DECEMBER 2017 Volume XLII, Edition I INEWS AROUND PHS

PanteraParkview

998 Cole Drive Lilburn, Georgia 30047

NEWS (2-3) FEATURES (4-9) OPINION (10-15) FINE ARTS (16-20) SPORTS (21-23)

PanteraParkview

998 Cole Drive Lilburn, Georgia 30047

Kamryn Ashby smiles with escorts. (Photo by Jennaya Montoya)

By Jordan Frederick Assistant Editor

Carr honored as fi nalist for Pres-idential Award

Carr anticipates the Presidential Award. (Photo by Thuy Pham)

Melodie Carr, a math teacher at PHS, was honored as a fi nalist for the Presiden-tial Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching. As one of fi ve fi nalists in Georgia, she will be evaluated by the national selection com-mittee to narrow down two teachers who will be honored at the White House in associa-tion with the National Science Foundation. Additionally, the two winners in Georgia will be awarded $10,000.

ROTC cadets raise over $70,000 for Toys for Tots

Owen Gallagher and Garrett Gooch happily collect donations. (Photo courtesy of Dana Gallagher)

By Marie StanfordNews Editor & Business Manager

With Christmas just around the corner, the season of giving has offi cially taken off. Many Parkview programs are lending a helping hand to people in need of spirit this

holiday, but one program in particular shows what it truly means to be selfl ess. Every year, Parkview’s ROTC program participates in the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, collecting toys and money outside many Lilburn stores like Kroger and Walmart. This is the

MCJROTC’s biggest service project of the year, and all of the cadets look forward to participating each year. “Collecting these donations gives children who have an nothing an opportunity to have a Christmas,” says junior Samantha Green. The event starts the week-

end before Thanksgiving and continues every week until winter break. Donation boxes at the school, along with cadet volunteers who stand outside of the Lilburn Walmart on Lawrenceville Highway, the Kroger on Rockbridge, the Rockbridge Walmart and the Duluth Walmart, help bring in around $70,000 in donations per year. Parkview MCJROTC is one of the largest non-corporate contributors in the metro-atlanta area and donates 100% of what they collect to children in need. Cadets work four hour shifts to collect toys, while family members work two hour shifts. “Stand-ing out in our uniforms in the cold for hours is totally worth it, knowing that a child will now smile because of you,” says Green.

Christmas Carol brings inspiration

By Hannah CampbellOnline Editor

Theater cast sings their hearts out. (Photo by Heidi Campbell)

On the fi rst weekend in December, the Parkview Theater, directed by Sharon Morrow, came alive with their production of the most iconic Christmas play in history. A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens, is about a grumpy man who only cares about money and himself. He is haunted by three ghosts who show him how his life became the way it did, how he was talked about in the pres-ent, and about how it would be if he died.

(Continued on p. 17)

The 41st Miss Parkview pageant took the stage on No-vember 11th. Senior Kamryn Ashby was crowned Miss Parkview and Aiden Hall was named Mr. Parkview. There were 22 contestants competing in the pageant in front of three judges to win either the title of Ms. and Mr. Parkview. With the theme, Hollywood Nights, matched the atmosphere of the night. The glamorous dresses and bright lights that shone on the stage, each contestant felt proud of the hard work they

put into the pageant. There were many musical elements to the pageant such as three dance routines, one involving only the seniors, one involving every contestant, and one involving the guy escorts. With all of the musical elements of the show, the con-testants had to rehearse a lot to make sure that it wouldn’t fall apart. Rehearsals for the pageant were from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. In rehearsals, the seniors and escorts learned their special dances, while all of the contestants learned the opening number. In rehearsals, the contestants also learned

how to project their voice, speak in front of the audience, and walk on stage after their introduction. Along with the rehearsals and dance routines, each con-testant had to prepare a quote that described themselves and the attitude they wanted to take on when entering the pageant. Besides choosing a quote for the speech portion, the contes-tants also had to fundraise for the pageant. Each contestant would try to get sponsorships from local businesses to fund the pageant. Contestants also wrote an essay describing their pride for their school. “To prepare for the pageant, I fundraised and wrote an essay describing how I show panther pride,” Kate Jensen describes. Towards during the end of the pageant, many awards were given out such as the rose awards, crown awards, class and community service sponsorship awards. With these awards, there were also grade based awards such as 2nd and 1st runner ups, and the Miss awards. Overall awards included the most photogenic award, which was won by Jade

