Issue 4 2019-2020

The Oshkosh West

INDEX 2

#Weinsteintoo....Hollywood abuse hits big screen as disgraced producer goes to trial

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News

As laws, norms change, discussion of marijuana, tobacco gets hazier and hazier.

Page 3 5-6

Sports Hitting the slopes, face first, either in hard copy or via our web site!

Page 5 7

Community Damascus Road tries to provide path to put a stop sign on trafficking.

Page 7

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Death of a decade.... what were those years all about anyway?

Page 8-9 Entertainment 10-13 Entertainment decade filled with paradox

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Features Serving up good causes in a bowl

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www.oshkoshwestindex.org Volume 116, Issue 4

January 27, 2020

Sister Act creates musical sense of family

This Issue: Opinion

“Your source for Wildcat news”

What is the ideal place to supporting her and the students. practicing by themselves on their Senior Ella Daly, violinhide from a gangster? A house? “ I c a n’t t h a n k [d r a m a individual parts, it came time for ist in the pit orchestra, enjoys A police station? An armed for- t ea che r] M r. [Scot t i] T hu r- the cast and pit to come together being a part of this activity betress? For Deloris Van Cartier, the watcher enough for all the work during sitzprobe. The biggest goal cause it allows her to play her lead character of this year’s musi- he does with those students and of this “seated rehearsal” is timing instrument and watch the musical Sister Act, which closed its last they bring all of that expertise and getting used to the different cal come together from afar. performance yesterday, the most to the musical,” Meyer said. tempos and styles of each singer. “ W h i le I won’t se e t he obvious place is a convent, where Because the show is so rich “It becomes a little more whole musical, when I have it should be easy to stay hidden. in music, the cast spent even challenging once we get on the rests I’m sure the parts I will see Senior Katie Rost, playing the more time than usual learning stage because during the sitz- will be muy bueno,” Daly said. lead, discovprobe, the pit musicians can see W h ile each mu sic cla ss ered that the what the cast is doing but on at West has the opportunity to message of this the stage, the actors are facing show their skills through seamusical is disout and to the audience, so it’s sonal concerts, many feel that a covering one’s all on me,” Wilson said. “It’s a musical is unique in that it comid e n t it y a n d challenge, but I’m up for it.” bines so many people and introthe importance Meyer was very thankful to duces different genres of music. of selflessness. have such a talented group of peo“It’s a fun experience as “Delor is ple behind the scenes, in the pit, well,” Daly said. “You get to work wants to be her and backstage. Though these peo- with people that you don’t usually own first priorple often feel like they aren’t no- get to and you get to play music ity and thinks ticed, they appreciate being able to that’s more modern or poppy.” of herself as the help out and are happy to be a part Most of the members of the best singer on of an activity as big as musical. pit orchestra genuinely enjoy planet Earth,” “The show couldn’t happen their position because they get to she said. “But unless there were people here to learn a new and different style of after going to move set pieces, to move props music with each new show. Along t he convent where they’re supposed to be or with this, Wilson has a lot of fun photo by Keerthana Ambati and being with light them properly,” she said. “I teaching these new styles to his Homeless people curiously notice the singing police officer, Eddie her fellow siswo u ld s ay st ude nt s.

Souther (Jaxson Villeneuve). The cast started rehearsing on ters, she begins stage in early January in order to block the show. the crew “ I t ’s to realize how and the pit really fun important they are to her, and lyrics and tunes. This all had r e a l l y a r e and totally that she doesn’t just have singing, to be learned before they could t he show.” differbut she has a family and love.” take to the stage in order to learn Eve r yent than Along with the family dy- blocking and choreography. As one involved what we namics in the musical, the cast the students didn’t need much in- in the musido in our themselves find that being togeth- struction on developing their char- cal this year classes er for dozens rehearsals brings acters or acting skills, Meyer was b e c a m e or in pep them all closer together. But an impressed by their persistence, like a famband, or in issue that arises with this is being originality, and artistic ability. ily as they any other able to have good communication “A lot of the preparation is on r e h e a r s e d outside and learn to adapt to others’ needs. the students,” she said. “I’m total- a n d p u t of school “Being in the musical isn’t ly well aware of that. It’s all about ever y t h i ng activisomething you do as an individu- their extra work and their willing- together. Set ie s ,” h e al,” Rost said. “It takes a village to ness to put in that extra work.” nior Maura said. “It’s raise an army, and with every part Along with the actors on D i e d r i c h goi n g t o comes this sense of responsibil- stage, there was also a variety e n j o y s challenge photo by Isabelle Cartwright ity. In order for everything to run of musicians from band and working as The pit musicians look toward conductor Brian Wilson, yo u , b u t smoothly, we all have to be able to orchestra at West that helped a part of the waiting for their next cue. After many nights of learning it’s going communicate and adapt to what put on the production. The pit stage crew. the advanced pieces, the students were excited to to make people need to make it all happen.” orchestra practiced the wide va“Watch- finally play in the pit during shows this past weekend. y o u a Being a lead in the musi- riety of songs in the show, under ing the show a thousand times and m u c h b e t t e r m u s i c i a n . ” cal comes with heavy prepa- the direction of Brian Wilson. seeing things that are a little difThose involved in the musir at ion. Rost spent hou r s of “It’s also really cool to get ferent each time is my favorite part cal earned the chance to improve f ree t i me memor i zi ng li nes some of our highest achieving of being on stage crew,” she said. on many different skills relating and rehearsing, but she feels musicians together,” Wilson The aspect Diedrich was to their character, instrument, like it was worth it in the end. said. “A lot of our wind, brass, most excited for was running or backstage tasks. But for Rost, “My t h e l ig ht s it all comes back to the f un biggest because she time she has with the cast and c h a l realizes that the relationships that are built. lenge was without her, “You don’t realize how big lear ning t h e a u d i - of an impact people have on you lines and ence would until you find yourself hanging mu sic,” not be able out with them all the time and she said. to see the you find comfort in them,” she “My role a c t o r s o n said. “This allows me to feel is ver y stage. Even comfortable on the stage. The demandif the audi- different personalities are what ing of e nce do e s makes a musical a musical.” bot h a nd not thin k Specif ically, Rost fou nd needs full about what t h at t he p e r son al it y of he r attention, g o e s o n character in the show, Deloris photo by Isabelle Cartwright and was behind the Van Cartier, has traits that she Deloris, sent by Mother Superior (Olivia Everett), tries to teach the amateur convent choir how to something s c e n e s , has begun to notice in herself, sing with passion. Choir director Bethany Meyer was excited to put on Sister Act due to the fact that I haven’t she had many talented actresses this year and wanted a musical that had multiple supporting and t he a ctor s like her spunk and positivity. e x p e r i - lead female roles. still rec“She has this sor t of atenced, ognize the titude that I see in myself, as since this is my first time re- string, and percussion musicians wor k t h at st a ge c r ew do e s well as her love to perform and ceiving a lead role. It was a are the best that our school has “Somet i mes people may make people smile,” she said. lot to take in, but so worth it.” to offer, so it’s really exciting think that if we’re not on the stage “Since I was little, I always Though the process of putting to work with those students, actually acting, we will go unno- loved putting on shows, and on a musical can be overwhelm- especially because I don’t work ticed,” Diedrich said. “But I don’t that’s what Deloris is all about.” ing, choir director Bethany Meyer with the strings really ever.” think so, because the cast knows

by Index Staff is grateful for her fellow teachers After weeks of each group that we all have a part in the show.”

2

January 27, 2020

Opinion

Volume 116, Issue 4

Ten second editorials...

Thumbs up What is your 2020 New Year’s Resolution?

“I basically want to keep my grades up and get more sleep and be happy” -freshman Hannah Chung

“I think New Year’s resolutions are a waste of time; people do them for a week then give up” -sophomore Jarrett Schiedemeyer

Weinstein trial frames

Thumbs down

... To 2020! With 2019 finally ending and a new decade beginning, there are infinite possibilities. ... To first semester finals being over and second semester starting! We’re halfway done with the school year and that means only two months to spring break and five months until summer. ... To skiing and snowboarding season. There is actually snow sticking to the ground and the temperature consistently staying cold. Snowblast here we come! ... To the Super Bowl. The biggest sporting event of the year is just around the corner; looking forward to Demi Lovato singing the National Anthem and Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performing the half time show. .... To Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping away from their royal responsibilities in Britain. Having their own lives away from ridiculous rules enforced on royals in England encouraging to see.

... To classic shows being removed from Netf lix! Why are you taking away Friends and The Office? These have been some of the most viewed shows featured on Netflix; if you keep taking off such good shows, what will be left for us to watch? ... To tuition rates going up three percent in 2020. For anyone looking to further their education and attend a college, this increase will impact their future. This is getting out of hand and needs to be changed. ... To the wildfires in Australia. They have been burning since September 2019, and are continuing to spread. The damage can be seen in space with the smoke clouds covering the atmosphere. ... To the misinformation and chaos in Iran. The U.S. killed Soleimani, Iran fired missiles, but no one knows what is going to happen. While memes are everywhere about WWIII, the truth is that a war could be on its way, but information and a plan has not been disclosed.

The Oshkosh West

“I don’t have them, but when the new year comes around I try to work harder at school and stuff” -junior Lexy Manning

INDEX

Oshkosh West High School 375 N. Eagle St. Established in 1903 Volume 116, Issue 4

General Adviser:

“No, I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, so...why not just have set goals, not resolutions?”

-senior Cal Balke

“I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions, so my resolution is to not have any resolutions” -Science teacher Sara Dobish

Trent Scott Editor-in-Chief: Aspen Oblewski Akashraj Karthikeyan Editors: Zade Alzoubi (Sports) Keerthana Ambati (Features) Sophie Burke (News) Belle Cartwright (Photography) Abby Eaton (Features) Olivia Everett (Copy) Kailey Freund (Entertainment) Izzy Gabavics (Opinion) Allison Kelly (Web) Joe Mayo (Sports) Katie Miller (Video) Ainsley Moore (Web) Jensen Muza (Video) Emma Olson (Community)

Hannah Olson (Graphic Magic) Cora Pizon (Web) Jack Rowe (Ads & Business) Javit Thao (News) Grace Weber (Production) Abe Weston (Photography) Hunter Willis (Web) Writers: Trista Fleck, Abby Furcy, Caitlynn Gehl, Atticus Kaphaem, Bailey Staerkel, Sam Mollenhauer Photographers:Abigail Conklin, Alina Malson Mascot: Mulligan and Chonk and Zuul

Non-Profit Organization Oshkosh Area Schools P.O. Box 3048 Oshkosh, WI 54902 January 27, 2020 Issue #4

The purpose of the Oshkosh West Index is to educate, inform, and entertain through eight publications each year. The paper will provide a forum for students’ ideas and opinions. All letters must be signed. Index editors reserve the right to edit all letters for reason of space, clarity, or libel. All letters express the opinion of their authors and not necessarily that of the Index staff. Drop off all letters in E25, direct them to www.oshkoshwestindex.org, or mail them to Index, Oshkosh West High School, 375 N. Eagle Street, Oshkosh WI 54902. Index accepts advertisements from businesses, faculty, or students, thus creating a market for saleable goods.

gendered justice for all

Everyone has an opinion on the case against Harvey Weinstein, the 67-year old who had more than a dozen women he had worked with over the years accuse him of sexual assault in 2017. Weinstein is facing “five counts in Manhattan Supreme Court, including two counts of predatory sexual assault, one count of a criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of first-degree rape, and one count of third-degree rape,” from incidents ranging from 2006-2013 (The Cut).

Weinstein insists that he is being wrongly charged and attests to his innocence. Activist groups were seen protesting on January 10 for women’s rights and are arguing with courts that side against those who survived rape and had the courage to come forward and share their experience.

In order to make a decision, jurors are being called to witness the trial and inform the judge of their decision, affecting the sentencing of the perpetrator. The process of picking jurors has been a very lengthy process, as they have to select citizens who will make a decision based on the evidence and do not walk into the jury box with their decisions already made. As of January 16, seven out of twelve were selected.

No matter the outcome of the trial, having competent jurors who are not biased has been a challenge for this case and many similar cases. Many people’s backgrounds, political views, and occupations have been known to play a large part in their choices. So, finding someone willing to put those things aside to make a well-grounded factual decision has become extremely difficult at this time in history.

This trial has come at a very unique time, as women’s rights activists have become more prevalent within today’s society, due to the increase of media attention to cases likes Weinstein’s. If Weinstein walks away not guilty, the world will have serious questions and many complaints to the justice system in Manhattan.

Rape and sexual assault cases almost never actually make it in front of the public eye because they rarely arrive at a trial, and “out of every 1000 Sexual Assault, 995 perpetrators will walk free,” (RAINN). When considering that “one in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime,” a change needs to happen within the court system to ensure that each case is given a fair trial (RAINN).

There needs to be justice for women that are violated and affected by rape.

The names of Weinstein’s female accusers have not been released as of January 16, but they are expected to come forward and give testimony during his t r ial. The t r ial will also be broadcasted, and is sure to fill headlines with updates provided to the public.

Whatever decision the jurors make will impact Weinstein’s life and the overall rights of women victimized by rape.

Society still has the tendency to shame women who were violated and side against them, and it’s time that justice is served. If the Weinstein case has had any ‘positive’ ramifications, it would be the raising of public awareness through the #MeTooMovement as Hollywood actresses and their advocates stepped forward en masse to end this pig’s reign of terror. As Ricky Gervais pointed out at the Golden Globes, Hollywood turned in a blind eye. Those decisions tend to come back and bite a person.

By Isabella Gabavics

News

Volume 116, Issue 4

3

January 27, 2020

Legal changes throw haze over question of marijuana The issue with the rise of marijuana, vaping, and other various dr ugs has created much controversy throughout America, especially among teens. New laws regarding marijuana and restrictions on tobacco have made tensions erupt even more within the country. During the past two months, Michigan and Illinois have legalized recreational and medical marijuana, sandwiching Wisconsin neatly in a THC combo sampler.

He alt h t e a che r Tony Gerharz finds marijuana is a dangerous substance that can cause cancer and long-term damage to its users while also being a gateway to other, more intense drugs.

“THC, the chemical i n ma r iju a na , can affect multiple orga ns,” he said.

