The Killingly Intermediate School 1599 Upper Maple St Dayville, Ct 06241 (860) 779-6700
A literary arts magazine. And so much more. Yeah, we pretty much do everything. And we do it at night.
journalism
A Soccer Star in the Making
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By Mackenzie Farquhar
Eighth grader Abbie Burgess walks up to the fifty yard line, the halfway point on the soccer field. The whole field is quiet. Abbie, focused on the goal, turns her foot to the side, chipping at the turf with her back foot. She kicks the ball, disturbing the fake turf below, throwing clouds of the tiny pebbles dancing in the air.
The ball soars through the air, nearing the goalie’s face. The goalie dives--her sweaty gloves missing the ball by an inch as it slams into the tangled white mesh, spinning its way down to ground.
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All is still.
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Abbie’s ponytail swings slightly from side to side, matching her heavy breathing. The field stays silent, until the goalie lands on the ground and rolls over in defeat. Abbie’s teammates run onto the field, cheering her name.
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It’s just another goal in the ever-growing list of her soccer accomplishments.
Abbie has been playing soccer since she was three and a half years-old. She has a strong passion and drive for soccer, as shown by the countless tournaments she’s played in.
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“I can't even count as to how many tournaments I have played in because I have played in so many,” she says. Abbie has even had to miss school to play on her Liverpool team in a recent tournament in Puerto Rico.
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The Puerto Rico tournament was full of four intense games, three regular games, and the final round of playoffs. Her team was playing in 80 degree weather. “On the field, it would always be 10 degrees hotter than in the air.”
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Speaking of teams, Abbie is currently playing on two teams: Spirit of Liverpool, Olympic Development Program and Player Development Program. She also played on the school soccer team in her 6th through 8th grade years in the fall.
“She was the best player I've ever coached,” her coach Mr. Sierakowski says.
Making the ODP and PDP are two of her greatest achievements in soccer. These teams Abbie plays for include rigorous training to someday play soccer in the Olympics or a national team.
“The ODP and PDP teams are steps to become more successful in the world of soccer,” Abbie says.
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Other than soccer, Abbie plays basketball, and if anyone was paying attention at the Winter Sports Pep Rally, you would already know that Abbie was on the school basketball team as well. When she graduates and goes off to KHS, Abbie hopes to try out for outdoor track team there, and you bet she’ll be on the soccer team there too. Sports are very important to Abbie, and she believes that everyone should play a sport, if given a chance.
“I think that if they are given a chance to, I think they should play a sport. It creates bonds with your teammates that you don't get to form in school. When you do something good on the field, you are given confidence, and you just feel good playing.”
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To all new soccer players, or any sport in general, Abbie has some words of encouragement.
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“When you are playing, just have fun. Don't beat yourself up mentally. Everyone can do amazing things and you have to realize that you can do it. Never give up! Find those bonds with your friends/teammates because they can always help you through life.”
Does Sexism Still Exist?
by Hailey Radtke and Sydney Zicollela
“Girls go to college to get more knowledge, and boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider!” Girls chant, running around the school playground on a Monday morning.
“Well, boys rule and girls drool!” The boys shout back, sticking out their tongues.
Believe it or not, this little chant represents a serious problem today. Without even realizing it, kids are still growing up in an age where they are taught one gender is more superior to the other. Unfortunately, sexism still is alive today, even in the classroom.
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From a young age, boys are often taught that they are stronger than girls are, while girls are usually taught that they are smarter than boys. Both are stereotypes, but as they say, stereotypes exist for reason.
Mr. Sierakowski, 8th grade ELA teacher says, “But I don’t think it means girls are “smarter,” necessarily, as if school learning represents all the different types of intelligences that traditional academic school does not measure. It might just mean that at this stage of development, girls perform better in the middle school classroom as a whole. I think there are many factors that go into this besides natural intelligence.”
In other words, it’s complicated.
And then we come to the physical side of sexism.
Girls are often told by boys that they aren’t tough enough or good enough to do certain tasks or goals.
“I totally disagree. I mean, look at the history books. Strong and powerful women are all around you,” says Lindsey.
Although this is the case, many boys world-wide seem to disagree.
“When my male friend was standing up for a girl who was getting wolf-whistled, he got applauded by his peers. When I expressed my belief of why it was wrong and why it should never happen, I was asked to ‘calm dow,.” says a contributor to the “Everyday Sexism Project,” an online forum in which girls worldwide share their sexist experiences.