Nicolette, Panther Pride, which was won by Saaby Simon, the Congeniality award, which was a tie between Kamryn Ashby and Aiden Hall, the People’s Choice Award, which was won by Annakate Estock, and the Overall Sponsorship Award, which was won by Morgan Hill. For Miss Parkview, there was Saaby Simon, who was the 4th runner up, Kelly Orr, who was the 3rd runner up, Hannah Whitlock, who was the 2nd runner up, and Abby Cobb, who was the 1st run-ner up. After these contestants were called to receive their crown and sash, the theatre went quiet in the anticipa-tion of Miss Parkview. Once Kamryn Ashby was called to receive the title of Miss Parkview along with her crown and sash, the room erupted with cheers. Fourth runner up Saaby Simon de-scribes the experience as very interesting and fun. “I’m really glad I participated in the Miss Parkview Pageant this year and would defi nitely recom-mend! I had no prior experi-ence but I got a lot out of it.”

Pageant raised over $10,000 for PTSA

DECEMBER 2017 PANTHER PULSE PANTERA PAGE 2

BEATS By Catie Gelting, Features Editor

To Do: SAT- December 2nd, March 10th ACT- December 9th , February 10th

Email BEATS &

other announc

ements to

parkviewpante

ra@gmail.

com

As many already know, col-lege has become an incredibly expensive investment in one’s future. For some students, the price, both economically and logistically, is one their families are able to bare, but for others, the path to gaining a tertiary ed-ucation is much more arduous. Many scholarships exist to help these students reach milestones unachievable without the money or guidance. One such scholarship is the “QuestBridge College Match program.” The college match program is a system created by Quest-Bridge to reward “high achiev-ing, low income” students with full college scholarships. In addition to having good grades and stellar test scores, the aver-age “QuestBridge kid,” usually has a very impactful life experi-ence or particularly unique living circumstance. A handful of seniors at Parkview were chosen as fi nalists for the scholarship. One such senior, Jordon White, said that college is “an op-portunity to learn more and advance [himself], in order to help people.” In addition, White said that he wants to study biochemical engineering in order to help diagnose and treat people with mental health issues. He also believes that the mental health of young people

is not being as widely discussed as it should be. He wants to be a catalyst for the initiation of that conversation. “College is the key to your future,” said Mariletzy Venegas, another QuestBridge fi nalist. “It’s a way for you to step out of the situation you are in and to have a better life. People can take away whatever they want from you, but the one thing they can’t take away is your educa-tion.” Venegas’s interest in mo-lecular biology is driven by her passion to study diseases, and her passion to develop therapies for said ailments. It goes without saying that both White and Venegas are incredibly intelligent, but QuestBridge is looking for more than intelligence. They want students who have a macro view of the world. They want students who will not only be a part of the next generation of researchers and scientists but will lead the next genera-tion. Long gone are the days of students with only 4.0 gpas and perfect SAT scores getting full rides to famous universities. Schools and scholarships alike want innovators, groundbreak-ers, and world changers. Seniors Ansel Ahbabue, Frank Tang, and Ashley Ky-elem have been matched. Ahba-bue to Rice, Tang to Duke, and Kyelem to Pomona.

Among the stress of academics and college admissions, students live in their own bubble of pain and agony, making it easy to forget that there are those who may not enjoy the same privileges. Community dona-tion projects are hosted year-round; however, not all of them reach beyond the local distance. Fortunately, the sea-son of giving has arrived, and extracurriculars have taken the initiative to spread the holiday spirit, from hospitals closer to the heart of Atlanta to continents as far as Africa.