“It depends on the way people smoke marijuana. Typically, it’s held in deeper so users get the effects of the THC to the brain quicker, and in the meantime you’re causing more damage to the lungs by holding the smoke in for longer.”

Even though many negative effects have become common knowledge today, a consistent market still remains. Gerharz clarifies why users may feel the need to smoke.

“Being rebellious is part of it,” he said.

“It’s illegal, so there are kids and adults who see it as a way to challenge the system.”

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in more and more states, stemming from the first legalization in California in 2016, there are solid reasons on why this trend continues to advance.

“I think almost all states that made recreat ional pot legal st a r ted with medical marijuana,” Gerharz said. “Typically the pattern is once it’s medicinal, then recreational comes after that.”

For medicinal marijuana, only two chemicals deriving from marijuana are used, and the FDA has only approved one cannabis-derived and three cannabisrelated drug products. With 33 states and Washington D.C. having legalized medicinal marijuana, and 11 legalizing the recreational variant, federal legalization within the U.S. may be inevitable.

“A lot of states have seen the changes that California and other states have been making,” senior Trenton Davis said. “The percentage of people using marijuana hasn’t really increased since legalizing it.”

This raises the important question of if Wisconsin will move to legalization, especially because the bordering states of Illinois and Michigan have recently decriminalized weed.

“They do have limits on marijuana but when people see, ‘well states are legalizing it’, Wisconsin does not have medical or recreational,” Gerharz said.

AP Government and Politics teacher Paul Stellpf lug believes that one of the main reasons why this legalization is coming from many states is because of the large economic incentives that come with it.

“The government can make money from the tax and trade of it,” he said.

“The state of Washington was one of the earlier states to legalize, and when they passed the referendum, they actu-

ally segregated revenue so that whenever they made money from taxing the sale of marijuana, 20% went to the public education system. We’re not poor here, but West could use some more money.”

After legalizing marijuana, not only can it be taxed, but there are more advantages to be gained regarding the quarrels about the American criminal system.

“Now that it’s decriminalized, you’re not putting someone in jail for possession of a large amount of it,” Stellpflug said.

“To put someone in jail in the state of Wisconsin costs around $55,000 per year. I mean, we’re not throwing people that just got busted once or twice; we’re talking large amounts or a wide distribution, but again, I don’t know if that’s the best use of $55,000 of my tax money.”

Along with the fact that monetary improvements are able to be generated, Stellpf lug aff irms that Americans have a right to own and use marijuana in a democratic republic.

“Unless you can

for the most part, there has not been signif icant increases in use of meth or crack,” he said. “I get the idea that marijuana can be a gateway drug, but it’s not really what the data is finding.”

According to Gerharz, even if drugs are illegal, the market for them will continue to progress. Trade still exists because of the legal states, and having illegal marijuana can actually be helpful to smugglers.

“One of the claims of legalizing marijuana was that you would get rid of the pot dealers which in research has not been the case,” he said. “What I’ve read about Colorado, and even Illinois after one week, is that drug dealers have no problem with legalized marijuana because black market drug dealers can sell it cheaper because they obviously don’t have a t ax on it due to it being illegal.”

H o w ever, weed still does continue to create more conf lict than before the legalization had

prove someth i ng is go - i n g t o b e harmful to somebody else, you shouldn’t take liberties away from people,” he said. “If people are abusing marijuana recreationally or medicinally and you can’t prove that it’s producing some horrible harm to somebody else, it’s a free country and we should have that liberty.”

Stellpflug believes the power of cash has a large say in getting the government to do what people want. To campaign, runners attain a lot of money from interest groups and lobbyists, and many of them are paid to influence legislation.

“I would encourage people to look at how much these industries are lobbying Congress,” he said. “Donald Trump came out pretty pro-regulate vaping, hooking our kids, etc., and within a few weeks, that message changed an awful lot. Follow the money and you will u nderst and 95% of all politicians.”

Profit is essentially the most significant part to drug companies because they need to stay as a top competitor and need to pay their way to get to that position.

“Who would lose money if you legalize marijuana?” Stellpflug said. “Police officers might have less business, but think of corporations and similar products saying, ‘oh crap, they’re going to smoke marijuana, they’ll buy less of our stuff.’ Alcohol and tobacco spent the most money trying to keep marijuana illegal, because they’re competitors.”

T he leg a l i z at io n of we e d c r e ates not only more revenue, but also safer weed because the gover n ment has the ability to regulate the products.

“Legal marijuana also has limits to how much THC is in it and how strong it is and that type of thing,” Gerharz said.

“Illegal drug dealers, black market people, can have all different levels of THC.” According to Stellpf lug, opposition to legalization argues that the usage of marijuana has a large negative effect and will cause increased usage in states that allow it. Research demonstrates that this may not be the case.

“We’ve seen in the states that have legalized for recreational pu r poses,

occur red, in multiple areas.

“Especially the southern part of the state, on the border with Illinois, police are concerned about driving high,” Gerharz said. “That’s becoming a bigger issue now as cops are finding better ways to find people who are driving high.

Alcohol has always been pretty simple with the breathalyzer, but driving under the influence of marijuana is a little tougher to detect and people know that, so they think they can get away with it.”

Due to the legalization of drugs over the years, this raises the question if other substances will have a chance. This could include other recreational drugs as well.

But, Stellpflug believes that the legalization of other drugs would create conflict.

“I know the anti-legalization people will often use the slippery slope argument, ‘Where do you draw the line,’” he said. “I don’t know, but you have to draw the line.”

On the other hand, tobacco is a legal drug that has created recent controversy due to the age limit increasing from 18 to 21, and whether or not it was justified.

“I see the side where people say that your brain isn’t fully developed until your early to mid twenties and so nicotine can have a big effect on your brain,” Davis said.

“But I also have heard that a lot of people have lost their jobs because they were below 21 and they worked at places that sold tobacco and now they’re not legally allowed to work there. A lot of 18-year olds are going to have a problem with it being illegal.”

Whether or not the change was ratio-

nal, problems arise in whether the law will actually have the intended consequences.

“I think as we’ve seen with vaping and marijuana use, things being illegal won’t stop people from doing it, so I don’t think that increasing the age is going to help anyway,” Davis said. “If anything, it’s going to make those under 21 who are already addicted more harmed. They’re already addicted and if it’s now illegal, they’re more likely to get into trouble.”

Gerharz reinforces this idea, adding that strictness plays a large part in the effectiveness of the law.

“I asked in my classes and I heard from a couple people that they already had 21-year old signs out,” he said. “A couple of my kids said, ‘oh, a friend of mine went in and bought some and he’s 18,’ so it depends how the stores are enforcing the law, and that comes down to store management.”

Junior Maria Jerabek continues diminishing the effectiveness of the law by reiterating that there will always be rebellious communities and that there are workarounds to this federal decision.

“There are people who don’t like following the rules,” she said. “They’re going to find their 21-year old friend or find a way to pass the limit as 18-year olds.”

The inconsistency of the law administered provides a solid argument, yet Davis offers another perspective on the age rest r iction.

“Now that the law is in place, you kind of have to enforce it more,” he said. “Still, I also see the side that the people who are under 21, who have been doing it for a few years. They might already be addicted to it, so you’re going to end up putting a lot of people into jail or giving more fines.

Being more lenient on people who started tobacco before the ban would help, but I don’t know if there’s a way to enforce that.”

Whether it’s marijuana or tobacco, drugs have caused a predicament that America will eventually have to solve.

Davis believes ever y thi ng revolves around money, and if citizens are willing to legalize drugs and continue drug culture, more money is made and more is done for the federal funds. He prefers that the government learn to accommodate modern culture and society.

“We’ve tried very hard to stop drug usage in adolescents, but not a lot of things have worked,” he said. “Certainly making things illegal has not worked at all. The biggest thing I think would be educating our youth from the beginning on the effects of drugs and putting a little more effor t into education.”

by A. Furcy and H. Chung

4

January 27, 2020

News

Volume 116, Issue 4

Impeachment clock ticking as Senate takes up case President Andrew Johnson was impeached in May 1868. President Richard Nixon was impeached in October 1973.

President Bill Clinton was impeached in October 1998. Most recently, President Donald Trump became the fourth U.S. President to be impeached in American history in December 2019. The President has been charged for both pressuring Ukraine to conduct investigations which would benef it h i m polit ically and obstruction of ju st ice rega rd i ng t he resulting investigation.

“Events as serious as this are uncommon in the U.S. national government,” senior Brendan Rohloff said.“It may be a sign that there are deeper problems in our government that need to be resolved.”

Due to Congress being unaware of the deals between Trump and the Ukrainian government, Trump has been charged with an article of impeachment known as Obstruction of Congress. Social studies teacher Paul Stellpf lug sheds light on the confusion about the impeachment and how everything may play out.

“Since the question of impeachment has already been voted on in the House of Representatives, it now goes to the Senate for a trial,” he said. “Evidence will be shown to the people of Congress as a large jury and they will decide whether or not to remove Trump from office.”

The House of Representatives also accused Trump of abusing his presidential powers by leveraging the federal government through bribery and using taxpayer money for his own political gain.

Although the Democratic majority in the House impeached Trump, this may not mean complete eviction from office.

“The Senate is run by Republicans for the most part,” AP U.S. History teacher Andrew Britton said. “They are not going to kick out someone of their own party, therefore the president’s removal is highly unlikely.”

Stellpf lug expands u p o n t h i s , ju s t i f y i ng why the Senate would f ind removal u n necessa r y.

“If they vote against Trump’s impeachment, the offense was not somet h i ng ter r ible enoug h for r e mova l ,” he s a id .

“The punishment has to fit the crime.”

Although Trump was impeached, no Republicans voted for either article of impeachment in the House of Representatives. As tensions rise, American citizens must wait for the 100 members of the U.S. Senate to make a decision. Trump’s impeachment would likely send a message to U.S. citizens regarding more that the current presidential status.

“Impeachment would show how divided politics in America a re cu r re ntly,” Br it t on said .

“Politics in America are as divisive as they were before the Civil War.” While some worry about the impeachment of President Trump specifically, others are concerned about what this means for the government as a whole. The thought of the well-being of

the nation’s government being disrupted is unsettling to many because it puts the future of the Republic up in the air.

“When the Democratic and Republican parties are as divided as they are, nothing is being accomplished,” AP European History teacher Daniel Lewis said.

This division can prevent the government from making decisions that a majority of the country will stand by because there are constant standoffs in the House and Senate on what the best course of action is.

Senior Callie Schwerin expressed further concern regarding politics and the presidency in the near future, especially because of the conf lict that involved Ukraine.

“The possibility of impeachment is a concer n in itself,” Schwerin said. “Other governmental issues all coming together make it difficult to have much trust in the government.”

According to Lewis, Americans need to focus on their own issues rather than being concerned about foreigners.

“A mer ica n’s con f idence in the government is being hurt through this impeachment, which only creates negativity,” he said.

Rohloff gives more insight as to the significance of the impeachment and how he believes that the gover n ment will become even more divided and a s a n effect, U.S. citizens will become disunited on the same aspects.

“Depending on what each voter be-

After the tragic events of December 3, 2019, the community tried to cope with an indescribable experience. However, junior John Weigand and his family tried to help everyone bounce back by taking action and creating shirts to support School Resource Officer Mike Wissink.

“Honestly, I don’t like being in the spotlight,” Wissink said. “I was nervous about the shirts being something that was directed towards me, but when John told me what the money was going to be used for, I was on board.”

Following the events of December 3, people in the Oshkosh community spent the following days with those important to them. Many people came together and Weigand wanted to continue that feeling of comfort and community.

“I felt it was important to show Officer Wissink support from the entire student body,” Weigand said. “I wanted to raise

money to help in any way that I could.”

100% of the proceeds went to two charities of Wissink’s choosing. Each charity received $5,354 from the sale of around 700 shirts, raising a grand total of $10,648.

“I wanted it to be up to Wissink as to where the money went,” Weigand said.

“One was called Team Blueline and the other was the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Officers Association Campground.”

Team Blueline is a non-profit organization that donates money to the families of those who gave their life in action.

“Team Blueline will use money for three specific families who lost members while on the job,” Assistant Principal Rebecca Montour said. “One I know is a family with a mother and her three children.

She had lost her husband in the line of duty.”

On the other hand, WLEOA Campg round is a non-prof it organization that provides a camping area for law

enforcement officers and their families. We, as a society, need to fix something.”

“I use that campground as a way to In the past month, the students at relieve stress and relax with my family,” West have been healing in their own ways.

Wissin k said.

“It feels like, “I know several for the most part, other officers use everything is back that space as to almost normal,” well. Team BlueMontour said. line really helped “Everyday people us through my ret el l me t o se nd covery and so we go o d w i she s t o wanted to help Wissink, and West give back to them is starting to feel after everything mo r e a nd mo r e they gave us.” normal everyday.”

AccordMo nt ou r ing to Wissink, believes that the t he a mou nt of student body and encou ragement t he f u nd r a i si ng photo by Lydia Slattery and love he have profoundly r e c eive d f r om Junior John Weigand presents a check worth $5,354 to the effected everyone. the community Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association President Tony Nardi.

“These shirts Another $5,354 was donated to the Team Blueline organizaas a whole took tion. [courtesy of the Oshkosh Northwestern] represent the comhim by surprise. munit y at West, “I had u nbelievable suppor t re- and show support for our school, Wissink, ceived from law enforcement officers,” and just standing against violence,” she said. he said. “I somewhat expected the supAs Wissink recovers, the student port from them, but I honestly didn’t ex- body has been thinking about him conpect it from the rest of the community.” stantly and everyone has been respectful The shirts have helped to continue to towards him, his family, and his privacy. bring the student body together and show “I just want to say thank you,” Wistheir support for the non-violence cause. sink said. “Thank you for the cards, the “Something has to happen, not just memes, and all of the wishes and letters. at our school, but everywhere,” Wis- They make me laugh, cry, smile, and help sink said. “When I would send my kids me through my long road to recovery.” to school, I was never worried about

by Sophie Burke this kind of event happening to them.

lieves, especially students, the outcome of the impeachment will mean different things for everyone,” he said. “Who people associate with politically will play a major part in the reaction.”