Boys may think that girls can’t do things just because of their gender, and that is just what they have been taught in the past.
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“Before boys and men learn to commit physical acts of sexual violence, they learn to engage in degrading talk about women and girls,” Aays Danilo Alfaro, a journalist for the Huffington Post. “They learn it by hearing their fathers using that kind of language, and so it seems normal.”
This shows the performance of men and women, competing against each other in swimming.
It makes one wonder where these stereotypes have their origin. Perhaps it comes from childhood.
“Boys can’t play with dolls,” said five-year old Nathan Toth, younger brother of seventh graders, Hailey Toth. He also admitted that it was okay for girls to play with “boyish toys,” but that it was “weird” for boys to play with pink things for feminin toys.”
“They [parents] think that boys should play with more ‘boyish’ things.” Lindsey said.
“When parents say that, that is probably what they are thinking in their heads: That they are odd.” Lindsey adds.
And when it comes to the professional work field, it only gets worse. Men seem to frown upon women working in a typical man’s job.
“Some dudes have just always worked with dudes, and some people make snap judgements. Never good,” says Stacie Huckeba, a professional photographer, filmmaker, and writer. “But I have noticed that more ladies run the shows these days, and more women are stepping into the roles that have been traditionally occupied by men.”
Another common stereotype is that boys are more athletic and talented when it comes to one of America’s most physical sports, football.
“When one of my sisters tried out for football, they doubted her because they thought she couldn’t do it just because she was a girl,” says Lindsey.
Another Killingly student, Joshua Dagenais, has strong opinions on this subject.
“Women shouldn’t be allowed to play in the NFL,” he says.
Joshua went on to say that women weren’t as athletic as males and many others share this opinion. If you doubt this, just look at how many females are in the NFL, or play college football for that matter.
Another hot button issue involves clothing.
Girls also seem to get more attention when it comes to clothes. If you go to your local public school and check the dress code for girls and boys, and is obvious that boys have much looser clothing rules, versus girls clothing rules.
A girl may get criticized for wearing spaghetti straps, when a boy could wear the same thing and not hear one complaint.
“Women’s appearances get more attention, women’s actions are commented on and critiqued more than men,” says Julia Serano, a transgender activist and author of Whipping Girl.
Take your local Target, for example. You go into the clothes section for girls, and see such things as “I am beautiful!” or, “Hey, gorgeous!” on female shirts. Colors will mostly vary in pinks, purples, and oranges. But, you then go over to the boys section-- t-shirts vary in colors of red, blue, black, white, brown, yellow, gray, etc.
You will most likely find shirts such as “Stay cool,” “Do great things today,” or “Think outside of the box.”
Even unintentionally, adults are encouraging sexism on a day to day basis.
“Everyone just thinks girls are just pretty, and boys are adventurous,” says eight-year-old Daisy Edmonds, a overnight online sensation from her popular video ranting about sexist clothing stores- herself particularly at a local Tesco store, in Swindon.
According to these students and various other students interviewed, sexism is a serious problem and continues to go on unnoticed by other students, parents, and teachers. These stereotypes sometimes prevent or hold back other students.
“Sometimes I feel like I need to prove myself, because people always judge girls,” says Hailey Toth.
“Don’t let boys tell you what you can’t do, because you can do anything if you put your mind to it. You aren’t ‘too weak’ or ‘not smart enough,’ to do something. Boys can do as much things as girls can do,” reminds Lindsey.
In the end, boys and girls are different. But that’s not justification for the sexist world we live in.
The Red Planet Calls
by Abbie Card
As humans, our hunger for adventure can almost never be satisfied. But, scientists and researchers working with NASA are definitely coming pretty close, with the idea of finally colonizing what they’ve had their eyes on for a long time; Mars.
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Elon Musk, founder of Space X has a whole plan sought out to successfully start sending people to Mars to the next decade or so, and to colonize 1 million people on Mars in the next 40 years or so after that. That's about the population of Rhode Island! However, before we do that, there are definitely some problems that might slow us down on this mission including the travel time, food, and farming, with indefinite but possible solutions. No one said this was going to be easy, but if we work together to find and improve solutions to these problems, we could just about be on our way to the Red Planet.