For years at Parkview, the National Honor Society has hosted the time hon-ored tradition of Ho-Ho-Ho, a donation project where

participating members, or the NHS Elves, collect whatever money they can for the fi rst week of December on behalf of their teacher team. At the end of the week, all of the money collected is sent to the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta in Egleston.“Not all kids can pay for their treat-ment, and this is something that helps,” sponsor Laura Kimbro explains, “It helps a lot of kids every year.” Teacher teams are differ-ent every year and compete to raise the most money, and this year’s duos include Jon Aldrich & Donica Crawford, Rylan Wade & Miranda Rouk, Scott Hague & Sharon Morrow, and Matt & Mil-licent Henson. The team that raises the most money dress up as Mr. and Mrs. Claus for a full day and give out candy during all lunch periods. “Every cent, every dollar that goes into this helps with costs that people would oth-erwise not be able to cover,” adds head elf to the Craw-ford/Aldrich team senior Joseph L’Heureux. The Muslim Student As-sociation decided to take an alternative route in the op-posite direction, connecting continents through their book drive from now until Decem-ber 20 in Books for Africa. All of the books are sent to

a warehouse in Atlanta to be shipped off to 50 countries in Africa. This drive collects all sorts of books which any stu-dent can donate in room, with the exception of books in bad condition, American history books, magazines or journals of any kind, home decorat-ing books, wedding books, cookbooks, foreign language books (other than French), music books, murder/mys-tery books, or anything with “kill,” “die,” or “murder” in the title. The project is surely an unusual one, as most clubs collect money, toys, winter clothing, etc. However, MSA teacher sponsor Miriam Pat-rick explains, “Whenever stu-dents want to do some kind of service project, I encour-age them to look for some-thing that might otherwise be overlooked.” In the current day and age, it may be tough to look through the haze of negative issues in the media, but even doing little things can change the outlook of many from not only in the community but maybe even the world. A little can do a lot for those in need, even if it may not seem like enough. One cannot save the world, but they can save what they are able to in order to make a difference, no mat-ter how small it may be.

Parkview gives back to those in need Questbridge fi nds its match By Leon ChristianBackpage Editor

By Anika AkbarEditor in Chief of Operations

NHS elf Qing Gao obtains spare change from anyone he encounters. (Photo by Anika Akbar)

Books For Africa

Club: Muslim Student

AssociationDates of Donation:

Now

to 12/20Please bring books t

o

Ms. Patrick’s room in G

building.

NEHS off ers FREE

tutoring in

the library during

all guided

studies and aft er sc

hool on

Mondays and Wed

nesdays.

Relay for Life Dodgeball Tournament Sign up/consent forms due to Mrs. Akin. You must turn in all group members con-sent forms at one time! Info and sign-up forms outside of any tardy stamp office or outside Mrs. Akin’s room (12.216)

Winter Coat and Blanket Drive Th e Chick-Fil-A Leader academy needs your help in collecting winter coats, boots, and blankets for the Lilburn Co-op. Needed: New or gently-used, CLEAN coats, boots, and blankets of ANY size. Mrs. James’s room in upper A by Dr. McCalla’s offi ce

Th e Java Jungle sells coff ee and capacino every morning in the cafeteria!

Weapons-Drugs-Alcohol Confi dential TIP LINE Help keep your school safe. If you think or know someone has weapons, drugs or alco-hol at school, call: 770-822-6513 You do NOT have to give your name

Join Peer leading 2018-2019 Tutoring MentoringRemediation

Need help wit

h

math?

Mu Alpha T

heta

has tutoring!

When: Every

Tues-

day- Thursda

y

6:50-717 OR 2

:15-2:45

in Mrs. Barr’

s room

(H 4.236)

everyday dur

ing

all guided stu

dies in

LAB D-424 in

the

cafeteria

PAUSE Literary Magazine accepting poetry, short stories, screen plays, art, and pho-tography. Email sub-missions:parkviewpause@gmail.com

Come to Coff ee House! December 13, 6-8pm in the library!

New GSLT members (Gwnett Student Leadership Team) for the school year 2017-18.

Th e member are: sophomores Cameron Snyder, Alykhan Pirani. & Morgan

Shorter.