Rohloff believes that having knowledgeable students in Oshkosh schools can only be a benefit when it comes to voting.

With knowledge of t h e e ve nt s h a p p e n i ng i n t h e c o u n t r y, those eligible to vote will be able to make a decision based on what they feel is best for themselves and the population as a whole.

“It is impor tant that we stay informed on current issues,” he said. “It is good for students to understand because we are the next generation of voters.”

The process after impeachment has already been going on for a few weeks, and it seems as though little progress has been made. The static status of the government can greatly reduce people’s faith in the government, as many are just waiting for the result. With the 2020 election creeping closer and closer, voters will have plent y to consider.

“We need to know who we are voting for and who we are putting in office,” Schwerin said. “The citizens of our country put people into office and when things like this happen, it is everyone’s job.”

by Sam Mollenhauer Illustrations by Abe Weston

Wissink donations flow as healing continues for all

Sports

Volume 116, Issue 4

Ski Club hits the slopes this winter season

5

January 27, 2020

Sports Photo Poll

Despite the lack of snowfall in Wiscon- Staerkel have felt this effect of new friendThrough skiing and snowboarding, sin, ski club has made the best of the weath- ships and the freedom ski club gives him, some have even found success beyond er and prepares to hit the slopes in the new as well as the long days out on the slopes. just ski club. Morris has gained a sponsoryear. Ski club has had around five trips per “Ski club impacted me by introducing ship through his talent and love of snowyear, weather allotting, where the group gets me to new boarding. to spend time with friends skiing all over the people who “Ski club state from Cascade near Madison to Nordic I hadn’t reis how I renear Wild Rose. Sophomore Chloe Zache ally ally got into hung is a fan of the longer trips ski club goes on out snowboardwith because it gives her more time to explore before,” he ing and now the mountains and ski with her friends. said. “My I have a spon“My favorite part of ski club are f a v o r i t e sor because of the long trips that we go on, we get to part of ski it,” he said. ski for eight hours at a time,” she said. club is how F o r “Ski club usually goes from December much time some, skiing through March, depending on the weath- and freedom and snower. We go to Nordic and Cascade moun- we boarding has get.” tain as well as Little Switzerland and been a part Similar Big Snow Resort if we get the chance.” to Staerkel, of their lives These long trips give skiers more many other for a numtime to spend with friends and on the m e m b e r s ber of years. “Titans because Derrick Henry is the slopes. Junior Hope Lowney appreciates have made Lowney has best running back in the game” how the club helps to detoxify, relieve new friendbeen par- freshman Evan Oblewski stress, and bringing people closer together. ships ticipating that “Ski club is so fun for me because it’s t r a n s l a t e in ski club a day away from school, home life, stress, f u r t h e r for over five and all the drama of everyday life,” she than the slopes. Zache has also found years and has learned a lot from her time. said. “It’s a day off your phone and just be- new friends in the club and has felt ski “I’ve been doing ski club since ing able to enjoy the people around you.” club has made her a more open person. 7th grade and it’s taught me commitFor others as well, ski club has been “Ski club is fun for me because ment and honestly being able to just a good escape from school, despite be- I get to interact with other skiers and let go of stress and be very in tune to ing a school activity. Sophomore Jake snow boarders and I just love meet- where I am,” she said. “The connection Staerkel has enjoyed getting a whole ing new people,” she said. “Ski club that skiing brings is always the best.” day to spend with friends on the slopes has really broadened my horizons.”

Ski club has also had a positive impact while also obtaining freedom to try Aside from the component of friend- on Zache as well as it made her not dread new tricks and not worry about school. ship, many skiers have had fun trying the frigid icebox that is Wisconsin winters.

“Ski club is fun “Ski club has impact- “I think the Packers will win because because you basied me in a really positive of Mason Crosby” cally get a whole way, I used to hate snow, - sophomore Sydney Butz day to do whatever but now winter is my fayou want with your vorite part of the year,” friends at a ski hill she said. “I started skiand it doesn’t reing about four years ago ally feel like a school and I haven’t stopped.” activity,” he said.

For ski club adviser Ski club also and science teacher John gives students a Mueller, ski club is really chance to build off what helped him get back of skills they already into his love for skiing. have, while hav“Being a ski club ading fun with friends. visor got me back into skiJunior Levi Moring,” he said. “I skied as “I think the 49ers will win because they ris has always loved a kid but then I got out of are the most balanced team that’s left” snowboarding and it and when I got my first - junior Ty Rasmussen enjoys the chance teaching job I saw that they to do it in ski club. had a ski club and it re“Snowboarding ally got me skiing again.” is my favorite thing While ski club has givphoto courtesy of Hope Lowney to do, so any chance en students the opportunity I get to go, I take it, Juniors Hope Lowney and Audrey Carrick enjoy their ski trip at Nordic Mountain, flopped to go out and ski with their prostrate in the snow. The Ski Club advisor, John Mueller, has been pleased to see so many because it’s the world friends, Mueller believes students are eager to be a part of the club. to me,” he said. “Ski that for students, now is club is always a fun the best time to learn as time because I can sleep or talk to people on to expand their arsenal of flips and new skiing gets much more difficult with age. the bus and I get to go boarding with peo- tricks. Junior John Weigand has had “Now is the best time because as you ple who I don’t get to go with normally.” fun attempting new stunts while skiing. get older it is harder to learn,” he said. “If The positivity in the club has really “I like ski club because I get to you have any inkling about it, come out and “The 49ers because they have a really encouraged others to get to know one an- spend time with my friends and I like see me and we will fix you up with rentgood offense and defense” other, and new friendships blossomed be- attempting back flips even though I als, a lesson, and have you give it a shot.”

- senior Callista Rochon-Baker tween people who may have never met. can’t feasibly land them,” he said.

Who do you think will win the Super Bowl and why?

by Joe Mayo

Check out our digital exclusive on the ski club below!

“Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league right now” - Social Studies Teacher, Dan Lewis

6

January 27, 2020

Volume 116, Issue 4

Sports

Dance team learns high art of service in hosting event

Dance teams from all around the state “It teaches a lot of responsibil- tion poms and costumes,” she says. “It packed together in West’s gym on Janu- i t y b e c a u s e we h ave t o s h ow u p makes it much easier on us dancers beary 4 to show off their skills and put on a a n d h el p o t h e r t e a m s ,” s h e s a i d . cause we don’t have to pay for them.” show for their fellow athletes. This event Although the dance team has to Hosting a competition doesn’t just help held over 1,000 student athletes and was put in many hours to make this event financially though, the team also gets a run with the help of chance to perform. donations from local T h is comp et it ion businesses and effort is just one of many put in from the home leading up to this dance team. The past weekend’s reWildcat dance coach, gional performance.

Morgan Br yce, “A lt houg h we gave i n sig ht i nt o do not get to place everything it takes at our own competit o put t oget he r a tion, we do still get large-scale competifeedback from the tion such as this one. j u d g e s ,” M a l s o n “ We h a v e t o said. “Each compeput out information tition we go to, we in the su m mer so get new feedback we can get teams to on what we could do register,” she said. better, so the more “ Not on ly do we performances we do, have to promote it the more feedback.” to get teams here, The dancers but we have to get also gained a new trained judges and u nde r st a nd i ng of photo courtesy of Oshkosh West High School’s Instagram all t he dif ferent what all goes into the vendor s he re a nd The West dance team held a competition on January 4 with over 1,000 athletes in attendance. This event other competitions set that all up. Con- helped teach student in both performance as well as responsibility, according to attendees. they at tend. West tacting local busij u n io r St e p h a n ie nesses for donations, getting set up with successful, it is ver y worth it in the Zellner explains what hosting a compethe athletics trainer and a DJ, it takes long run, as the team can improve their tition teaches her and her teammates. months and months of planning and a financial situation. Sophomore Alina “It teaches me about how much eflot of small parts to get it all together.” Malson described how much competi- fort is put into such large events like Bryce also noted the amount of re- tion like this helps the team financially. these, and it reminds me that when sponsibility that is placed on the team’s “ It h el p s t h e d a n c e t e a m b u y running a competition, you have to be shoulders while r un ning this event. th i ngs that we need , li ke compet i- prepared for any situation,” she said.

T h e t i m e a n d e f fo r t p u t i n t o t h is comp et it ion a re se e n i n va r ious for ms from working concession, to registering teams, or even helping people find their way around the school.

“There is so much work that goes into this competition,” Zellner said. “We have to set up classrooms for the teams to stay in, prepare food and raffle baskets, make sure everything in the school stays clean, help anyone who has questions or is lost, and at the end of the day, take everything down.”

After all this work, the day came and had its highlights. Throughout the day, the dancers complete various jobs to keep the competition running smoothly, but it seems they all have one favorite part.

“My favor ite par t about hosting is def initely handing out the awards because it reminds me that the day is almost over, and all of the hard work throughout the day paid off,” Zellner said.

Through these jobs in the competition, students have found valuable skills that will help them in the future. Bryce has recognized the skills that they have gained from running this competition and have learned what it is like to plan a large scale event.

“In this competition, the team helped by not only cleaning, showing other teams around, serving them, and helping things stay on track,” she said. “It helps cultivate a lot of pride in our team because it is a big event that we can put our name on, and it’s something that other teams look forward to coming to each year.”

Over winter break, swimmers from “It was a type of traveling I’ve never Oshkosh received an early Christmas experienced before,” she said. “It was a present as they fou r day meet got to end 2019 with prelims in by competing the morning and in the K MSC finals at night.

Pro-Am swim We would leave meet in Lewfor the pool at isville, Texas.

6:30 a.m. every The group morning to swim ear ned time in the first part of under the hot the meet. After a Texas sun durfew hour breaks ing the first part in the afternoon, of their break, we would head as this meet back to the pool was extremely to either swim challenging at finals or to qualify for. cheer on teamSwimmers mates who did.” spent mont hs Qualifying training for it, for t h i s c om but many West petition was athletes comr igorous, but peted and saw junior Morgan it as a valuable Antti spent experience. al most a yea r Junior Lauren ge t t i n g r e a d y photo courtesy of Andrew Engedal Spiller saw this Oshkosh swimmers line up at the blocks at the Pro-Am. for t h is meet. trip as a great OSHY swimmers hyped up their friends on the blocks “In order to way to gain love and cheered them on during their races. qualify, I worked for swimming. hard throughout “There were many swimmers there the year and put my best effort in while who were Olympians,” she said. “Simply racing,” she said. being able to watch their races from be- “I also took any side the pool and walk on the same pool advice my coaches deck gave me a new sense of pride for would give me to how hard I worked to be there, and also t r y t o i m p r ove gave me new inspiration to continue work- my perfor mance ing hard to better myself as an athlete.” a n d s t r o k e . ” Senior Sophie Steinmetz enjoyed Wo r k i n g this trip because of the exciting itiner- hard in order to ary and schedule that came along with it. q u a l i f y c l e a r l y

teams unify and represent one great idea and spirit that was bigger than themselves.

“Natalie Bolin’s spirit was all about including everyone and getting to know other people from other teams, so it was super cool being able to spend so much time with those other teams,” she said.

Coach Jay Coleman knew Bolin as if she were family. Her passing was a tragedy that affected the entire community.

When the team went down to Texas for the trip, he wanted to share her legacy.

“When Natalie passed we knew that there was nothing that could be done to bring her back, and all that could be done is to move forward and have a positive impact on people in the future, as she would have done if she had lived,” he said. “Taking the group to Texas, wearing the NKB logo, talking about values that can’t be quantified, like how we treat each other or how we choose to see the world, is just another step in our commitment to keeping her spirit alive.”

During the whole trip, the team wanted to spread the story and legacy of Bolin by helping out or cheering on the team.

“Each d ay when we a re getting off the bus our coaches told us to f i nd a way to cont r ibute and to positively impact the lives of others, as Natalie had impacted others,” Antti said.

by J. Mayo and A. Moore

Pro-Am meet brings Bolin legacy to Lone Star State paid off. Being in such a competitive and lively atmosphere also allowed Oshkosh athletes to rub shoulders with their idols.

“It was also really cool to be swimming alongside amazing swimmers, like Olympian Cody Miller, and many other Team USA athletes,” junior Sara Morehouse said. “I even got to watch one girl swim one of the top five fastest 1650 free styles of all time.”

With the long hours on the bus and rooming together after each swim session, the trip was a great time to foster better chemistry between teammates and friends.

“Being able to spend 18 hours on a bus with my teammates is something I probably won’t forget, because we were around each other at all hours of the day,” Spiller said. “Rooming with other girls from the team especially brought me closer with some people, just because you’re with them so much.”

T he tea m, compr ised of sw i mmers from around the area, all went dow n to share the stor y of Nat alie Kate Bolin, an OSHY swimmer who passed away al most ten yea rs ago.

“At the meet, we all wore the same swim cap which had the NKB logo on it.

This represents how, even though we aren’t on the same team, we are all friends and still support each other and work together to achieve our goals,” Morehouse said.

Steinmetz was glad to see all the

by Zade Alzoubi

Community

Volume 116, Issue 4

7

January 27, 2020

Year of the Rat brings prosperity, longevity Celebrated by over 1.4 billion people annually, Lunar New Year, also referred to as Chinese New Year, is practiced in many different ways. Despite this, many West students are not familiar with the holiday.

For 2020, festivities begin all around the globe on January 25, the first day of the Lunar Calendar, commencing the year of the rat. The calendar is based on the phases of the moon, so the date changes every year.

“We have ani- mals that signify what year you were born,” sophomore L i a n a Wo n g s a i d . “ W h e n i t ’s your y e a r, y o u a r e s u p -

posed to have good luck.”

These Chinese Zodiac animals are known to define an individuals’s personality and future. During the New Year, family reunions are cherished, and groups all over the world have many similar traditions.

“Every year we have a dragon dance,” Wong said. “We also get red pocket money, a red pouch with money in it from relatives.”

Dragons, lanterns, and the color red are special among lucky symbols. Superstitions and beliefs are taken very seriously, especially in East Asia.

Many of these traditional beliefs are passed down through generations.

“We do a food sacrifice to our elders,” sophomore Will Vu said. “Any food we bring to the table, we always let the elders eat first. Then, anyone who has died, we give them food as a sacrifice. We go on our knees, bow three times, and then say our prayers. We use a lot of incense.”