The first problem we face when attempting to get to Mars, is the significantly long travel time. It would take 2-3 years alone just to get there, and another 2-3 years to travel home (PBS video). The reason for this issue is because there is only enough fuel in a rocket to get the astronauts out of Earth’s atmosphere. Therefore, they would have to coast through space the rest of the way to Mars (PBS video). This takes up a lot of time, especially since Earth and Mars are about 33.9 million miles apart from each other (Redd). We would need something very powerful to send us through space in a shorter amount of time. Fortunately, a possible solution could be the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASIMR.
This rocket could send us to Mars in just 39 days (Mazza)! How it works, is once the rocket has escaped the Earth’s atmosphere, instead of coasting like a normal rocket would do, it uses plasma and magnets to propel it faster and further through space (Mazza). “The VASIMR engine is not used for launching things into space or landing them back but rather it is used for things already there. ‘We call this in-space propulsion.’” says Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz, a former shuttle astronaut, and CEO of Ad Astra (Mazza). Near Earth missions are able to use solar energy for power, but a mission to Mars would need something like nuclear energy, which is possible with the VASIMR rocket (Mazza). By using this rocket, a trip to Mars could shorten from approximately 2.5 years to 39 days. That about a 95% shorter trip!
Even though there is a potential solution for the long travel time, food is another major problem to worry about when attempting to make it to Mars. First of all, the food would have to stay fresh for a long time, and things like mold and bacteria growing on the food is not an option. To fix the possibility of the food going bad, we would have to package it differently. A way to do this, is to package the food with an airtight seal. This would help to keep out all of the air and water, and would work to keep the food fresh for a while (PBS video). Assuming this would be a solution for us, the only problem after that is that we would eventually run out of food. Everyone obviously needs food to live and thrive, so if the human race wants to start a colonization on Mars, we’ll have to figure out how to grow and farm our own food there. There are several problems that come along with this. First, is that the gravity on Mars is only about 38% of that on Earth. So if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would only weigh 38 pounds on Mars. Scientists aren't sure how this component will affect the plants or their growth. Also, Mars doesn’t receive nearly as much sunlight as Earth does, and putting the plants in a greenhouse would block even more light (Moskowitz). The only solution so far to this is to use a supplemental light, which would require a lot of power (Moskowitz). NASA has been trying to figure out how to use LED lighting on plants so that they have the wavelengths of light they need to thrive (Moskowitz).
The last problem with farming on Mars, is figuring out if the plants can grow and survive in lower atmospheric pressure of that on Mars than what they are used to on Earth. If they can’t, then the plants’ greenhouses will have to be massive in order to sustain the needed pressure (Moskowitz). However, Robert Ferl, director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research at the University of Florida says, “You don’t have to inflate that greenhouse to Earth-normal pressure in order for plants to grow. Maintaining a full atmosphere of pressure is difficult on a planetary surface. You can take plants down to a tenth of an atmosphere and they’ll still function” (Moskowitz). If this is the case, then the greenhouse will have to be sealed off from the astronaut’s living quarters.To conclude, even though there aren’t set solutions to the farming problems yet, scientists are going to continue to do more research to move towards that way.
Although there are more problems involved with going to Mars other than the food, farming, and travel ones presented here, these in particular really show just how hard and long we will have to work in order to make colonization on Mars possible. Getting able to step on the Red Planet one day will be a long process for sure with a lot of research and problem solving still needed. However, the motivation and ideas are there. While farming on another planet and creating the perfect rocket definitely won’t be easy, we know it will so be worth it in the end when one day, us humans will finally be able to call ourselves a multi-planetary species.
Works Cited
Drake, Nadia. "Elon Musk: A Million Humans Could Live on Mars By the 2060s." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 23 Jan. 2017.
Mazza, Ed. "VASIMR Rocket Could Send Humans To Mars In Just 39 Days." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 6 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Jan. 2017.
Moskowitz, Clara. "NASA Ponders Mars Farming for 2030s Manned Mission." Space.com. N.p., 8 May 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2017.
Can We Make It to Mars? PBS. PBS, 19 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2017. <http://www.pbs.org/video/1752557302/>.
Redd, Nola Taylor. "How Lo
opinion
The Popularity Scale
by Nick Flynn & Alex Lalumiere
Whether or not it's said, every student knows about the popularity scale and where they fall upon it. Though the names of the two main groups have changed over time, the essence remains the same.
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The popular kids and the unpopular kids.
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No one really speaks of it, but everyone feels the ominous presence of this haunting spectrum. It's visible in almost everything we do, who we sit with, talk to, work with, and who we text. But who determines where everybody falls on this scale? Is it the popular kids? The unpopular kids?
