento, now captain of the fitness team and national fitness winner, began attending practices on and off starting her eighth grade year, but following tenth grade, she decided to fully dedicate herself to getting fit.

“I’ve always been pretty fit.

Ever since I was little, I was always running around and doing stuff,” Cilento says. “But there came a point after my sophomore year, I was like ‘You know what, I’m just gonna get really fit, I’m just gonna go for it.’”

And “go for it” she did.

When Cilento became regularly involved on fitness team at the beginning of her junior year, she “couldn’t do a single pull up.” By the end of the year, she “[went] beyond the limits that

[she] put herself to.”

“I ended out the year doing 32 pull ups and placing second at nationals,” Cilento says. “It’s one of those things where if you set your mind to it, you can absolutely do it.”

Paul Iannace, a junior and fitness team member, thinks that Cilento helps the younger members on fitness believe that they can accomplish their goals as well.

“She definitely sets an example for the younger kids and for the other girls on the team, showing them that, you know, you can do it,’’ Iannace says.

“Cause it’s hard, if you’re new, and a girl, to see it. You’re like ‘Oh wow this is really hard’ and then Meghan’s really really good. So they can look up to her and be like ‘Yeah I can do it, too.”

He believes Cilento’s “encouragement, positivity, and ambition” stand out.

“We call her ‘Team Mom’ be-

cause she’s always encouraging the kids,” Iannace says. “She’s always helping the kids out, like the new kids. She keeps some of us in line. She’s just like a mom.

She guides a lot of people.”

Grace Linder, a 2015 EHS graduate and former fitness team member, thinks Cilento “[spreads] positive energy everywhere she [goes].

“Fitness team is a very individual sport, all of your numbers reflect what you are physically capable of doing, but Meghan made sure to focus on the team aspect of the sport and this helped everyone do better,” Linder says. “She spread kindness to everyone as well as scored big numbers to show everyone that hard work pays off.”

Her display of leadership on the team is something Cilento is most proud of.

“I think that probably my favorite accomplishment was getting that team captain, because that’s really cool,” Cilento says.

Briana hart girls basketball Kaitlin Hur Sports Contributor At the age of only seven, sophomore Bri Hart’s love for basketball began. Now having played on varsity for the past two years, she continues to show her passion for the game.

Hart contributes a ton of positive energy to the girls’ team as a whole and is seen as a leader for her teammates to admire. Her natural talent and drive to improve her skills each and every day are two crucial components to her success.

Of all the reasons Hart loves the sport, her friends and the progress she makes in practice keep her going.

“My favorite part about basketball is definitely getting to play with my friends and teammates,” Hart said, “and being able to grow and get better as a player.”

Hart’s offensive position in the game makes her a key player to score points for the team. Playing as a forward, other members of the team greatly value her individual role

goal against Southern Lehigh in January.

Interestingly, however, Rheiner’s own assessment of the season’s highlight wasn’t about himself. In fact, it was about the team’s goalie, freshman Toshan Doodnauth who agreed to goalie without much experience on the ice.

“Just watching our goalie get better was amazing,” Rheiner says. “He played street hockey, so he came to a few practices, and we didn’t have anybody else, so that was it. He’s been playing for both varsity and JV, and it’s been great.”

“My coach always sees me leading others and helping everyone out who joins the team.”

Cilento, who will be attending the University of Pittsburgh to major in Physics and Astronomy, plans to keep fit in college as well.

“If there’s like a team that does [fitness], they might not even do competitions, but if there’s a group of people who always work out and do outdoorsy stuff like that, I’m definitely joining that,” she says. “Fitness is just a huge part of my daily life.”

Cilento feels that fitness changed her outlook on all of the other challenges she may face in her life.

“Every time I think, like ‘Aw man, I can’t do that, it’s gonna be so much work,’ then I think back to how much work I did for fitness team,” she says. “And I’m like ‘You know what, if I can do that, I can do this.’”

DYNAMIC over-the-top

in the team altogether.

Junior teammate Karli Leffler applauds Hart’s determination on the court and recognizes her as a team player.

“She’s always in the right spot on the court looking to score,” said Leffler, “or looking to another teammate, too.”

Hart has been a varsity player since she was just a freshman, which is very uncommon and impressive for someone in their first year on the team.

Of all the teams they faced this year, Hart thinks that Stroudsburg was a game to remember.

“The most memorable part of this season was when we beat Stroudsburg,” Hart said, “because that was the best game we played as a team and kept the intensity throughout the whole game.”