As with many other holidays, food plays a big role in Lunar New Year. Certain foods signify good luck, wealth, longevity, and a fresh start.

“When we eat, we usually have a big feast,” Wong said.

“We mainly eat a lot of vegetables, fish, and chicken.”

Although some AsianAmericans celebrate the holiday very traditionally, others have slightly changed their practices while still observing some long-established customs.

“We usually eat traditional Chinese food, but it depends on the year,” Vu said.

“Sometimes we just eat calamari - we just eat anything our parents can cook.”

Lunar New Year is cherished and revered, especially in Asia, but many Americans have faced obstacles during their festivities. The culture in America is accepting, but many Americans are not aware of other cultural celebrations.

“I don’t think that people talk about it as much,” Wong said. “It is important to preserve our traditions in order to show diversity.”

In a community without many cultures, it is difficult for a celebrant of Lunar New Ye a r t o p r e s e r v e t r a d i t i o n s .

“To an extent, the holiday is Americanized,” Vu said. “We don’t do everything the same.”

Traditions and practices evolve, but during this coming season, celebrants hope that people who are not partaking in the event can respect and learn about the cultures of others.

“My whole life, I grew up to act white in order to fit in, but preserving my culture is important to me,” Vu said. “This holiday is a part of my cultural identity; it’s part of me.

I have to balance between my white culture and my Asian culture. I think Chinese New Year brings that balance to my identity.”

by Grace Weber

Damascus Road event attempts to stop ‘traffick’

Oshkosh citizens gathered on Main the community, which I like and work in, ing the training gave me more education eration within the community in order to St. on January 11th to rally together to it impacts me. Which is why being here, on this topic so that I’m better equipped help victims seek help and gain new hope. spread the word about human trafficking. at an event like this, is super important.” to help and educate others about it.”

“We partner with law enforcement, Led by Damascus Road, a human traffick- Before the rally, a educational With the community gathered in the cold probation, parole, and with public defending education and lesson was held on weather, Sergeant Brandon Ansell, with ers and prosecutors so that they understand prevention organihuman trafficking the Oshkosh Police Department command people that have been victimized by huzation, people lined 101 and how it af- vehicle, was there to warm up the crowd. man trafficking don’t need to be re-victhe streets holding fects people here “I was there to drive the bus, help timized, and to able to help get them into signs to spread in Oshkosh. Lisa keep people warm, and participate programs that can assist them,” she said. awareness. Annie Sennholz, founder in a community event to get the poOrganizations such as Damascus Loewel, a family and executive di- lice department involved,” he said. Road do not only spread awareness, but resources advocate rector of Damascus Ansell described the police department’s they continue to seek out and help those at the Christine Ann Road, and a West involvement with the event and he explained who are in danger. By creating opportuD omes tic Abus e alumni, appreci- that he was glad to be a part of something that nities to spread the word, others in the Center, expressed ates the impact of benefited the community in a positive way. community can understand the need how important the teaching the com“I’m supervisor for the device and nar- for, and the support that is provided. event is, as it rolls munity the truth cotics unit, which incorporates the human “I hope this impacts the community into its 10th year. about the problem. trafficking events,” he said. “We work well of Oshkosh, when they see these signs “We see a lot of “We just want with Damascus Road as far as interactions they see that there is a support system, or trafficking victims to get the com- between them educating us and us help- maybe they had no idea that trafficking at Christine Ann, munity to be able ing them out with people who are in need. is occurring in our city,” Tolksdorf said. so I think its really to understand that So when they have events like this, they Loewel hopes to continue to spread the important to suphuman trafficking reach out and ask if we can get involved message of hope and help to all who need port the cause and is happening here,” in, and it’s a good way to be involved it, as she excitedly awaits next year’s event. become more aware she said. “Because with the community and raise awareness.”

“This is their tenth year they have photo by Abigail Eaton of what’s going on West alumni Lisa Sennholz holds her sign in front of a lot of times one Ansell recognizes the importance of been doing this, so I think we need with human traffick- the Oshkosh Police Truck. Damascus Road, led by of the big myths human trafficking education, and hopes 20 years more,” she said. “To make ing,” she said. “I Sennholz, started this event 10 years ago. is that it’s happen- that the OPD can help out by provid- sure that everyone can become aware think since it affects ing only overseas, ing their services in any way possible. and that we spread awareness too.” in other counties, Though trafficking does occur in the city, Overall, this rally educated the citizens and in larger cities.” the Oshkosh Police Department con- of Oshkosh about an important issue, and

A m o n g t h e tinues to seek justice for those affected. allowed them to participate in spreading sign-holders at the “We are able to connect with people awareness about a problem that is very event was Baleigh who have been victimized by sexual as- present in our society. Sennholz is grateful Tolksdorf, who for the opporalso works for tunity to be the Christine an advocate, A n n e c e n t e r. and looks After graduating forward to from UWO, she n e x t y e a r. was able to work

“The with the students awareness at West through level has reY2Y Youth Adally escalated vocates, and she since we’ve also enjoyed being started doing able to particithis 10 years pate in the rally. ago, and

“I work at there are peoChristine Ann, so ple that are photo by Abigail Eaton human traffickcoming out Marcia Cassiani, Annie Loewel, and Baleigh Tolksdorf hold their signs proudly as the cars pass ing awareness and getting along Main St. To help prevent human trafficking, an educational session was available before i s s o m e t h i n g the rally with resources on how to detect and expose trafficking in the area. educated and that I’ve become understand r e a l l y p a s s i o n a t e sault, by helping them get into long term what’s happening,” she said. “By having about, so I am here recovery programs, and helping them to all these events it increases the awareto support the cause,” work in the justice system,” he said. ness level so people don’t fall victim.” she said. “AttendSennholz feels the same about coop-

For pictures of adorable dogs, scan here

by Emma Olson

A Decade in Review...

Humanity reflects on the pas Science

In a world filled with innovation, a diverse world of natural wonders, and the problems that plague the earth, people may look to science for inspiration and solutions. Science is often the ultimate platform for genius and has propelled mankind into achievement s t hat on ly prev iou sly ex ist ed i n d rea m s.

“Science is awesome in that it’s wide-ranging,” astronomy teacher John Mueller said. “We’ve gone from very, very tiny things to looking big into the universe, which is infinitely huge. And here we are as humans, somewhere in between those two things. We never stop looking; it’s great.”

In the past decade, many accomplishments such as the discovery of the Higgs Boson - what gives objects mass - have been made. This, along with other finds in recent years, helps scientists understand the nature of the universe.

“In the last decade, we were first able to observe gravity waves, and that is important because that gave us an idea of how the universe works,” Mueller said. “It’s cool because gravity waves were predicted, and then it was proved. It is one of those things that Einstein put forth, and now we can make observations about them.”

Such endeavors enable humanity to turn theoretical science into practical technology.

“The more that we understand the mechanics, the more we can capitalize on that,” Mueller said. “For example, when we found out about the electromagnetic spectrum, we capitalized on that; you can go in for an x-ray or use gamma rays for medical treatment. We also use infrared for heating our stuff. That’s what I deem technology; science makes discoveries, and technology uses them.”

Consequently, technology dominates people’s lives, from the clothes they wear to the devices they use. Within the tech world, trends can dictate what new innovations are made. Some of these trends, while popular, can be perplexing.

“Obviously, Apple is a giant in tech trends, the huge company it is,” junior Brayden Pluchinsky said.

“One of the weird trends, though, is how Apple took more and more stuff away from smart phones, like taking away the headphone jack. And then people

P o p

With revolutions in media and Internet technology, pop culture has exploded in the 2010s, creating more trends than one could count. They have come and gone, some departing with undeniable marks on society, while others have faded into obscurity. Pioneering these trends are social media sites like YouTube, as millions unite on this platform to share and comment on videos.

“Overall, the Internet landscape has changed a lot,” junior Ben Kopper said. “There are a bunch of social medias that we all use that just did not exist in the 2000s, like Snapchat and TikTok. Others weren’t as popular.

For example, in the 2000s, YouTube was a weird niche thing and people weren’t making a lot of money off of it.

In the 2000s, if you had a million subscribers that was a lot, and now that’s the base and you build from there.”

In the video game world, Minecraft heralded a new age for video games, leaving an ambivalence of opinions regarding it and other games. Coupled with YouTube, the sandbox world took gaming by storm.

“Minecraft was the biggest game I think, and it was weird because of the way it ebbed and flowed,” Kopper said. “At the beginning of the decade it was a big deal. YouTube and Minecraft were the things that were popular and got people lots of views.”

The fame and fortune did not last forever, as the surge in popularity soon died down. In recent months, however, there has been a resur rection of sor ts.

and

Te c h n olo g y

were like, ‘we will see the rise of bluetooth’ and now there are Airpods, which everyone seems to have.”

T h e d o m i n a n c e o f A p p l e i n t h e l a s t 10 ye a r s c a n b e t r a c e d t o t h e c o m p a ny’s o r ig i n al ef for t s i n revolut ion i z i ng t he sm a r t phone.

“Apple pioneered the smar t phone, so people think Apple is the major innovator,” Pluchinsky said.

“It leads and drives the market, and it seems other tech companies are just passengers with it. Whenever Apple comes out with a new trend, everyone jumps onto that.”

O t her t rend s have entered homes i n t he for m of sma r t dev ices a nd A I a ssist a nt s.

“I think things like Amazon Alexa and Google Home are interesting,” Pluchinsky said. “With those, it first started off as a speaker you put in your kitchen, but now Facebook is making them, Amazon is making them, and Google is making them - companies that you wouldn’t expect. Now they have screens on them like a central hub implanted into your home.”

W h ile Apple a nd ot her tech compa n ies fo cus on the mechanics of machines, some scientists seek to understand and capitalize off the mechanics of life. One such area is CRISPR genome editing.

“CRISPR and genetic editing is crazy stuff,” Biology teacher John Reiland said. “People really started talking about genetically modified organisms, but that goes way past the last decade, the technology was there before. In this last decade though, stuff has taken off.”

One startling breakthrough here was the genetic editing of humans, as Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced the birth of the world’s first CRISPR edited babies, a pair of twins. Essentially, Jiankui cut and spliced the DNA of one organism into the babies’ genetic code.

“This guy put this HIV preventative section of DNA in these CRISPR babies,” Reiland said. “What they do with GMOs is cut the DNA from one thing, like glow-in-the-dark organisms, and add it to something else when it is only one cell old. What happens then is that every cell develops that DNA. It’s crazy stuff.”

Reila nd ack nowledges t hat t he tech nolog y st em s f rom somet h i ng a s t y pical a s cor n.

“The most com mon thing is Roundup Ready corn. They take DNA, cut out bacteria, and add it to the corn when it is one cell old and when you see corn in a field, they’re all clones of each other,” he said. “These bacteria are resistant to something called Roundup, a spray herbicide. So they spray the corn with Roundup and it kills all the weeds but not the corn.”

The ethics of genetic editing are questionable.

“I don’t think anybody is really against Rounddup Ready corn,” Reiland said. “It’s when people st a r t t al k i ng about ed it i ng a n i mals, wh ich ha s been done. Then we star t talking about the possibility of designer babies - that’s some crazy stuff.”

L o ok i ng t o t he nex t d e c a d e a nd b e yond, the ethics of gene editing are sure to become an even more widely debated topic.

“In Biology, we watch Gattaca, a movie about genetic engineering and checking DNA,” Reiland said. “In the last decade, there have been so many companies analyzing DNA. For example, I have a 23andMe account - what are they going to do with all this DNA? If the technology existed, some people say that they would change their DNA just for good, to get rid of diseases. But, you wonder where some of it’s going. It can be bothersome, but I also see lots of good things that can come out of it.”

In the science realm, such is the ultimate predicament - is everything that scientists find good for humanity and the world? However, when looking around, the moments that science gives to people can serve to inspire and instill awe in people considering the future. Mueller hopes the return to the moon will be such a moment.

“I think the return to the moon is going to be huge,” he said. “There are a few things in your life where you remember things exactly, 9/11 was one for me. But for my mom, one was when man set foot on the moon, and she remembers exactly where she was and what she was doing. I want that kind of moment.”

C u l t u r e

“In the latter half of the decade, Minecraft sort of petered out and died as other newer games took over,” Kopper said. “And in this last year, it just sort of resurged, for no reason really. It’s just weird how cyclical things end up being.”

Music also evolved greatly in the last decade, most notably with the creation of new and up and coming genres. “‘Despacito’ wa s huge t h is deca de,” sen ior Ekaan Ahmad said. “There was the growth of Latin American and Spanish singers in American culture.”

T h i s s o ng , si m i l a r t o YouTu b e a n d Mi n e craft, also indicated a pop cult ure shift.

“In the last decade there was reggaeton - latin rap basically,” senior Aaron O’Halloran said. “Songs like ‘Despacito’ were popular. Overall, hip hop has become the best-selling genre of music, replacing rock.”

Perhaps the industry that has seen the greatest alteration in movies and film, as Disney took it upon itself to make billions of dollars from various franchises.

“In the movie world, Disney bought everything this decade,” Kopper said. “They kind of took over the world by buying Lucasfilm and Marvel. They also have Fox and this weird thing for Spider-Man between them and Sony.

And then they launched Disney+. Basically, if you bought stock in Disney at the beginning of the decade you would be doing pretty well right now, because they just exploded.”

All these ever-shif ting indust r ies both enact change and are affected by it. These trends are the

face of any culture, though not always for the better.

“Trends are fun as long as they are not dumb,” Kopper said. “For example, memes were a thing in the 2010s and there were a lot of good ones. There were some trends like the ice bucket challenge, which was raising money for ALS treatment, which was cool. And then there were others like Tide Pods and Area 51 which were just bad. Be careful with the meme; don’t take it too far.”

As the world enters the 2020s, Kopper hopes for new and unique pop culture trends to evolve and f lourish.

“Happy New Year,” he said. "I can’t wait to see what sort of content and media people come up w it h b e c a u s e it is su re to be good."

st as it looks to the future Po l it i c s

and

In today’s world, it seems people’s opinions are dictated by world news and events, many of them politically charged. Movements on both the left and right wings have risen greatly, fueled by various circumstances that have called people to action. One such circumstance was the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union. Some people see this action as the beginning of an undesirable trend.