Is it you?
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And are there unspoken guidelines that one must meet to be deemed popular? It's time we went deeper in the social underworld of K.I.S.
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Popularity is defined as the state or condition of being liked, admired, or supported by many people. While this seems to be a basic statement of what popularity is, it can mean much more than simply being liked.
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After interviewing people part of different ‘cliques’ in the eighth grade, we found that many believe that in middle school, popularity is essentially your social status. Being more popular leads to you having a high social status. Popularity is also heavily centered around what other people think of you. If people believe you to be “cool” then it spreads around quickly and influences others’ views of you. If a person wants their ideas known, they can spread rapidly It seems that it is rather difficult to become popular, but once you are given that title, it is very hard to escape it. In this way, popularity can be more permanent than other things. So overall, popularity as a whole is much too complex to be put into a definition, as many things determine it.
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Sexual orientation and gender identity, which are becoming much more acceptable in today's society, seem to play an increasingly large role in where one falls on the popularity spectrum. It seems that if a person is not straight or cis, they are deemed less popular. Cis (pronounced ‘sis’) is a term that means that one’s gender identity matches the gender they were born as. A student who prefers to stay anonymous says, “As someone who came out as bi[sexual], it seems to become your identity.”
What this means is that, while you’re letting people know that this is a part of your identity shouldn’t become your whole identity. No one looks at a straight person and immediately thinks that they’re straight, so why should anyone do that with gay or bisexual people? This is visible so much throughout middle school. Have you ever thought of someone and the first thought that pops into your mind is that they're gay? So once you’re openly gay and it takes over your identity, it seems to have a big effect on your popularity. However, if you are straight, you may be more popular simply because society tells you that you should be. This doesn't mean that thinking like that is okay. Just because it commonly happens doesn't mean we shouldn’t fight society’s imprint that ‘different’ means ‘wrong’ or ‘strange’.
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These days, most teenagers have a phone and many also have some form of social media. It's seems that the more social media you have and the more active you are, the higher your popularity is.
But why is this? A student on the Whale Team, Amaya West, thinks that it’s because, “Followers are not just a number. They're actual human beings who take time out of their day to see what you're doing.”
Your followers are not just another number in your life, they are people, some of whom you never met, that take their time to watch you. But it's also not as genuine online as in real life. Online, people can take time to construct the perfect comment or message, but in person, you're not able to do that. Also, the more followers that you have means that more people can get to know you who you are on a deeper level. Social media can also connect you to people who you would otherwise never be connected with. You can make connections that you wouldn't in school because people can comment and start conversations with people outside of your clique or “friend group”.
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Many students seem to think that your grades and teachers aren’t a big factor in determining your place on the popularity spectrum. While it does have a small effect, it’s very minimal. It seems to depend on who the teacher is as well. If a teacher who is adored by the grade likes a student, that student is more likely to become more popular. However, if the same teacher dislikes a student, their popularity will be slightly diminished because a beloved teacher isn’t fond of them. But if a student gets a teacher to like them by becoming a teacher’s pet then they might possibly be viewed as a nerd.
Students seem to view grades as less important than the other factors. “I think it depends more on personality than grades,” says Annie Griffin, a student on the Whale Team.
This means that you could have all A’s or all F’s and it wouldn’t impact your popularity. We think this could be because kids these days tend to focus more on the present and less on the future, when your grades become of importance.
One of the biggest things that affects your popularity in middle school is your appearance. Some parts of your appearance are changeable, like how you style your hair or what kind of clothes you have. But certain parts, like your facial features, aren't able to be altered, at least not now. And makeup only goes so far.
So why do pretty people always seem to be more popular? It could be because dating seemingly increases popularity and people tend to date the more attractive people. Lillian Stockford, an eighth grade student on the Scorpion Team says, “Even if you don't date anybody, if you're attractive and desirable, people will think you're pretty and admire you.” Having with what society calls a ‘pretty face’ can really boost your popularity.
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Another possible reason could be because “people look at how you look before who you are as a person,” says Owen Clark, a student on the Whale Team. When people look at your appearance before your personality, it can be stressful, especially because many people expect you to try much harder to fit the mold of beauty. The internet can be used to learn extensive hair and makeup tutorials as well, so this furthers that fact. People expect you to try harder to be beautiful because the internet is at our disposal. Your appearance is the first thing noticed about a person because people want to see how hard they tried.