SPCA Donations

Club: Junior Classical L

egue

Dates of donations: no

w to 12/9

Please bring canned d

og/cat food, dog

toys, newspapers, non-

clay clumping

cat litter, laundery det

ergent, bleacch,

offi ce supplies, towels,

beds, pet sham-

poos, etc. to Ms. Patrick

’s room in G

building

Want to travel to CHINA in 2019? See Ms. Baug!

DECEMBER 2017 GLOBAL NEWS PANTERA PAGE 3DDDEEECCCEEEMMMBBBEEERRR 222000111777 GGGLLLOOOBBBAAALLL NNNEEEWWWSSS PPPAAANNNTTTEEERRRAAA PPPAAAGGGEEE 333 North Korea causes concern for the United States

By Catie Gelting

The Global Corner

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg once famously said, “There will not be enough women on the Supreme Court until there are nine.” Some, blinded by misogyny and their own lack of understanding, were shocked at such a bold statement, leading Ginsburg to later explain herself. Her statement wasn’t meant to suggest that wom-en should replace men but rather to point out the blatantly obvious inequalities between the reactions to a supreme court of nine men versus that of one with nine women. However, this does bring up the issue of representation. At the end of each election, I tend to feel bombarded with articles praising the election of a minority as a “step in the right direction,” which is a statement entirely without fault. Yet, it always seems to leave me stewing. As proud as I am with our baby steps toward fair rep-resentation, I am equally annoyed at how small each of these steps seems to be. According to the 2010 US census, 50.8% of Americans are female, and yet only three of our nine supreme court justices are female. That’s about 33% and nowhere close to accurately representing the gender makeup of our country. Furthermore, out of our 100 sena-tors, only 21 are female, and that’s just in the gender de-partment. When I look at the racial and sexual makeup of our government, I become even more disappointed. About 12.6% of Americans identify as black, and yet only about 3% of our Senate identifi es similarly. About 16.3% of Americans identify as Hispanic or Latino, but only about 4% of our Congress is represented by this demographic. It’s still diffi cult to fi nd the percentage of Americans who identify as a part of the LGBTQ community, but various polls currently estimate it to be about 4%, and yet there has only been one senator who openly identifi ed as les-bian when elected. I fi nd it diffi cult to believe that minority groups are accurately represented in Congress when I see statistics like these. I can’t imagine how a Congress dominated by a specifi c group could possibly represent a country that is defi ned by its diversity. None of this is in any way meant to downplay the signifi cance of Kamala Harris’s election to offi ce. Harris’s contribution to Congress will be historical, and her impor-tance stems from her representation as a woman of mixed African-American and Indian heritage and also as the fi rst Indian woman to serve in Congress, providing one of America’s many minority groups representation. Read-ing through articles over the elections, I swell with pride. Headlines such as “Harris wins based on merit” give me hope for the direction of proper representation in America.

Playing the representation game

Turn on any major news channel, and there is a good chance that they are discussing current relations between North Korea and the U.S. With North Kore-an leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump hurling insults back and forth, one may not know what to make of the situ-ation. Some worry about the imminent possibility of war with North Korea and their advancement in nuclear technology. Ten-sions between these two countries are high, but this would not be the fi rst time. During the Korean War, America assisted South Korea in transitioning to a democratic government

free from North Korea, which was and still is a communist nation. This, of course, created confl ict be-tween America and North Korea from the 1950s to present times, which led to a heavily demilitarized zone that is still hard to bypass. It seems like this demilitarized zone serves not only as a physical bor-der but a border that keeps the citizens of both coun-tries from interacting. As time has passed from the 20th to the 21st cen-tury, there has been a lot of retaliation. North Korea held American citizens as prisoners, including Otto Warmbier, an American college student at Rutgers College who died during his captivity due to ex-tensive brain damage. On

behalf of the United States, President Trump has retali-ated in poking fun at Jong Un about being “short” and “fat.” Exchanges between Trump and Kim Jong-un have not escalated beyond petty, back-and-forth argu-ment. Thanks to scientifi c organizations such as the North Korean Institute of Physics, North Korea now has a missile that can reach America called the Ta-epodong 2. If tensions continue to rise, North Korea will continue to advance their technology, and if pro-voked, they will pose a major issue. However, diplomatic negotitiations between Trump and Kim Jong-un are still on the table to prevent war.