“Brexit is the rise of right wing populism” senior Ekaan Ahmad said. "It is fear mongering, making people think their lives are under threat. They say, ‘this is the war of civilizations.’ This plays on people’s fears, and it is dangerous. The ramifications are that both Germany and France have gotten a lot more right wing. In the United States, Trump and right wingers are being emboldened saying ‘it’s not just us.’”

As a response, there has been g rowi ng suppor t for t he lef t i n t he pa st t e n yea r s.

“The Bernie Sanders campaign has been very popular,” senior Aaron O’Halloran said. “As a response to Trump winning the 2016 election and other events, the progressive left has come to meet that same trend. For example, Occupy Wall Street in 2011 was huge. It signaled a growth of the populist left with movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo.” Such movements have generated mixed feelings.

“I think that movements like Black Lives Matter and especially #MeToo have made some people reflect on their relationships with other people and their past actions,” U.S. History teacher Patrick Bertram said.

“Though, I know with the #MeToo movement, there have been people who have complained of false accusations, and they say people tend to overlook the problems that are actually there. In Black Lives Matter, some people have taken that as an attack against whites and speak of black racism. I don’t think these people have taken the time to understand what is really going on and what their message is. It has got people concerned.”

R e g a r d l e s s of t h e p ol i t i c a l t e n d e n c i e s of both sides, there are troubling trends that will affect all as the world accelerates into the 2020s.

“We’re in a post-moder n age,” A h mad said.

“We’ve begun to say facts don’t matter. It is ‘what I say becomes fact and I can divert your attention.’

Who cares about logic? It’s all conspiracy theories if they don’t fit my agenda. Both sides are guilty of this.”

In such a post-modern age, the threat of fake news plaguing the Internet becomes more relevant. A

Breaking

ci rcu m st a nce whe re t h is prob lem has been ex h ibited is t he growing anti-vaxxer movement. “ T he r e a r e a nt i-va x xe r s and now diseases that have been p r e v i o u sl y e r a d i c a t e d i n t h e United States are coming back,” O’Halloran said. “It’s due to this general conspiratorial anti-fact.”

To prevent the Internet from becoming a liability for people, tech companies may have a responsibility of reducing the dissemination of false information.

“My concern with fake news is that tech companies like Facebook can have lots of it like with the Russia investigation and that kind of stuff,” junior Brayden Pluchinsky said. “But I think we are eventually going to get to a point where everything is so censored that major companies won’t really be able to advertise fake news as much anymore. If we continue along the path of fake news and political advertisements geared to specific audiences it won’t be good. I think companies will limit that stuff.”

When combating world problems such as global warming, it is imperative to filter through facts and fiction to find actual solutions. With many differing viewpoints and opinions, this may prove to be difficult.

“I hate to jump to conclusions all the time and blame everything on climate change, but it is hard to not make a connection,” environmental studies teacher John Reiland said. “There are terrible wildfires and we are seeing way more hurricanes than we have in the past. We also see that the glaciers are melting at an astonishing rate. Science does not resist the reality of climate change, 99.9% of scientists agree it exists. How we go about fixing it is a different story.”

In the last decade, much at tention has been d raw n towards var ious environ mental problems.

“There have been a lot of environmental problems in recent years,” Reiland said. “2014 to 2018 were some of the warmest years in history. There were also concerns regarding the Pacific Garbage Patch and plastics in the last decade. People have become more aware that we should deal with them. Drinking water safety has been big, especially with Flint, Michigan.

And in 2010, there was the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.”

For Rei la nd , t he s olut ion t o cl i m at e c h a n g e i n t h e n e w d e c a d e i s s u s t a i n a b i l i t y.

“I think it’s good to understand that one of the issues is world population, which is growing,” he said.

“We’re approaching eight billion people. As we look at that, I am a big fan of sustainability. But I’m not against things like plastics, we just need a better way to deal with these things. I do something in Environmental Studies where I have students taste water. I have Aquafina, other expensive waters, and bubbler water. I don’t tell them which one is which. I have maybe 15 years of data on this and the bubbler either wins or comes in second each time. You hear people say ‘Oshkosh water tastes horrible,’ but it wins in the taste test.”

Regarding environ ment al problems, t he v a r io u s d i s a s t r o u s h u r r i canes that occurred in the last decade have been a wake-up

News

call for many. For some, it is frustrating that there is a lack of prog ress towards f inding solutions.

“Hurricane Maria happened and went to Puerto Rico, which is owned by the United States, and Puerto Ricans are citizens,” Ahmad said. “3,000 people died and there were months without electricit y.”

A h m a d c o m p a r e s t h i s e ve n t t o t h e 2 012 B e ng h a z i at t a ck a g a i n s t A me r ic a n s i n Li bya .

“Libyans stormed U.S. facilities and a few Americans died,” he said. “Hillary Clinton was blamed for releasing the secrets of certain spies and other people, and she was basically the reason this all happened. Then, we did about a dozen federal investigations and spent millions of dollars to drill Hillary Clinton in front of Congress, and nothing came out of it. After Hurricane Maria, there was zero federal investigation. No one was charged of negligence. People are very partisan. People care more about the deaths of a few over the deaths of 3,000.”

A not he r sit u at ion whe r e c r e d ible i n for m ation must be spread is the continuing occur rence of mass shootings and concerns regarding gun laws.

Here, also, there exists a variety of opposing views.

“Politically, gun laws have been a litmus test for candidates on whether they are Democrats or Republicans,” Bertram said. “Whether or not a candidate may make it through a primary is based on that. Socially, you have a very large amount of people who would like types of weapons and ammunition and clip and magazine size to be restricted. But until people get enough votes to either strengthen or weaken gun laws, these movements aren’t going to get anywhere. I feel like the anti-gun movements felt like they could enact change after Sandy Hook, but that movement has died down, like other movements before them.”

The argument against restrictive gun laws has long been centered around the Second Amendment.

Likewise, issues, such as cyber bullying, which took public prominence in the 2010s, raised concer ns.

“Cyber bullying cannot really be reduced ,” Pluchinsky said. “As long as you let people say whatever they want, there’s going to be issues with it. And if it becomes restricted, it becomes a problem of 1st Amendment rights. I think cyber bullying is inevitably one of those things that we will have as long as we have a platform where people are talking to each other.”

No matter the issue, it will always be subject to people’s beliefs, opinions, and values. These trends, according to Bertram, are infinitely difficult to predict.

“I have no idea how people’s reactions will change” Bertram said. “If you look throughout history, you have these shifts and movements. Movements will kind of die down and settle, until something spurs into action. Who knows what it can be? It can be a news story, a politician, or a movie. We cannot predict the future.”

story by Akashraj Karthikeyan graphics by Hannah Olson

10

January 27, 2020

Entertainment

Volume 116, Issue 2

Entertainment decade asks questions years in making

The 2010s was a decade of many con- Prize along the way). Along with Lamar made its debut, and as the decade grew, tion. Flops such as Love, Simon took being tradictions. We socially progressed, gain- and Beyoncé, other influential names such so did the frustration of people of color gay as a cue to be quirky and different, ing new rights for the LGBT+ community, as Drake, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and and the lack of representation in award when all that the members of the LGBT+ K a n y e We s t shows. After the 86th Academy Awards community strive for is to be authentic. on ly t o so cial ly made their way gave 12 Years A Slave award after award, Despite these letdowns, we have to regress with Trump into households 2015 and 2016’s Oscar Awards gave an all give this decade credit for all it did for in office. The fashand headdiversit y i n pop ion industry looked phones, still risculture. As gay marfor modern designs, ing in relevance. riage was legalized in while using 20th Contrary to the U.S., Queer Eye century trends as the great steps became one of most inspiration. Musimade in music well-received reality cians took inspiraover the decade, TV shows of all time. tion f rom previHollywood took Famous artists such as ous ar tists while the 2010s to be Frank Ocean, Tyler, making a new the decade of the Creator, Lil Nas X, name and sou nd scandals. Along and more all came out fo r t h e m s e l ve s . with many felto the public and emMovie st ud ios, low celebrities, braced their sexualis uch a s D isney, two of the largties. A24’s Moonlight t ook i n spi r at ion est faces in telechronicles the life of from - or blatantly vision and film, a gay black man and remade - movies photo from Stranger Things Facebook page Har vey Weinwon the 2016 Acadefilmed previously, stein and Bill white lineup of acting nominees, despite my Award for Best Picture, paving the way while creating motion pictures that photo from Beyoncé Facebook page C o s b y, f a c e d the release of blockbuster hits such as for filmmakers to follow suit in the stories allegat ions of Creed and Straight Outta Compton. The of black people in America. Almost 40% of a l so pu she d t he boundaries of filmmaking that included sexual assault. Cosby, with 60 women ac- Academy Awards quickly attempted to Hollywood’s top films in 2019 included femore diversity than ever before. All con- cusing him of rape, was eventually found redeem themselves after the boycott, hand- male leads as well, showing that the industradictions aside, the 2010s tested the guilty of aggravated assault in 2018, sen- ing out awards to people of color and nam- try has been making changes in the right limits of every industry more than ever tencing him to three years in a state prison ing Moonlight best picture. But, even as direction. As the diversity of those on the the 2020 Oscars come big screen grew, so did that of audiences. before. The innovations in technology and a $25,000 around, black people With streaming at an all time high and progressions of social issues made f i ne, wh ich in Holly wood con- thanks to services such as Netflix and Hulu, the 2010s a truly unparalleled decade is essentially tinue to see a lack it’s safe to say that binges consumed viewin all respects, and the entertainment a slap on the of r e p r e s e n t a t io n . ers all around the world. Netflix and Hulu of the decade served as its compass. wrist for the Asian-Americans originals like Stranger Things, Orange The 2010s saw the emergence of some m u l t i m i l also faced erasure on is The New Black, and The Handmaid’s of the greatest artists of all time, along l i o n a i r e . the big screen, with the Tale received an insane amount of media with the release of many iconic albums. We i n s t e i n , release of blockbuster attention and views, most likely due to the Throughout the decade, Beyoncé released however, was movies such as 2015’s consistent release of season after season.

4, Beyoncé, and the ground-breaking a c c u s e d o f Aloha, a movie about Stranger Things alone accumulated 40 Lemonade, all while making history and r a p e b y 14 a woman of Chinese million views globally during the weekend breaking numerous records. The singer- wo m e n a n d and Hawaiian descent, of its release of season three. Netflix also songwriter made huge achievements, gave sexual harassp l a y e d b y E m m a reported that almost one million viewers two incredible Super Bowl Halftime per- ment by nearStone, a woman who finished the entire eight-episode installformances in 2013 and 2016, became the ly 100, and is is very much not of ment of the show on its first day released. first black woman to headline Coachella in facing trial in Chinese nor Hawaiian These numbers are crazy for a television 2018, and released her Netflix documentary 2020. Cases bloodlines. Aloha’s show that was merely advertised on InsHomecoming in 2019, undoubtedly render- l i k e t h e s e , circumstance is very tagram and YouTube clips every now and ing her one of the most influential artists of however, are similar to 2017’s Ghost then, but it still managed to climb to the all time. Kendrick Lamar released his de- what sparked photo from Moonlight Facebook page in The Shell, in which top. This is greatly because Netflix and but studio album, Section.80, blossoming # M eTo o , a the main character is Hulu are so accessible. One doesn’t need his career and laying down a positive path- m o v e m e n t a Japanese woman played by Scarlett Jo- to pay a two hundred dollar cable bill or way for his most popular records, 2015’s giving victims their voice back and alhansson (once again, a very white woman). own a satellite to stream TV shows, but To Pimp a Butterf ly and 2017’s DAMN lowing for expression and a safe place.

Both movies were met with great criticism, rather has to pay a monthly bill of less than The #OscarsSoWhite boycott also (and also won this thing called a Pulitzer as they should twenty dollars, and have been, and in retur n receives t he t wo a cthousands of options tresses merely for entertainment. joke about it The company also t o t h i s d a y. has almost 150 milT h e l io n s u b s c r i b e r s , LGBT+ comspanning across the mu nit y also globe, from counmade a large t r ie s such a s t he appearance in U.S., the U.K., and film and televiAust ralia to even sion. Mov ies smaller countries, like Call Me By such as MalayYour Name and sia a nd Hu nga r y.

Dallas Buyers It’s so easy to Club revealed want to gloss over t h e r e a l i t ie s the bad things that photo from Queer Eye Facebook page of bei ng gay happened this dei n A me r ic a n cade. We’ve made incredible strives in society, yet handled the issue in a light acceptance, but it would be ignorant if we that made it normalized. The Danish Girl said that wasn’t because scandals brought sparked controversy, being a story of a issues to light. As our ways to view entransgender woman growing to accept her- tertainment evolve, so must our views of self, yet being played by a cisgender man. entertainment as fellow human beings.