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Of course, there are a plethora of things that go into determining one’s popularity, but these are some of the biggest factors. But popularity means something different to everybody, so never feel bad if you're not considered popular. Besides, who ever said if being popular was good or bad? While popularity may be important in middle school, it doesn't seem to matter much in later life. Never feel pressured into doing things you don't want to do just to fit in, and never feel guilty that you aren't higher on this scale. We all have our own places on it and we all are beautiful in our own ways.
skaters
Middle School "Matters"
by Bree Weaver
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Dear Students, (from a student)
If you are thinking high school is the only thing that matters before college, you are wrong. High school is vastly different than middle school and you will need to prepare yourself because college only gets harder.
It’s like a chain reaction, middle school performance leads to high school success, and high school success leads to a college degree. It’s common knowledge that if you’re not putting forth effort in middle school you probably won't do well in high school.
“Mr. Bryant, a guidance counselor at Killingly Intermediate School says, “One of the reasons that it is different is because there will not be anyone willing to hold your hand in high school. You are treated and regarded as an adult.”
Bad work habits acquired in middle school make it harder for middle schoolers to adapt to high school because they are not used to the responsibility that is so suddenly dumped upon them. Effort and mindset are key in order to do well in high school. A good plan is to make goals and strive for them.Your organizational skills and good habits like studying or taking notes will keep you afloat during the stormy seasons of academia.
You’ll need to attend your classes, and if you don’t, you lose credits instead of getting that seemingly meaningless “0.” If you lose credits, you wont graduate.You can’t just attend class whenever you want or be late, it’s not as easy as just making up the work anymore. You need these credits or else you’ll stay back in order to complete required classes. And if you decide to drop out, good luck with that. 75% of state prison inmates are high school dropouts.
The reality is, you have it fairly easy. Ask for help if you need it and don’t dig yourself in the hole that is laziness. Work through high school so you can be proud of you and your work. Eventually leading onto a good college that suits your needs.
In all, the grades you pursue and work hard for now will not only affect your academic career later but you character as well. Building integrity and getting work done is important to prepare you for the real world.
Words can Kill
by Alex Lalumiere
It’s a becoming a common insult among today’s society, especially our generation. No, it’s not “Go step on a Lego!” or “I hope you move away and never see me again!” No, the words so unthinkingly spewed at ones we want to insult are sadly, “Kill yourself.”
This has never hit me harder because when I was around twelve, my step-brother killed himself.
I didn’t know him that well, to be honest. It’s not the fact that he was dead that hit me so hard. It’s the fact that he took his own life. I’ve heard horrifying stories about people who have been mercilessly beaten, verbally and physically, until they killed themselves. And I’ve always felt horrible for them and their families, but it’s always something that happens to somebody else.
It’s never going to happen to us, so we think.
Until my mother, stepfather, and grandmother came back from their Las Vegas vacation two days early. They sat me down in my grandmother’s kitchen the day after they got back and told me what happened. My stepbrother had sat in one of his beloved trucks and ran it until he fell asleep. He didn’t wake up, and he knew he wouldn’t. My grandmother burst into tears.
I took a bite of banana.
I was too shocked to cry.
I couldn’t.
She hugged me and I just stared blankly over her shoulder, still eating my banana. The only thoughts going through my head were these; “He seemed so happy. Just the other week he made a fart noise at the table. Just the other week I saw him heading down the stairs to the basement he lived in in his camouflage hoodie, talking to his girlfriend. Just the other week…”
Just the other week I had heard them screaming at each other through the floor. I never saw him, other than at meals. He lived in the basement with some fish, two couches, and an xbox. And it was then that I realized how sad he actually was.
At the time, life for me was pretty good. I had no idea why anyone would want to end their life. We didn’t live in a third-world country. We had enough money to afford a good house, and good food. He didn’t have an abusive family, he only fought with his girlfriend once in awhile. (I thought arguments in a relationship were normal because my mother and father divorced when I was six. They’ve never really gotten along.)
However, now that my life is so much more complex I understand why he just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not even in high school yet and I have terrible anxiety and suspected depression. Understanding those feelings, I almost empathize.
Which brings me to my topic, finally.
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I believe that videogames and TV are the cause of this. I know, it sounds insane, but hear me out. Have you ever thought about someone, “Augh, I’m going to KILL them!”? Of course, you just meant you wanted to give them a hard time about something. But that’s what I’m talking about. We don’t mean what we say. We’ve taken metaphors too far due to our oversafe culture. Really, the only time we experience death or a near death experience and live to tell the tale is when we play games, because we can always go back to our old save file or start over in the same setting. We’ve always had a beloved character die in our favorite show or movie. Then the actor or actress steps off the set, and everything is okay again.