The expansion of North Korea’s missile program serves to exacerbate tensions between the United States and North Korea. (Photo courtesy of Jim Garamone [CC BY-NC-ND-2.0])

cording to The New York Times, at least 639 people have been killed and 2,635 injured in mass shootings since the Orlando incident in June 2016. “It’s defi nite-

By Candler ClarkOpinions Editor

Every few days, a mass shooting happens some-where in the U.S. Ac-

By Emily OgbodoStaff Writer

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Congress inactivity on mass shootings plagues the nation

People mourn for the victims in the Las Vegas shooting. (Photo courtesy of Chris Wattie [CC BY-NC-ND-2.0])

ly one of the most divisive issues in America right now. Either people are extremely for or extremely against it,” said world his-tory teacher Chris Magner. Since the San Ber-nardino, Orlando, and Las Vegas shootings, it has become obvious that Congress is completely avoiding this issue. After every mass shooting, The Onion, a popular satire news site, re-publishes an article titled, “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regu-larly Happens.” Congress has done nothing to resolve the issue of gun violence. “Look at a place like Aus-tralia. They have a total ban on assault-class fi re-

NRA to vote against gun restriction policies. Accord-ing to OpenSecrets.org, the National Rifl e Association is “opposed to virtually ev-ery form of gun regulation, including restrictions on owning assault weapons, retention of databases of gun purchases, changes in the registration of fi rearms, and background checks on purchasers at gun shows.” “Anybody could just walk into a gun show, and as long as they have cash, they can purchase a gun… they’re not regulated at all,” says Jon Aldrich, a United States history teacher. Needless to say, the lack of action in such a large issue is perplexing.

arms, and there’s no type of gun violence happening down there,” said Magner. Right-wing conserva-tives often shout that gun ownership is protected by their Second Amendment rights. However, we should consider the context in which the Second Amend-ment was written. “I think that the Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amend-ment in a different context, and you have to consider that sort of thing,” Magner agreed. The other signifi cantly larger reason for congres-sional inaction is the NRA. Most right-wing, conser-vative politicians as well as some Democrats are supported and urged by the

DECEMBER 2017 INVESTIGATIVE PANTERA PAGE 4

Bullying has proven to be a major and reoccuring issue among adoles-cents. For years, schools have cracked down on the problem, adopting policies of zero tolerance. However, many cases seem to get overlooked, oftentimes resulting in a tragic end. The issue begins with the bully or bullies, who target those they deem weaker. According to the STOMP Out Bullying campaign, bullies estab-lish power over their victims through many platforms, be it social, verbal, physical, or even cyber. The bullied are often told that their attackers harm them tofeel better about themselves, but this is not always the case. Oftentimes, the bully may haveissues at home, take out their deep-seated anger on someone who they believe will not fi ght back, or even try to establish power over other peers. Whatever the extenuating circumstance, sympathy is not justifi cation. In the past, bullying has only ever been noted as social, verbal, or physical. More re-cently, though, Disciplin-ary Administrator Dr. Howard McCalla notes that the introduction and access of social media has raised the issue onto another level. “[Social media] is mak-ing it a little bit more diffi cult for adminis-tration because where’s the jurisdiction?” McCalla explains, “So the ‘cyber’ part makes it a little bit of a gray area.” Newer platforms, such as Sarahah, have posed many issues with bullying. Sarahah is a service where anyone can post anony-

mous comments onto someone’s message board. The initial idea of Sarahah was for employees to submit feedback to their bosses without scrutiny. However, as it become more prevalent among teenagers, bullies gain another

The impact of bullying can be By Anika AkbarEditor-in-Chief of Operations

“I don’t want any-one feeling the way

that I do.” -Junior

“Fear is paralyz-ing, and you have to be the courage that they may be lacking

in that moment.” -Senior

“Bullying should not be taken as a social

norm nor should it be tolerated.”