Despite the attempts at crafting a poignant The 2010s, while one of the most constory, The Danish Girl came off as insensi- troversial decades in entertainment, also tive to many transgender people due to the proved to be one of the most influential. way it handled the main character’s transi-

by Kailey Freund

Entertainment

Volume 116, Issue 4

January 27, 2020

11

Trista takes aural odyssey through top 10 of 2019 1. When I Get Home - Solange of a romance in Paris. ERYS, while discussHouston singer-songwriter Solange ing the seemingly surface-level topic of guides listeners on an abstract explora- love, has a mysterious depth, leaving the tion of her origin within her fourth studio audience wanting to hear it continuously. album. The release includes a heavy focus 4. The Lost Boy - YBN Cordae on her hometown, with artists like Tyler, Cordae’s debut album is a wide hit the Creator and Gucci Mane adding to and has attracted many new fans. The up the heavily Texan-inspired soul music. and coming creator perfects his craft while Solange pushes traditional discussing song structure boundaries family-oriented as the record effortlessly topics and his flows from track to track, emergence into illuminating her freedom the rap scene. since leaving home. The Y BN Cord ae tracks dive into multiple embodies older different sounds, blendr appi ng t e ching jazz, R&B, soul, and niques while hip-hop, producing her still remaining personal unique sound. mainstream W hen I Get Home is a through the beautiful piece of art that product ion of leaves listeners wonderThe Lost Boy. ing what message Solange Cordae’s ly r iis tr ying to send them. photo from Tyler, the Creator Facebook page cism is excepThis collection of songs tional for a new has something for everyone and will not incoming rapper, and he hasbeen praised disappoint those with high expectations. by many others throughout the music in2 . I g o r - Ty l e r, t h e C r e a t o r dustry for incorporating clever lyrics in Tyler, the Creator’s sixth studio album his music. Compared to Chance the Rapexpresses his complicated love life, includ- per’s sweet beats and skillful rhymes, he ing further exploration on his sexuality. extends into more serious topics, enclosing This album produces an emotional, so- in on societal issues. “RNP” showcases phisticated style unlike any of his earlier Cordae’s full energy while his rapping music, a necessity as Tyler’s dedicated fan- ability is paired alongside fellow rapper base has begun capturing the rapper in a Anderson .Paak, proving YBN’s talent new light. Igor breaks away from Tyler’s against a veteran rapper. YBN Cordae is traditional rap-pop style as he has seem- guaranteed to come out with more imingly become less concerned with making pressive work, as fans alike will learn hits, and more with creating music that has more about the North Carolina rapper. never been made before. The California 5 . W h i l e We Wa i t - K e h l a n i native’s uncertainty on life is displayed, Kehlani gives audiences her long allowing the listener to gain a look inside awaited fourth musical project and it of his stream of consciousness, closely does not disappoint. Combining ‘90s relating to Tyler’s emotional struggles R&B elements alongside rap and pop that can be understood by almost all. sounds, the singer intertwines these to il3 . E R Y S - J a d e n S m i t h lustrate her emotional maturity with past Young rapper Jaden Smith experi- traumatic relationships and experiences. ments with different sounds on ERYS, from Kehlani, a successful woman in music, police sirens to his own sister’s breathy continues to make tracks in an attempt to vocals. It all comes together to allude to inspire other women to walk away from Smith’s fixation on love and sensitivity. their relationships and emit confidence Track after track, fans discover the young and independence. It expands on topics rapper’s new experimental taste as he of her past projects and reimagines the views the world around him in a detached opportunities of motherhood while withand dark lens. “Summertime in Paris” standing herself as a strong female artist. becomes a standout track from this work, 6. WELCOME HOME - Aries a simple, melancholy duet with Willow Anti-pop artist Aries comes to light in Smith, poignant and generating the illusion 2019 with his debut album WELCOME

HOME, which surprised many with the tacion’s acoustic sound, as well as popular record’s melodies and lyricism. Aries em- overall comparisons to Lil Uzi Vert. After braces his darker side while withstanding releasing his popular hit “Lucid Dreams” fun and catchy tracks, attracting a teenage in 2018, he followed his short found fame audience. The breakout hit “SAYONARA” with Death Race for Love, which discussed was added to his record, which focuses many personal topics. Juice explores his on the reminiscence of a final parting drug use and heartbreak on this record, with with another, while including his coping his vocals becoming magnetic to many fans mechanism of alcoholism. Aries’ sound as some relate to what the rapper is enduris unique as he produces all his tracks ing. This album, paired with his first album off his own laptop while shockingly still Goodbye & Good Riddance, will reside maintaining a fantastic production value. along with Juice WRLD’s powerful legacy.

9.

F r o m M i c h i g a n He integrates distinctive instrumentals throughout the entire album, with the in- W i t h L o v e - Q u i n n X C I I Midwestern artist Quinn XCII pubclusion of organs, hard hitting percussion, acoustic guitars, and trap beats. Aries is lished his second album after gaining much one to watch out for in upcoming years, praise from fans and critics alike on his and will only improve as time progresses. debut album The Story of Us. Quinn opens 7. CASE STUDY 01 - Daniel Caesar up more to his audience on From Michigan Daniel Caesar is widely known for With Love, discussing his struggles with creating a very magical experience that anxiety and maintaining his purpose of entraps the listener in every sound and music being an outlet for his emotions. vocal, and he exhibits this flawlessly in Quinn attracts a wide variety of audiences Case Study 01. After releasing his critically with his seamless mix of indie, hip-hop, acclaimed album, Freudian, Caesar had pop, and some EDM, which he projects high expectations from his recently formed into feel-good songs that are hard to disfanbase, and did not disappoint. The like. Each track is different from the next singer-songwriter collaborated with a wide with a mixture of ballads and uplifting songs, leaving the lisvariety of others to tener pleased with the illustrate his ideas, Qui n n XCII’s u nique such as R&B artbut simplistic sou nd. ist Br a ndy a nd 10 . F r e e S k i z z y prominent guitarMars - Sk i zz y Mars ist Joh n Mayer.

Underrated Harlem Caesar broadens rapper Skizzy Mars reh i s u s u a l l ov e leased his 2019 album ballads to topics Free S k iz z y Mars i n focusing on the July and exceeded exph ilosoph ies of pectations. The rapper death, spirituality, released his first EP Red and the complexiBalloon Project in 2015 ties of romance. and was met with much Despite more perphoto from Juice WRLD Facebook page approval, resulting in a sonal topics, Case quickly growing fanbase.

Study 01 follows his usual melancholy theme with the addi- As the years passed, the rapper’s sound tion of a psychedelic sound. Although Dan- progressed, and he released three more aliel Caesar is still considered a newcomer bums. Mars expresses his freedom from his to the R&B genre, many anticipate the addiction in Free Skizzy Mars, while still musician to transcend in the new decade. maintaining his catchy R&B and hip-hop 8. Death Race for Love - Juice WRLD sound. The environment surrounding this Recently deceased rapper Juice album is similar to past projects: fun and WRLD released his second studio album engaging, while still developing his vocals. in the summer of 2019. The self-proclaimed Combining the voice of Skizzy Mars with “emo rapper” is influenced by many other various beats designs a dynamic album singers, which is clearly seen throughout that exercises the rapper’s uplifting aura. his discography. Juice shows inspiration

by Trista Fleck from Lil Peep’s “emo” aesthetic, XXXTen-

The brand new Oculus Quest ended the decade with an exciting addition to virtual reality. The Quest, being one of the first wireless VR headsets, made strong sales throughout its initial reveal and is still on the upswing.

Unlike its biggest competitor, the HTC Vive, the Oculus Quest allows users to play games in VR without owning an expensive gaming PC, thus making the Quest a more affordable option for a wider variety of people. The library, however, doesn’t have many games for the system, but the Quest has a store that can be accessed from the headset. When initially purchased, the Quest had the Vader Immortal deal, where users got all three episodes of the Star Wars series, along with Vader Immortal with the Oculus Quest. The only problem with the library of games is that the price can average around $30. However, the Quest can also be used to play PC VR games, thanks to Oculus Link which allows one to connect to their Gaming PC using a high-speed USB-3 cable. The controls for games are generally simple,

To get better visuals that can be connected from the PC to the Quest via Oculus Link. I personally think that Oculus Link is awesome. However, because it is in beta, it is possible to run into bugs such as the Quest disconnecting from the computer constantly. Restarting the computer and Quest several times may be necessary in order to get the Oculus Link working properly.

The Oculus Quest is a virtual reality headset for those who want to go into virtual reality gaming but don’t want to set it up with their PC. However, those who want to can use Oculus Link to do so.

Oculus sends VR gamers on different, wireless quest using a trigger button, a grip button, two buttons on each controller, and a thumbstick. Not only that, but the Oculus Quest is also a wireless headset, meaning that it runs on a battery. This makes it much more portable, along with a case that consumers can purchase for easy transportation.

However, the main problem with the controller is that sometimes if it is moved it too quickly, the battery cover is so big that the controller flies out of the player’s hand. The headset also has a tutorial about how to use the headset’s buttons and what they are used for, but it is very long and could be shortened. The Quest itself has a battery that can be charged and it takes around three hours to charge for two hours of battery life. The problem is that the g raphics i n the Quest sometimes lack shadows and detail.

Despite lackluster library options, the Oculus Quest makes for a great addition to the virtual reality gaming world.

by Atticus Kaphaem

12

October 28, 2019

Volume 116, Issue 2

Entertainment

Cave’s truth drives listeners in search of light On Friday, the 4th of October, the underground band Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds released their new double album Ghosteen. As most average teenagers have been imprisoned by the treacherous main stream of pop, you may not know Nick Cave. However, you may know him in my black ink, comic drawn fashion (or because you’ve met me and have noticed that he comes up in every single conversation I have). If you’re still not familiar with him, Cave is a jack of all trades, establishing his role as an Australian musician, author, director, and occasional actor. I highly suggest listening to Cave and his band’s music because their songs are filled with beautiful lyrics and each record is poetic and about love, murder, and sadness - expectations to which Ghosteen is no exception. The album is jam-packed with wonderful, light lyrics of love and loss, and is extremely different than the rage filled, baritone sounds of his earlier albums, such as Let Love In, Murder Ballads and Henry’s Dream. Ghosteen is quiet, somber, and calm and shows the more emotional and gentle side of Cave.

While a stark contrast to the Satanic growls of his first band The Birthday Party and the funky groove of his side project band Grinderman, Ghosteen is still a stunning album that all fans are sure to love.

Just like his previous two records, titled Push the Sky Away and Skeleton Tree, Ghosteen features Cave lyrically opening up about his feelings and emotions, and is accompanied by bells and pianos for the music instead of guitars and drums. Filled with beautiful, mesmerizing lyrics, this album will drive listeners to tears. Perhaps a product of Cave’s family problems, or

the death of his son, each song on the record is filled to the brim with emotion.

The song “Bright Horses” really expresses the emotion in this album. The song opens with the dark lyrics, “And everyone has a heart and it’s calling for something / And we’re all so sick and tired of seeing things as they are,” which expresses Cave’s view on how cruel the world can be. Life can easily wear you down and make you feel like there’s no hope for the future, which is completely valid for Cave to be feeling after the tragic death of one of his most beloved family members. However, despite this, Cave soon makes a stark and dramatic shift to calming, optimistic lyrics such as, “Oh, this world is plain to see / It doesn’t mean we can’t believe in something,” which immediately flips around listener’s feelings after hearing “Bright Horses.” Cave strengthens the notion that, yes, this world can be dark, but with a strong will to believe that things will get better, it’s not impossible to have hope.

If you’re interested in a quiet, calm album filled with emotion, I highly suggest listening to Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’s new record Ghosteen. Hopefully, upcoming albums of Cave’s will be just as amazing as his previous ones and are still charged with emotion, beauty and inspiration as Ghosteen. While he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I do recommend that you listen to at least one of his albums.

Tuning into Nick Cave, and maybe other non-mainstream musicians, could expose a younger audience different, tasteful music.

by Dexter Plier

Area 51 fiasco defines sticky web of social media In June 2019, a college student named

By July, over a million people had Matty Roberts decided, completely as a signed up as either “Interested” or “Gojoke, to create a Facebook event pretend- ing” on the Facebook page, and the internet ing to storm Area 51. He famously stated, was abuzz with Area 51 and alien-themed “They Can’t Stop All of Us… If we Naruto memes. One couldn’t scroll halfway down run, we can move faster than their bullets. a Twitter page before being bombarded Let’s see them aliens.” He never expected with the countless jokes surrounding the that these words would become such a ral- event. As this happened, the United States lying battle cry.

Air Force finally deThe event was cided to take action. A quickly noticed spokesperson from the by the mainstream Air Force reminded media, and within people to stay far away days of posting, from the base, and that everyone from Fox it was dangerous and News to CNN had illegal to attempt to reported on this get inside. Of course, supposed “civilthis only reminded ian attack” on a people just how far military base. Of the joke had gone. No course, the post one was actually planwas obviously a ning to storm the base, joke. The menphoto from Aliens Facebook page right? Even so, news tion of the phrase of special precautions “Naruto run” (in which a person runs and training drills reached the internet, like the fictional anime character Na- teaching how best to combat a Naruto runruto, with arms pointed back and head ner. You truly can’t make this stuff up, kids. down) tipped off every internet-savvy In any case, this didn’t stop the resiteen and millennial alive that nothing dents of Rachel, Nevada, the town closest about this “attack” was serious. However, to the Area 51 base, to start worrying. They that didn’t stop the media, and especially worried not just about the unwanted media the government, from taking it seriously. attention, but also what would happen when

(by this point, well over) a million people descended upon their quiet little village of 54. With no gas stations or grocery stores, and only 184 hotel rooms in the entire county, where would all these people even sleep?

Their concerns only mounted when another event was announced, “Alienstock,” a music festival parodying the iconic 1969 music festival Woodstock. The event, organized by Matty Roberts, Frank DiMaggio, and Connie West, was created as a distraction from the raid to give something else for these (now two million) people to do instead of illegally break into a highly secured government base. Roberts and DiMaggio, the original creators of the meme, withdrew their support after concerns over a lack of food, water, and safety for the event. Ironically, the original Woodstock faced these same problems, but still drew a crowd of over one million people.

A third event by a separate group was also planned, although this was less of a music festival and more of a gathering of conspiracy theorists, called “Basecamp” and held in Hiko, Nevada. This event had significantly more funding than Alienstock and was better planned, with food and porta-potties available.

As the morning of September 20th dawned, the scene was far from the epic battle envisioned by the viral memes online. About 1,500 people showed up to Alienstock, and only a mere 150 traveled through the desert to be within sight of the base. A scant 75 approached the gate, and only one got

inside. That one brave soul was let off with a warning, and only three of those 75 people were arrested, one of them for, of all things, public urination. Reports and photos from the gathering show people standing around, generally talking and looking awkwardly at the guards. Some people brought signs and protested for “alien rights.” One witness reports that there was occasional chanting of the phrase “clap dem alien cheeks” but overall no real violent actions were taken.

However, one courageous young man actually did Naruto run behind a recording TV camera, and became the most viral part of the event within hours of his run airing on TV. He spoke to reporters, and prefers to be identified only as “Elixir.”

So, what ultimately came of the event?

What can we learn from this? Well, in my opinion, the Area 51 raid speaks to the power of community and the internet as a whole. The entire idea was so ridiculous and far-fetched from the start that everyone involved knew that it would never really happen… and they embraced that. No one who showed up to that gate on September 20th thought they were actually going to Naruto run past the guards and find out where the government was hiding genetically engineered cat-girls. They showed up to that gate because they wanted to be a part of something - aliens or not. It started as a simple meme and grew into a movement of people that thought, “what if we could actually make something of this?”