But in real life, we don’t know what comes after death. We do know, however, that there is no actual evidence that we get reincarnated or “respawned”.
Once you die, there’s no going back.
We’ve let our knowledge of life in the games we play so often overlap our knowledge of the actual world. I think that there wouldn’t be so much murder in the world if we understood the full and uncensored consequences.
This brings me to the “Kill yourself” part. Remember how I thought my stepbrother was okay until he killed himself? Think about that. What if you tell someone to kill themselves, but you don’t know that they actually want to?
What if they go home and hang themselves?
How would you feel?
“It was just a joke!” You would probably say. Maybe to you, but not to them.
You never know what someone’s going through, what they’re going to take to heart. That person may not even fully understand the consequences of their actions. Due to modern medicine, we are becoming less used to death. We are keeping people alive longer now, so that less people die in our lifetime.
Stephen King says, in his novel Pet Sematary that people have established a “nodding acquaintance with death.” We don’t even do that now. When someone dies, it’s a big cause for fanfare.
All this points to those awful words that were are becoming more and more popular.
Don’t say them.
Don’t even think them.
Death is hard enough on it’s own.
Me and my Weird Music
Kenna Lavallee
When you think of K-pop, (Korean pop music) what words do you associate with it? If you just cringed or scrunched up your nose that’s what is normally associated with K-pop and other foreign music. As a listener of J-rock and visual kei, I mostly get these words a lot. Most people find it weird to be liking music from other countries besides one’s own. Some people, like myself, enjoy music from other countries, like China, Korea, and Japan. But others find it puzzling. Some people call it ‘cringey’, ‘weird’, or ‘bad’, when others like it because
The reality is that it gives American listeners a chance to possibly learn another language, learn the names of some popular artists from that country, and expand their musical and cultural palette.
It would be a fantastic exercise as a school to have weeks at school where students listen to music from another country, like Korea, for example.
What kind of music do the Inuit listen to?
What are teeenagers in Mongolia humming along to as they walk the frozen tundra on their way to school?
Unfortunately, I get called ‘nerdy’, and ‘weird’ because I listen to music different from other countries than my own.. You know the kid that sits next to you in math? He made a Swedish death metal playlist and you made fun of him for it, just because he listens to different music than you do.
What difference does it make?
We’re equally as weird as you.
Remember that, and if you want to listen to my kind of music click the video below.
A Totoro, a Spirit, and a Fish
by Karena Ayotte
A little boy runs down the hill, toy boat in hand, towards the vibrant blue ocean. The moment his small feet splash into the cool blue waves, he notices an odd looking fish, stuck in a tiny glass jar. When he reaches the fish and picks it up, he thinks it resembles a goldfish, minus the fact it has a human face. Interested? This is the beginning to one of Studio Ghibli’s many world-renowned stories, Ponyo on the
Cliff by the Sea. Drawn in vivid color and an abundance of imaginative creativity, discover how these beautiful stories and the billions of dollars net worth company, Studio Ghibli, came to be...
Wondering about Wonderwoman
by Nicole Credit
From Wonder Woman to our recent Spider Woman, there has always been controversy over female characters in superhero comics. It’s been a fight feminists and other gender equality supporters have been battling. Whether it is the objectification and sexualization of their bodies or how they are mostly portrayed as side characters, there’s always been troubles in the comic world when it comes to females...
Investigative Journalism 2015-16
The Glamorization of
Mental Illness
by Samantha Murd and Alyssa Hansen
Most people take mental illnesses lightly because, unlike other diseases, it isn’t a physical feature. In fact, clothing stores have recently thought that pyschological illnesses might even be “trendy” fashion statements.
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Pause for disbelief.
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Store owners, and many ordinary people, don’t see a problem with inscribing drug addiction and alcoholism on wearable items.
Suprisingly, many people don’t care that their wardrobe choice may offend someone who struggles with mental illness, addiction, and alcohol dependence. Unfortunately, they obviously don’t know the difference between promoting and raising awareness.
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Urban Outfitters is an American Clothing Corporation that is headquartered in Pennsylvania, and is an international company.
In 2015, Urban Outfitters started selling a shirt with the word “depression” written in various fonts, covering the shirt. It became so controversial, the store had to take them off the racks (Krupnik).