Hart plans to continue her athletic career as a varsity player in her next two years at Emmaus, as her sophomore season is finally winding down.

Faces

23

Tom Schlechter

Tom Schlechter found that swimming has taught him the real meaning of commitment.

“Having to be at the pool at 5 in the morning requires a lot of dedication,” said Schlechter, the sole senior boy on the Emmaus High School swim team. “I get up at 4 to 4:30 to get to practice.

But having done it for so long, it’s kind of led to who I am now.”

Some days when the team has doubles, Schlechter ends up logging nearly seven miles in the water – and yet he has not grown tired of the sport that has come to define him. Schlechter, who began swimming for the Lower Macungie Lazers when he was 8, has been competing yearround for most of his life – and it’s helped him set goals along the way. This year, he’s set his sights on making states.

“It [states] is something that I’ve thought of since my freshman year, so that motivates me to work hard, especially through my senior year,” said Schlechter who prefers distance free and butterfly. “I want it all to pay off.”

The pressure for the pay-off may seem even greater for him, considering that this year began differently than the others. For the first time, head coach Tim O’Connor cut athletes due to a large turnout.

Schechter said seeing friends cut from the roster was rough, but he knew it was for the best – and it’s created

Cheerleading has been a part of Crystal Wise’s life longer than her public school career.

In fact, she started when she was four years old - and she is currently in the midst of her 14th year in the sport. For her, cheerleading is more than backing other athletes on the field or the court.

That’s because besides cheering at football and basketball games, Wise participates in competition for the varsity squad. She mainly bases for the flyers, which means she supports and lifts other girls.

Her start into cheering began with her family.

“My sister Kendra got me into cheerleading,” Wise said. “She made it look fun.”

While Wise will anticipate graduation like most seniors, she acknowledges that leaving Emmaus will be difficult because she will miss her teammates, a tight group of girls that she has grown close with over the years.

By Abigail Moore Sports Editor

admitted he “was not feeling so great in the water.” But when he touched the wall after the last lap of free, “I immediately looked at the clock.” He broke it with 2/10th of a second left.

Teammate Jason Yerger calls Schlechter a “strong leader,” an energetic mentor out to help others.

A backstroker, Yerger has known Schlechter for five years. He said the start of the new season was rocky, particularly since there were new faces, missing faces, and line-up changes. The adjustments were tough, he said.

“As time went on, we all realized it was the right decision, and Tom helped people realize that, especially since he’s very close to the girls team,” Yerger said.

O’Connor said Schlechter has become a diverse swimmer during his tenure on the team, one who takes constructive criticism well and who supports his teammates.

“He really has an indomitable will,” O’Connor said.

“He wants to give his best; he doesn’t like to lose and he love to compete against his teammates in training and rivals in meets. He sets goals in practice that will help him in meets, and I feel that is essential to anyone’s progress.”

But Schlechter says he can’t take all of the credit; he has had a great support system, teammates Fast Facts and coaching staff.

O’Connor, he said, is Height: 5’10” just as dedicated.

“He helps us com- Favorite band: Panic! pete at the highest level possible,” he said, At the Disco “and that’s what we Spirit animal: Fish do.”

crystal wise

Ellie Lewis Sports Contributor

Duo

a tightly knit group that remains highly supportive of one another.

“We are one giant family, spending at least six hours a day together,” said the Dartmouth College hopeful. “We see each other more than our own families some days, and we’ve grown extremely close. There’s such synergy between everyone at practice.”

Junior Ethan Carr credits Schlechter as a good leader who knows how to get the team focused, an important trait for a team that is accustomed to winning.

“When kids are fooling around or not in the right mindset, he gets everyone on track,” said Carr, who has swam with Schlechter since EMAC. “He wants the team to do well – not only himself, but the entire team.”

Carr swims the 200 IM relay with Schlechter, and they currently hold the EPC’s top time. He calls his teammate down-to-earth, selfless, and determined.

Determined, in fact, ideally describes Schlechter’s performance to win the 2014 Swim for the Potomac, a 10k (6.2-mile) open water race in which he swam (in just a Speedo, no wetsuit) without fueling. Often in a marathon race, competitors grab Gatorade or food placed on a buoy so they can maintain energy – but Schlechter said he was neck-and-neck with a guy in second place.

“I wasn’t going to let him beat me, so I kept going. I didn’t stop,” he said. He won in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Second place clocked in less than a minute later.