What could’ve been a bloody massacre at the hands of the US Air Force instead became a (rather crappy) music festival and a (rather small) gathering of like-minded people, and if you ask me, that’s beautiful.

by Bailey Staerkel

Entertainment

Volume 116, Issue 4

13

January 27, 2020

Rise falls abjectly, profitably, by pandering to gloss over soul

When it comes to movie franchises, there is none more paradoxically beloved, hated, and controversial than the Star Wars series. From the iconic first trilogy, to the meme-filled prequels, and the sequels that spawned months worth of online debates, Star Wars has had a turbulent 43-year history. And now, with the release of the final movie in the sequel trilogy The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars finds itself in the strangest position since Hayden Christensen got paid to complain about sand.

It’s not that The Rise of Skywalker is a bad movie; in fact, it’s a rather enjoyable film, with plenty of amazing action, creative sets, great CGI, and the same sense of wonder that comes with any Star Wars movie.

No one can say that they don’t get goose bumps every time the opening notes of the theme song blare out of the speakers and the Star Wars logo zooms across the screen. So no, it’s not that it’s a bad movie, it’s a bad Star Wars movie. And, dear reader, you should be warned that when examining this movie, there will be some spoilers.

It is easy to see why the finale of the beloved franchise emerged so lackluster.

JJ Abrams, the director of The Rise of Skywalker and The Force Awakens, the first movie in the sequel trilogy, clearly had a plan going into the franchise. However, when director Rian Johnson took over for the second, much-hated sequel film, The Last Jedi, Abrams' plans were all thrown out of the window. The remnants of the plans lie in Rise of Skywalker, a film with a director who has a story he wants to tell, but to do so he must rebuild and reconstruct the world and characters within it. Which, as your Creative Writing teacher will surely tell you, is no way to write a story. The characters should drive the story, not the other way around.

The real question is: is The Rise of Skywalker as hated as The Last Jedi? No, definitely not, but it has sparked just as much, if not more, controversy. This happened especially after the rumors of a director’s cut, deleted scenes, removed cameos, and an original script, started hitting Twitter. Many fans are blaming Disney for intentionally sabotaging the franchise and not allowing the director to have creative freedom, while others argue that JJ Abrams was never the right choice of director in the

first place, pointing out his previous work that never has any real consequences. on Lost and Star Trek as examples of his In fact, at its core, that might be the “failures.” In the end, it may be impos- biggest underlying problem that Rise of sible to know just what went on internally Skywalker has. It wants to include all of the that affected the quality of the movie, and action, cool scenes, and big reveals with we can only judge it on its end result. none of the effort, consequences, or contiSkywalker suffers from critical flaws nuity that those scenes demand. Sure, it’s of not only leaving old characters on the a big, shiny, spectacle of a film and “grand back burner, but pushing new ones aside finale” worthy of such a great franchise, but as well, leaving them underdeveloped. it doesn’t have any of the groundwork laid New characters for any of that with potentially spectacle to be engaging story ear ned. The lines, like a discharacters and affected stor m their relationtrooper, a female ships are unbounty hunter, derdeveloped, and a terrifying the stakes don’t First Order genmean anything, eral, are introand the plot is duced and then so obv iou sly immediately forced that the set aside to just c h a r a c t e r ’s stand beside the could’ve just main characters. been holding They occasionscripts telling ally spout some them what to lines, not affectdo instead. ing the story in If we comany way beyond p a r e Ri se of their initial Sk y walker to int roduction. another franPre-existing c h i s e’s 2 019 characters also g rand f inale, get shoved aside Avengers: Endphoto from Star Wars Facebook page and pushed into game, we start side plots. There are only contrived reasons to see why Endgame worked and Skywalkfor them being forced out of the story. For er didn’t. Endgame had all the buildup, all example, Chewbacca gets captured, and the characters were fully developed, with has a fake death. C3-PO goes through what real, established relationships. When Iron should’ve been an emotional memory wipe, Man and Black Widow died, their deaths only to have all the main characters forget had an impact; they meant something for about it five minutes later and then his the story and for the characters themselves. confusion serves for laughs. Princess Leia When Ben Solo died, it didn’t change the dies unceremoniously, Rose is shoved off rest of the story, or have any sort of proscreen because she’s “doing stuff,” General found impact. It just made people angry Hux is shot to death and never mentioned that their favorite character was gone. again, and Luke Skywalker is simply there.

Comparing Endgame to Skywalker Even characters that are supposed to be also brings to light some very eerie simimain protagonists, like Finn and Poe, get larities between the two movies’ finales, reduced to stereotypical interpretations even down to the lines of dialogue said. It of their characters who stand like card- makes one wonder if the Disney executives board cutouts, reciting snarky lines and behind the scenes finally used their three arguing in the background of the scene. collective brain cells to say, “Hey, people Thus, creating a forced character conflict really liked the ending to Endgame! What

if in this movie we did the exact same thing?!” Except, an Endgame-style ending just isn’t what Star Wars needed. This isn’t some sort of ultimate climax that’s been built up through all the movies, it’s the conclusion to one story that continues on from the previous ones. There’s nothing special about this trilogy over the others, it’s simply the end of another story. An Endgame-style ending doesn’t feel earned because the characters we see have only been with us for four years, and half of them have barely even interacted in the first place, let alone have complex relationships with each other. When Star Wars has its own version of the portals scene, no one cares. The audience knows about five characters that they care about and can recognize two ships, and the rest is “meh.” Sure, it looks cool, it feels cool to watch, but really, no one cares because there’s no emotional attachment to the characters. The only reason this movie is making money is because it’s the end of the franchise, not because it’s a good film With the end of the sequel trilogy, many people seem to have an attitude of “smile because it’s over, not because it happened.” However, a new hope is approaching upon the horizon. With the end of the first season of the critically acclaimed and much beloved The Mandalorian and rumors of an Obi-Wan Kenobi series with Ewan McGregor reprising his role, Star Wars seems to be approaching a rebirth. Will the streaming service exclusives finally provide the right angle from which to tell a Star Wars story? Is it a sign of good things to come? Only time will tell - may the force be with you.

Despite the usual breathtaking Star Wars visuals and inclusion of fan favorite characters, Rise of Skywalker is far, far away from living up to the expectations his epic saga.

by Bailey Staerkel

Frozen 2 returns to thaw hearts in name of cold, hard, cash Elsa the Snow Queen and the rest of Forest as a young boy. As a result, the forArendelle’s most lovable characters joined est is covered with a dense, mysterious the world of cinema once again in Dis- fog. The only way young Agnarr escaped ney’s Frozen 2, this time was by the help of with more plot twists and an un k nown hero. mystery than the first. For Fa s t f o r w a r d many viewers, Frozen may ye a r s l a t e r, E l s a have provoked a list of and A n na prepare questions concerning Elsa t o e nt e r i nt o fal l and Anna’s past and their and harvest season parents’ sudden death. with the rest of the However, it turns out that kingdom. However, Elsa may share some of an unsettling voice the same confusions as the seems to nag Elsa audience. As she uncovers into following it and each mystery, the audience discover the origins embarks on the journey of her powers, creatas well. Buckle up for a ing the entire premspoiler-filled adventure! ise of t he mov ie.

The beginning of the Frozen 2 def if ilm shows Elsa (Idina nitely matured with photo from Frozen 2 Facebook page the audience, as the Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) as children and task for Elsa to solve includes longer appearances from the girls’ became much more meaningful and perparents. Their mother, Queen Iduna (Evan sonal. Instead of a mission to unfreeze Rachel Wood), sings a lullaby to them as Arendelle, Elsa goes on a mission within kids while their father, King Agnarr (Al- her soul. Disney, once again, reiterated fred Molina), tells the girls a story about their intentions for Elsa to be indepenthe battle he witnessed in the Enchanted dent, as she remains free from having any

love interest in the second movie as well.

The conclusion of the movie may have left some of the audience unfulfilled, as Elsa makes the decision to join the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest after saving it and finding out that her mother once was a member of the clan that resides there. But this decision remains true to how Disney wanted Elsa’s character to behave: very autonomous and connected to nature, especially after she learns that it is through nature that she was granted her powers.

On the other hand, the relationship between Kristoff (Jonathan Groff ) and Anna escalates, as Kristoff spends most of the movie contemplating the ideal way to propose to Anna. His contemplation comes to a peak in the entertaining Air Supply-esque number “Lost In The Woods.” He finally does pop the question toward the end of the movie, and Anna gives Kristoff the exact answer audiences were hoping for, making for a satisfying conclusion to the pair’s love story.

Additionally, Disney did not forget to give America’s favorite singing snowman, Olaf (Josh Gad), a personal conflict of his own to solve. He battles with questions of growing older, more mature, and wiser,

while also wanting things to stay the same.

His songs, such as the fan-favorite “Some Things Never Change,” are playful but also include broad ideas on what it means to grow up and how things may change.

By picking up right where the first movie left off, Frozen 2 makes it seem as if no time has passed and immediately, audiences are drawn into the intriguing plot and are left humming along to the new songs.

Through meaningful lyrics and ageless humor, Frozen 2 is the perfect movie for families and anyone having trouble deciding between a Disney princess movie and a thrilling mystery - because this one is both.

A fun addition to Disney’s repertoire of musicals, Frozen 2 makes for a film whose music entertains younger audiences, and mystery lures in older viewers.

by Keerthana Ambati

14

January 27, 2020

Volume 116, Issue 4

Features

Constitutional showdown...without the impeachment After countless hours of writing, studying and strategizing, the West ‘We the People’ state team took home the bronze. West has been participating in this competition for six years, with this year’s squad being composed of 33 students, along with adviser and AP Government and Politics teacher Paul Stellpflug.

“The competition is considered a simulated mock hearing,” he said. “It’s supposed to look like a part of Congress’s job, that they pass legislation and then they have to engage in oversight to make sure that legislation is working.”

This year the event was held at the American Family Insurance training center in Madison, and after a long bus ride of studying, the teams broke up into their designated units in order to prepare once more before the actual thing. Students like junior Rebecca Zier studied multiple weeks before the competition to insure that she was an expert on her chapter.

“We had to know our units front to back,” she said. “There’s three questions that each unit has; we know those questions ahead of time, and those are what we had to write our essays on.”

The students were assigned one of their top three chapters in the beginning stages of preparation, and from there they had to write essays with their fellow group members answering the provided questions for the specific unit. At the event, each unit read their prepared response and then answered follow up questions.

“We had four minutes to read our essay response,” Zier said. “After that, we had six minutes of follow-up questions, and we didn’t know what they would be ahead of time. They could ask us anything and we had no notes.”

After the students recited their prepared essays, they were faced with one of the most challenging parts of the entire competition, intelligently answering open ended follow up questions backed up by examples. Stellpflug prepared the students for this by asking them possible

questions, and researching their answers. “Then we practiced the timing, got to“The judges can ask follow up ques- gether over the weekends, did research tions, but my students don’t know what on our topics, and then we answered those follow up questions are going to follow up questions on the topics.” be, and that’s when my students really Aside from making each student a prove how smart they are or not,” he said. constitutional scholar, the benefits of the St el lpf lug pre ‘We The People’ compepared his competitors tition included collaboby pushing them to ration with other peers. formulate their own “I t h i n k it really opinions, which sepajust helps improve your rated their team from knowledge of the constiothers which seemed tution and helps with your to simply regurgitate teamwork because you memorized material. are working with people “This competition you might not usually is neat because the work with,” Everett said. pressure of handling Looking ahead, stuquest ion s t hat you dents were able to see how don’t have answers this competition worked to in advance really on making them experts forces some intellecof the pr imar y docutual agility,” he said. ments for AP test in May. “This can prove ben“It helped me pracphoto by Mia Schlotthauer eficial for students, to tice for the actual AP test force themselves to Seniors Katie Miller and Callista Rochonand forced me to know my Baker excitedly await their opportunity to share think individually.” stuff,” Zier said. “I know information they have learned as part of ‘We A l t h o u g h t h e the People’ with the judges. The team began the Federalist Papers and e v e n t w a s v e r y preparing for the competition in mid-November the Constitution much p r o f e s s i o n a l a n d and increased their constitutional knowledge. better than I did before.” ser ious, there were A long w it h gai nstill opportunities for students to have i ng k nowle d ge on s uch i mp or t a nt f un and laugh together. Zier recalls pieces of histor y, this event helped one specific incident during that day st ude nt s l i ke se n ior Faysal A m i n , that brought back amusing memories. work on their sk ills in speak ing. “ W he n t he Wauwat os a t e a che r “It is a great way to improve your came in, the students all started clap- confidence in public speaking,” he said. ping,” she said. “So, when Mr. Stellpflug “The competition serves as a great way came in, we started to cheer and shout. to come up with your own independent We were so loud that everyone thought opinion, and is based on your ability to someone very important came in, so the back up your argument with evidence.”

Wauwatosa kids started clapping too.”

Not only is participating in this comEach student was assigned a specific petition beneficial for taking the AP test chapter of their textbook to master, and or developing speaking skills, it also alteams were composed of five to six people lows the students to get a taste of what per chapter. Junior Emma Everett remem- life is like outside of high school as adults. bers how the weeks leading up to the compe“As a U.S. citizen who can now vote, tition were filled with many difficult tasks. things like the Competition are a great way “First, I wrote my essay,” she said. to learn about how government works,”

After seven years at West, social studies teacher Matthew Mauk is parting ways with the school. Teaching sociology and U.S. history, along with working with Student Government and GSA, Mauk has collaborated with many students and staff throughout the years and will be greatly missed. But since his wife had accepted a job offer in Phoenix, Arizona, Mauk had no choice but to travel to the other side of the country with his family.

“I have mixed emotions about leaving,” he said. “Obviously I’m excited about trying something new, living in a different part of the country, being closer to the mountains and warm weather, but I w i l l a b s olut ely m i s s We s t .”

T hough Mau k is excited about moving to a warmer climate, he will still miss his daily routine and the f a m i l i a r f a c e s r o a m i ng t h e h a l l s .