Interestingly, Urban Outfitters themselves posted on their website, “We did not create the depression brand logo tee, and it most certainly was not a social statement of any kind” (Krupnik).
It was later noted, that a brand called “Depression” tried selling these shirts to spread their name, obviously, it backfired...
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It's Time for the 8th Grade Promotion, Celebration, Graduation, Recognition, or Whatever Else You Want to Call it
by Darlene Gonzalez Soudalath Souvanhnaphan
It’s time.
Four years of hard work, four years of ongoing stress on top of stress, and at last the eighth grade class is ready to leave.
Soon family members and friends will surround the eighth grade class in the auditorium and cheer them on as they shake hands with administrators and teachers.
They did it, they graduated eighth grade.
Or did they?
Understanding the factors involved in a graduation or celebration or recognition or promotion or whatever you want to call it, are usually lacking when it comes to middle schoolers. Should eigth grade students be walking down the aisle to Pomp and Circumstance, wearing a cap and gown and walking across the stage and receiving a formal piece of paper? It’s time to examine the issues at hand from a variety of perspectives...
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To Date or Not to Date:
That is the Question
by Brennan Holmes and Chris Lackner
Middle school dating is not exactly a new issue, yet it’s still a pretty hot one. Most kids who date in middle school believe they are on some kind of romantic yellow brick road, a paradise of love and happiness.
But what they don’t realize is that even though they may be maturing, drama and some pretty serious risks usually accompany their young romance.
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Ms. Patti Smith, a guidance counselor at Killingly Intermediate School in Dayville, Connecticut, says she deals with dating related issues daily. “I​ think that in middle school, kids are trying to figure out who they are and it's hard enough to maintain friend relationships. So when you add dating relationship into the mix, it creates a lot more drama, difficulty, and conflict for the kids.​”
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The average young adult today can find many reasons to start dating early, though not all are good ones. According to a survey in New Moon Magazine, boys and girls use dating as a way to get popularity and seem cooler than other kids...
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It doesn't matter how hard the punch is. What matters most is the people that surround you asking how bad it hurts.
Professional boxer Peter Manfredo Jr. is a strong competitor in the ring, and a humble, respectful family man who wants to give his wife and kids the best possible life they could ever dream of.
Peter was introduced to boxing when he was just seven years old, and because of that, his father ignited Peter junior's passion for the ring. After years of training, he went on the reality show called The Contender in 2005 to get his name out, and he became what most people know him as today, The Pride of Providence.
Manfredo’s coal black driveway is decorated with street lights that shine the colors of the Italian flag, and this is not the only thing that represents his heritage...
The Pride of Providence
by Mackenzie Jackson & Emma Adams
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Has Cupid Gone Digital? Pros and Cons of Dating in the Electronic Ocean
by Alyssa Gaudreau & Faith Boateng-Afranie
A small chime snaps thousands of adults out thier daily work, a sweet sound that makes their heart skip a beat everytime. Like a puppy to the sound of his food hitting his bowl, people come running to the sound of the computer.
On the screen is the simple message, “Free for Dinner?”
Everyone dreams about finding the ideal companion, whether in our youth or adult years. Yet those traits aren’t easily found on the street. For many adults who have given up on falling in love the traditional way, behind a computer screen is now the way to go.
One can only speculate what's going to happen when the post-millenials, a generation saturated in social media, enters the dating scene as adults.
Today, online dating has become a helpful alternative for some. Even though you’re thousands of miles away, without the Internet you would have never met your match. But, the reality of the situation is, you don’t know what they look like in person, how their voice sounds, or what the touch of their skin feels like. Overall, there are abundant positives and negatives to the current online dating ‘world’.
Everyone knows the cliche , “Don’t worry, there’s always more fish in the sea.” When most people hear this after a messy breakup, they more or less groan...
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All Creatures Big and Small: An Interview with the Head Entomologist of the American Museum of Natural History
by Jonathan Creswell & Connor LeDuc
“Entomology [the branch of zoology dealing with insects] by far eclipses everything else,” says David Grimaldi, head entomologist and curator at the American museum of Natural History in New York City (AMNH).
His office is located on the fifth floor of the AMNH on the north side of central park. The traffic is starting to die down and the office is quiet except for the occasional siren going off in the distance.
On one wall is his life’s work of hundreds of published papers and books. On the other, are specimens of prehistoric amber and insects locked up in a vault worthy of Gringotts. The contrast between the buzzing city life and silent insects is palpable.