The same could be said for the Liberty meet where he recently broke the LHS pool record for the 200 IM. “I saw [EHS graduate] Cody Wimmer set the record when I was a sophomore,” he said. “So I said that I wanted to break it.”

He dove into, knowing his adrenaline was high, but he

“I’ve gotten to know them so much,” the captain said. “We all complain about seeing each other so much and now we won’t as much.”

During her time on the team, Wise has enjoyed some rather fond memories, including the chance to compete at states with the competitive squad: “A year ago, we went to compete at states at Hershey, and we got to stay overnight and bond, which was fun.”

underclassmen

Nick Cappucci is only a sophomore on the Emmaus Fitness team, but his teammates say he brings the strength and energy that will help the team succeed.

In fact, the positivity that Cappucci brings to practice every day helps motivates his teammates to better themselves and keep pushing. And along the way, he encourages the athletes around him, helping them to become better competitors.

“I heard the fitness team was challenging, and I decided to give myself a challenge and see how I would do,” Cappucci said. “My motivation is getting to see everyone and work out after school; I enjoy being physically fit.”

Senior Meghan Cilento enjoys having Cappucci on the team with her and she admires his hard work and confidence.

“Nick is the most positive person I know and having him on the team is so great,” Cilento said. “He keeps everyone motivated and makes sure we try our best, and I

But still, her worst memory relates to states, she said.

“This year we were at a competition that we needed to qualify for states and we didn’t make it,” she said. “It’s my senior year and so it was sad. Some of us cried.”

Wise, who is considering Towson or Temple universities to study biomedical sciences or dentistry, said she is leaving Emmaus with a lot of fond memories. Fellow teammate Jordan Fainor said Wise consistently exemplified school spirit.

“Crystal always has team spirit in uniform and out,” Fainor said. “She’s always helping her teammates and encouraging them when they’re down, including me. She is a leader because she brings out the positive in every situation and makes even the hardest times fun.”

Fainor said her favorite part about being on the same team with Wise is knowing that she always has someone to go to when she needs help or when she

is frustrated.

“I know I can count on Crystal to keep me focused and make me believe in myself while making me laugh all at the same time,” she said. “I love being on the same team with her.”

Wise credits her family with supporting her throughout her cheerleading career.

“My dad loves to take pictures of me and all of the girls,” Wise said. “He prints them out and gives them to everyone, it’s so cute. My mom is on the Booster Club and so she helps out alot and is very involved. My older sister, Kendra, has always steered me in the right direction. She has really been my role model. She guides me, especially since she did cheerleading just as long as me.”

In her role as a base, Wise has always put others’ safety first, according to Fainor.

“In all my years cheering with her,” she said, “she always puts herself at risk before letting her flyer get hurt.”

Fast Facts Height: 5’1” Favorite movie: Baby Mama Greatest fear: Butterflies

NICK CAPPUCCI fitness team

know I stay motivated because of him and others feel the same way.

“Not only is he incredible to have on the team but he’s the nicest person I know, and there is good in every person and he makes sure to find it,” Cilento said.

Senior Ian Adams also appreciates the positivity Cappucci brings.

“Even though he’s an underclassman, which is sometimes intimidating, he is very outgoing, and he works so hard,” Adams said. “He is encouraging and will always greet you with a smile and a pat on the back.”

Head coach George Gibbs said he is proud of Cappucci and the way he is able to overcome an injury that he endured last year.

“He hardly ever misses a practice and he continues to grow in his fitness achievements, and if it wasn’t for his injury last year, he would’ve went to California for nationals,” Gibbs said. “He worked hard during the summer

months, and because of that he’s back to where he should be and there isn’t a doubt that he’ll go to Cali with us this year.

“His potential is unlimited and since he’s so young, I see a great future for Nick,” Gibbs said.

Cappucci has high expectations for himself and he is looking to make big improvements throughout the next couple of years.

“My goal for this year is to score over a 455 in competition out of 500,” Cappucci said. “My overall goal is to hopefully be the national champ for my senior year.

“I love competing against other phenomenal athletes and being a part of the best fitness team in the United States.”

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THE STINGER | FEBRUARY 2016

EHS takes on Bear Creek Although it took a while, snow finally hit the Lehigh Valley in January, interrupting midterms, but giving Emmaus students a chance to hit the slopes.

Here at Bear Creek in Macungie, winter sports lovers shred the fresh pow for staff photographer Rachel Reed.

EHS students 10% off

SPORTS