“I feel like I got to a certain point where I knew the content really well and had things really well organized,

so I’m not really that excited about starting over as a teacher but I’m obviously excited about other things,” he said.

The student body has also become very familiar with Mauk, including senior St udent Gover n ment President Emelia Smith. She expresses her sadness about her close teacher leaving.

“I have known Mr. Mauk for three and a half years because I had him as a world cultures teacher, and now I interact with him all the time because of Student Government,” she said. “I am very sad because he really spread his good vibes. They make everything better, and he has always been really chill.”

This feeling is shared by GSA leader senior Griffin Holdridge, who enjoyed Mauk’s charismatic attitude, and his effor ts in understanding his st udents.

“Mr. Mauk is so empathetic and seems to genuinely care about the members of the club. He doesn’t just get to know you as a student but he also gets to know you person-

Amin said. “Many people think that government is a simple thing, when in truth it is a very complex, multi-layered concept, and preparing and competing in this competition is a fantastic way to learn about it.”

Stellpf lug fully agrees with Amin and also believes that comprehending the Constitution is key to a strong country.

“If we don’t have enough citizens that understand how the government is supposed to work, I fear for the health and longevity of my republic,” he said.

The main questions that the students researched and answered were generally very thought-provoking, and Stellpf lug sees great importance in this fact.

“T hat’s what we should be do ing, educating students so when they formulate an opinion, they are educated opinions rather than undereducated or just flat out ignorant opinions,” he said.

Although Stellpf lug hoped to place first, he is proud of his team because they answered everything to the best of their ability. This thought was also shared by the judges at the competition.

“The compliments my team got from the judges were wonderful,” he said. “I heard feedback such as: ‘Thoughtful, really thoughtful response’ and ‘I can really see that you guys understand the concepts and theories of government and that you just haven’t memorized them, you truly have a sophisticated depth of understanding.’”

Amin believes that participating in this competition helped him to become a more well-rounded citizen, and he is grateful for the experience, both now and in the future as he takes on the mantle of future leadership.

“Since everyone is a future taxpayer, they should know what goes on behind the scenes at both the federal and state level,” he said of the class and day’s competition.

“By doing the competition you get to have conversations with the people who run the government and it helps educate you and others about the state of our republic.”

by Index staff

Mauk departure leaves holes beyond classroom

ally as well,” he said. “When I found out he said. “We exchange articles that we use was leaving, I started crying in the middle in class, and we’ve done the same thing of class, I for U.S. history too, so it’s cou ld n’t going to be an adjustment.” get over Bertram considers Mauk it a nd I a close friend, and especially was upset enjoyed being able to joke with for days.” him as they would pop in and One out of each other’s classes. s t a f f “I will miss his sense of member humor most, and just workwho will i ng with h i m for st udent be greatg o v e r n m e n t ,” h e s a i d . ly afDuring his seven years fected by working at West, Mauk has photo by Alina Malson M a u k ’s created a classroom atmoThe members of student government gather absence sphere that has allowed his around a sign to bid their leader farewell. Matthew is fellow students to feel known and Mauk has impacted multiple students, as he has social appreciated. The st udents been a part of GSA and Student Government. studies a nd facu lt y at West w ill teacher miss his presence in Student and co-leader of student government Pat- Government and GSA, and they wish rick Bertram. After their classrooms being him the best for his new life in Arizona. next to each other for years, Bertram will “I’m gonna miss the environment miss bei ng able he creates,” Holdridge said. “He cares to bou nce ideas so much about all of us individually and b a c k a n d fo r t h goes out of his way to ask us how we’re with his colleague. doing, and I think we all need that some“We can talk times. He’s such a good listener and he t o e a c h o t h e r really cares about what we go through, about our classes and it’s going to be a significant change a n d g e t d i f fe r- in the layout of the club and our lives.” ent ideas f rom

by Index staff e a ch ot he r,” he

Features

Volume 116, Issue 4

15

January 27, 2020

Soup-erbly One offers recipe for communal collaboration

As West rounds the corner of the de- event, getting many in on the scoop. cade and the past drifts further behind, “We discovered that we could get a more and more efforts are being made to lot of players involved,” she said. “We make the Oshkosh community unified and need a lot of support and a lot of team cohesive for the future. Early this year, the members to pull this together if we faculty at West introduced “Soup-erbly truly want to have a nice representation One,” a community focused event high- of the diversity and talents at West.” lighting the talents and skills of students, During the event on Febr uar y 7, taking place on February 7. Business community members will be able to walk and leadership teacher Elizabeth Podvin around the room sampling soups made by excitedly anticipates the opportunity to the various clubs in custom made bowls. involve people from all around the school.

“Clubs will also prepare and serve “It is a celebration of Oshkosh West, soups, which precedes the West North showing the community, parents, faculty, Basketball girls and guys game, so while students, and neighbors all the great things you’re in the building, there will be art that go on here,” she said. “From displays displays out too,” she said. “The art deof art, music, solo and ensemble, and partment is actually making 50 beautiful dance, to having a soup and bread meal.” bowls that people can put their soup in Many students from West have been if they want to for an extra five dollars.” involved in the preparation for this event, One of the very talented art students with multiple clubs making soups, the at West, senior Josie Oaks, was asked to art department creating pieces to display, assist in creating these bowls, and she and the students gratefully accepted. from the special “I do really education departenjoy being a par t m e nt p a i nt i ng of this,” she said. “I soup bowls. think it’s fun and it “ T h is eve nt lets me practice one really unites the of my hobbies a lot school,” Podvi n more, and being a said. “A ny club part of anything rethat wants to join ally big is really nice.” is going to serve To b e g i n t h e soup from a pot process of making around the size of these clay creations, a Nesco roaster, art teacher Jason Ryf and they can tell had to teach students people a little bit how to use the wheel about their club.” and mold the clay.

Some of the The real benefit that clubs participatRyf found was being photo by Keerthana Ambati i n g i n “ S o u p - Senior Josie Oaks hovers over the pottery wheel as able to see his art be a e r bly O ne” a r e she molds the clay into a bowl. The art department part of a bigger cause.

O’Neil National was asked to create 50 unique bowls for this event, “This way we can Honors Societ y, which involved multiple students helping out. make stuff and it can Student Governgo on to somebody ment, DECA, Sources of Strength, and else’s house and they can have a soup with the Anime Club. The culinary classes it and decorate their house with it,” he said. are also preparing a variety of desserts “Hopefully it will be a remembrance of when for t he at tendees. Biolog y tea cher we got together for the North-West game.”

Vicki Ramus helped to organize this With this being the first year West

is hosting this event, it is expected that of noise, or drive badly, because they’re it will be challenging to put ever y- doing stuff for the community,” Ryf said. thing together. However, the teachers Not only does this event create and students are hopeful because they a sense of unity from the outside comknow the real goal is to unite Oshkosh. munity, but it is also an opportunity for “It’s a good idea to bring the com- students whose talents are being used, mu n it y together,” Ryf said. “Obvi- to develop them further. This is an esously we’ve had some pretty tragic stuff pecially enriching opportunity for those lately and hopefully people can see the like Oaks, who hopes to continue making br ight side of us coming together.” art with clay and ceramics as a career.

The event can also impact the students “It lets us be involved by doing some who are involved, especially by allowing of our favorite things, like me working them to look outside the with clay,” she said. classroom to see the city “I want to pursue that they are a part of. this later because “Usually our ar t of school. Seeing students are focused people appreciate on making st uff for my a r t is re al ly themselves or an asmeaningful because signment,” Ryf said.

I would love to do “Now they’re making this later in life. On the bowls to be sold top of that, it’s also or donated to help a for a good cause.” bigger cause. It gets Ry f enjoys t he m t o s e e a bigevents such as ger picture than right this because it alhere and right now.” lows his students For many of the to be featured in st af f, a n event t hat a different artistic photo by Abigail Eaton combines both West light, as compared and Nor th is a new Senior Andrew Weigand paints the handmade to their daily lives concept, but this can bowls in a beautiful shade of blue. This event par ticipati ng i n featured art made from students all around the serve as a time to set school. spor ts, music, aside differences and or academics. recognize the abilities of all students.

“It’s good to see all the different per“We need to really concentrate on spectives of a person and all their differthe positive things,” Ramus said. “We ent sides,” he said. “Some people don’t should showcase that more often and talk about it and some people do, so it’s a show parents, community, and people nice surprise seeing their other talents.” coming in the doors for games that I n p r e p a r at io n fo r nex t ye a r’s there are so many layers to the talents, event, any left over funds will be put student achievement, and successes.” into the pot for next year. Ramus looks Contrary to the generally negative for ward to the upcoming event, and views that are connotative with teenagers, hopes that it will live up to its name. teachers have a unique perspective because “I think this event builds a sense of they see all the good that the students have community,” she said. “It is called ‘We are brought to the community and to West. Soup-erbly One’, we are all under the same “Instead of just thinking that high roof, doing our thing everyday together school kids only litter, this event brings the and that’s what interconnects all of us.” community together and shows them that

by K. Ambati and A. Eaton teenagers do stuff besides litter, make a lot

This winter, two Library Media assistants have turned the page at West and started new chapters of their lives in different areas. Ellyn Lahr and Debra Kraemer had many tasks and duties in the media center such as helping out with Chromebooks, setting up displays, and coordinating text collections. However, their main goal was striving to make the media center a positive environment and every student feel welcomed.

“The first thing I was taught is that we meet and greet the students or staff,” Kraemer said. “Whoever comes through that door is our customer so to speak. It’s a really busy place; there’s never a dull moment and the time goes by really fast every day.”

T houg h La h r si m ila rly enjoyed working in such a friendly environment, she realized over the summer that she was ready for something new.

In early January she resigned and soon after started a year-round job, knowing that a school-round job would leave her summers open, which she did not want.

“Last summer was really hard because it was just me and I realized at that point that I could work year round because having the summers off at this point in my life is not a benefit because I don’t need to mirror my kids’ schedules anymore,” she said.

Lahr has been at West since the fall of 2012, working in the media center for over 6 years. She began the job when her chil-

“My decision to leave was hard and it took me a good year to really decide it was time,” she said. “I will definitely miss it, but I’m ready to spread my wings and fly in a different direction. I’m sure I’ll find something else to occupy my time and keep me busy.”

Kraemer has already made plans to travel to Hawaii in February with her husband, but be side s th is, she is looking forward to simply relaxing and seeing whe re he r future may t a k e h e r.

Howeve r, t here a re still many m o m e n t s s h e w i l l m i s s a t We s t .

“I believe I’ll miss the daily interactions with the students and the staff the most,” she said. “In this job you get to know a lot of different staff because everybody comes in here, which is kind of neat.

I’ll also miss my daily coworker team.”

Lah r also k nows she will def initely miss the energy and enthusiasm of the students. She has enjoyed receiving visits from past students and

LMC suffers subtraction as valued staff move on dren attended West, momentarily worked at Webster Stanley, and then returned to West to manage the new Chromebooks. “ I h ave n e ve r h a d a n o rm a l d a y a t We s t ,” s h e s a i d .

After working in the building for nearly 24 years, Kraemer has witnessed very excit i ng t h i ng s happening around the school. She enjoyed being able to interact with the students during their time in high school, a nd recalls one of he r favorite m e m o r ie s .

“W hen the girls and boys basketball teams were going to state, which happened years in a row, it was really exciting,” she said. “There was lots of camaraderie and excitement that it built in the school building for the students and staff.”

After a year of heartfelt contemplation, Kraemer decided it was time to end her days at the LMC and she retired on January 10.

She enjoyed her time there, especially while renovating the space, but anticipates spending more time with her six grandchildren.

hearing about how they’ve gone on.

“Knowing that your students are going to turn around and impact the world is really cool,” she said. “West has made an impact on you and laid a foundation, but now you are going to take what you’ve learned here and go on to do more.”

Lahr has had many experiences seeing the benefits of West and how it helped her own daughters succeed in college and beyond. Even small steps to make the world a better place can have a huge impact later on.

“I’ve seen students make an impact with little things like the Green Team,” she said. “You have an impact on this world, and it can be incredibly positive. Find the things that you love and make that impact.”

The message Lahr wants to leave with her coworkers is the importance of working together and always being curious.

“For the staff I would say just take care of one another and support one another,” she said. “Enjoy working with your students and never stop learning because that’s what school is about.”

In agreement with this, Kraemer would like to leave some last words of wisdom for the Wildcats and encourage them to never back down from a challenge.

“To the students I would say always strive to be the best that you can be and don’t shy away from trying new things,” she said.

by K. Ambati and A. Eaton

16

January 27, 2020

Features

Volume 116, Issue 4

Wildcats wander world dur ing winter

photo courtesy of Drew Lasky Junior Drew Lasky spreads his arms in awe of the great beauty of nature. Lasky spent his Christmas break enjoying the slopes in Colorado.

t ravels

photo courtesy of Brett Hartman Attending the showing of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, English teacher Brett Hartman poses with other avid fans. Hartman also surprised his students by dressing up on the day of the premeire.

W I N T E R

B R E A K photo courtesy of Haley Young Sophomore Haley Young dips her feet in the ocean, enjoying the beaches of Florida over winter break. Due to the cold weather, many students traveled south.

photo courtesy of Jocelyn Schmidt Senior Jocelyn Schmidt poses while attending the Rose Bowl game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Oregon Ducks in California.

Although the Badgers lost, Schmidt’s experience was well worth the travel and the warmer climate was definitely a plus.

photo courtesy of Sage Wesenberg Eva Beeth, Kennedy Benesh, Jensen Muza, and Sage Wesenberg play around in the fresh snow of Blackjack, Michigan. Their winter break was filled with skiiing, snowboarding and fun times with friends.

photo courtesy of Ava Artus Twins Ava and Henry Artus wear their festive sweaters while spending time at home. Their stay at home may have been a less popular choice, but was still enjoyable.

photo courtesy of Emelia Smith Senior Emilia Smith and her sister Maddie enjoy warmer weather and amazing views in Hawaii with their family. Smith’s break included a visit to a waterfall and she fully embraced all that Hawaii had to offer.

photo courtesy of Sound Sensations Entertainment Past Index editors huddle inside the photo booth. The reunion banquet, held on December 28, hosted many students of Index adviser Trent Scott from throughout his 25 years of hard work.