-Senior

DEADLY platform to bring for their reign of terror. “What has to take place with social media and phones such,

parents have to be parents. We’re educators, so our job is

to make sure students are safe when [they’re] here

and give [them their] education,” McCalla

states, “We need for the par- ents to step up and see what their children are doing and then take care of the parental part of it which is the defi ning factor of it.”

It is easy to blame the school

when a tragedy oc-curs, yet there is only so

much the administration is allowed to do

without overstepping their boundaries. A student is the school’s responsibil-ity the moment they step on the bus in the morning to the second they walk into the door of their own house. In between these times, the school has full jurisdiction in regards to

handling the issue, whether it occurs online or in person. How-ever, the school does not have any jurisdiction to step in once the bullying occurs beyond these times. When such boundaries are encroached, it is then the parents’ or guardians’ job to be the parent

or guardian and take measures by calling the police so that their child is safe. The school, of course, will aid authorities with their investigation, but legitimately cannot do anything besides this until the bullying occurs on school grounds or until everyone

involved enters their homes. When the school does have the jurisdic-tion, though, McCalla says that the fi rst

attempt at bullying has severe consequences, but it is not until the fi rst few attempts at harassment where the perpetrator is paneled and sent to the GIVE Center. Still, it is up to the victim, the parents of the victims, or the friends of the victim to let the administration know what is occurring or else nothing can be done in in a timely man-

ner. Bystanders, afraid of having disciplin-ary actions against them for fi ghting back against the bully on behalf of the victim, have the same opportunity of telling the administration because when someone’s safety is being threatened by another stu-dent, all bets are off when it comes to fear of being labeled a snitch. According to a study done by Yale University, victims of bullying are 9% more likely to consider suicide, so bystanders could potentially save someone's life by reporting the en-counters of harassment. Currently, bullying accounts for gener-ally any form of harassment. Victims are sometimes condemned for their speaking out and are considered to be seeking at-tention. There are those who even reason life being much worse so the victim should accept their attacks as to prepare for life. McCalla explains that those indeed lying about their bullying encounter will be dealt

with and, “No one has the right to intimi-date anyone, no matter your race, creed, color, whatever. No one has the right to bully, harass, or intimidate anyone.” Truly, life is not much worse than an at-tack, and no one should believe otherwiseIt’s human to acknoledge the negative ratgher than the positive, but the negative comments do not necessarily translate to criticism. It is foolish to believe that every-one will get along, but one must remember that it is also foolish to spew hate at some-one else for power.

DECEMBER 2017 HUMAN INTEREST PANTERA PAGE 5

In September, the un-thinkable happened. Two major hurricanes, Irma and Maria, turned a place that’s known for its white sandy beaches and clear waters, into one of loss and devasta-tion. No power, running wa-ter, or hospitals, along with impassable roads and closed businesses are currently the everyday life for most residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). When two courageous former residents saw the affected families’ lives, they knew they had to make a difference. This was when Adopt a Family USVI was born. Adopt a Family USVI is an organization created by Pam Engle and Sabrina Jureidini, who met online in the aftermath of the hur-ricanes. Their mission is to send care packages through volunteers to residents of the USVI who lost every-

thing in the storm and need some hope for the future. Starting off with the small goal of sending around 20-30 packages, they have managed to expand their program all throughout the U.S., sending out almost 26,000 care packages. Engle, Jureidini, and their team of 14 staff members, all who have been affected by the hurricanes, send family wish lists to partici-pating donors on the main-land, who then collect the supplies and send off the packages to their destina-tion. “Everything we have been able to accomplish has been because of the support of our adopters, and it’s just been everybody getting the word out there, bringing awareness to the island and the need that’s down there,” Engle told ABC news, “We really think that they’re making a difference, and it’s that personal connec-tion that really makes this [organization] unique.” Many teams and schools

in Georgia have been teaming up and adopting families, like the Atlanta Phoenix Theatre on Ice. The team got assigned to four families, rang-ing from single elderly people to big families with small children. The wish lists included simple, but very needed products like toothpaste, canned goods, bug spray, and diapers. The team ended up send-ing a total of 20 boxes, and they couldn’t be happier to help. “I love how we are helping people in need, but I wish there was a way to make it a bit more personal,” says team coach Megan Berntson, who wants to do all she can for the families. All boxes are sent with an individualized code on the side to the Family Resource Center of St. Thomas. Workers from the center then personally deliver the packages to the families, who are stunned by the generosity.