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Welcome to Google's Virtual Classroom
by Allison Devolve, Lilian Freitag, & Aaron Thorstenson
When most people think of Google, they imagine a search engine with all the answers to the world’s most “complex” questions like “Where’s the beef?” And “Why is the sky blue?”
What they don’t know is that Google now has a new application to bring learning at school online, and it's called Google Classroom. Unlike the simple search engine, Google’s virtual classroom keeps students and teachers in touch while at home and at school.
To begin with, it helps all teachers organize and prepare school work better than ever before (STWI).
Let’s say a teacher lost a student’s paper and its nowhere to be found. With classroom, you won't have to go through all that time looking for it because there's a new lovely companion called the “turn in” button.
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There's More to Light Than What You See
by Emily Robinson
Colors and shapes fly around the stadium as music and laughter fills your ears, the strobe lights and fog only adding to this amazing concert experience, the special effects just as amazing as the music. To the average audience member, this show is a fun, care free experience, but behind the scenes lurk a group of skilled men and women making this risky experience possible, all from behind the control panels...
A Tragedy: The After-Effects Faced by War Veterans
by Emily Watling
A soldier enters the military with the idea that he or she is doing something positive for our country, that is true, but it’s not quite that simple. The soldier feels the excitement and honor of knowing that they are making a difference, but all that changes once they see and feel the full impact of combat. Soldiers go through life changing experiences, and when they are finally able to go home, they think that everything is going to go back to normal. Some are all right, but others aren't so lucky...
Minecraft in Schools
by Joey Raheb
MinecraftEdu, through its Finland-based parent company TeacherGaming LLC, has sold Minecraft licenses to more than 500 schools around the world — 100 of them use MinecraftEdu (Waxman). With all the technology in the world, some electronics have been leaking into schoolwork. The most used: Minecraft. This widely popular game has been used by people around the world to teach kids lessons...
Social or (UN) Social Media
by Katherine Archambault
When entering a cafe, most people expect to see smiling and conversing citizens drinking coffee. Instead of this scene, a cafe has many people mindlessly staring at their phones or laptops updating their blog or going on other social media sites. Social media is taking over, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are negative and positive effects of social media. These sites can help people with support, safety, and kindness, but it can also cause self esteem problems and mental disorders...
The Great Depression and 2008
by Ethan Dougherty
Picture this. It’s October 1929. You are a young businessman with his whole life ahead of him. Everyone and everything around you is thriving. The American "bull market" is in its prime. "Stocks are the new gold rush" you've been told over and over again. Finally you give in. You gather up your life savings of 1000 and borrow 2000 from the bank. Being the logical businessman you are you decide to invest in Dow Jones. All 3000 dollars go in. 0 comes back out. Little did you know that by the end of the month 16 million shares will lose 40% of their value. And get this. Almost 80 years later in 2008 we will make the same mistake. These very different years actually have something in common. They hold two of the biggest stock crashes in U.S history...
Benefits of Playing an Instrument
by Jillian Ormerod
Music floats in the air as a middle schooler puts together their clarinet. First the bell, then lower and upper joint, barrel and finally the mouthpiece and ligature, building from the bottom up. Band practice is about to start as the child looks over music and plays a couple tricky parts. Around them, music dances in the air. Choosing to play an instrument is one of the best decisions a student in middle school can make. Once they start playing, they will see improvement in their grades, discipline and their social skills. It is proven that playing an instrument in an ensemble improves these skills remarkably...
Book Banning: A Violation of Rights, or a Protection of Standards?
by Madison B.
Did you know that 57% of all book banning are brought about by parents? Banning books and censorship has been a controversial topic for many years. There are those who are for censorship, and believe the removal of books with inappropriate content is vital. On the other hand, there are those who believe the censorship of books is wrong and a violation of rights. But what is book banning, anyways? Also, how does it affect readers?
Air Pollution in China
by Michael Zheng
A nation developing at a remarkable pace must rely on massive but cheap amounts of fuel in order to function. But this cheap fuel is taking a terrible toll on the environment because of all the excess waste released into the air during the burning process (PM 2.5). Many factories in China even operate illegally, without a permit or authorization to be running by the Chinese government. Civilians in most of China breathe this toxic air almost 365 days a year, yet they don't even realize the terrible damage it's doing to their bodies. This may even play a leading role in the extinction of man, The 6th Mass Extinction...