Organization sends packages to the USVI Notes from CubaBy Carlos Alonso

Every country has different ways to celebrate holi-days. I am from Cuba, and I moved here almost two years ago. I’ve realized how different the celebrations are and the different holidays between Cuba and the U.S. Here in the U.S., there are some holidays and cele-brations that aren’t celebrated in Cuba. One big example is Halloween, which isn’t a tradition in Cuba even when some people celebrate it, doing some custom parties in their house. Kids don’t go out to trick-or-treat, and stores don’t have specials offers. There are not Hallow-een stores to buy the costumes, and most of people’s costumes are homemade. People put a lot of effort in their costumes to look different and get some interactions with the people in the street that don’t know what Halloween is. Some language schools with good rankings plan big parties for their students, parents, and friends of students. In the U.S., it is really different. Kids go out for candy and stores open a special zone for Halloween. There are some offers for the celebration, and there are some spe-cial stores that sell costumes for the occasion. In the U.S., there are some other celebrations and holidays that Cuba doesn’t have. One of them is New Years. The new year isn’t celebrated in Cuba. Cuba in-stead celebrates its Independence Day, celebrated from December the 31st to January the 3rd. Other celebra-tions that aren’t celebrate in Cuba are Thanksgiving and Cinco de Mayo. One holiday that isn’t celebrated in the U.S., is July the 26th. This is a historical celebration when no one goes to work for two days. This celebration is in honor of all the patriots that died in the assault of El Cuartel Moncada, which was the movement that took out of the presidency the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Another one of the most important Cuban celebra-tions is its culture day, which is celebrated on October 20th in commemoration of the fi rst time that the Nation-al Anthem was sung under the Spanish ruling.

Holidays in Cuba v.s. America

Boxes shipped through Adopt-A-Family. (Photo courtesy of Kelly McCarthy [CC BY-NC-ND-2.0])

By Marie StanfordNews Editor & Business Manager

Charities have always been seen as a way to give back to the community and to help the unfortunate. With the holiday season around the corner, people are much more inclined to donate to the needy; some charities report that around 30% of their dona-tions come in in the last three months of the year, with close to 20% of their donations in December alone. According to Giving USA, in 2016, American individuals, corporations, and estates donated an esti-mated $390.5 billion. This large sum of mon-ey surely can help improve the lives of thousands if not millions with donations towards causes such as dis-ease research and homeless shelters. Unfortunately, not all the money is being dedicated towards these

causes. While a charity obviously needs some of its funds for advertising, staffi ng, and other fees, some charities are merely fronts for fundraising companies. Project Cure has raised approximately $65 million every year in the past decade or so, but despite its good intentions, the charity is currently $3 million in debt to its advertisers. Little if any is being donated “to the cause” for charities with corrupt staff-ing. Some charities have CEOs and other adminis-tration that embezzle funds to fund luxuries or line their pocketbooks. Robert Davies, who led a defunct British charity for the homeless, was found to be committing fraud, stealing over $250 thousand which he used to pay for boats and lavish hotel stays. In light of natural di-

sasters such as Hurricane Harvey and Irma, scam artists use social media websites, crowdfunding campaigns, and other tactics to solicit contribu-tions. They exploit the suffering of those affect-ed by the disasters and prey off the generosity of the public. After Hurri-cane Katrina, thousands of fraudulent sites began to advertise and ask for donations. Some mirrored the websites of well-known charities such as the Red Cross in hopes of fooling the more gullible. As the holidays ap-proach, it is a good idea to do research and check credibility of charities that support causes one might be interested in. Generosity is something that the world could af-ford more of, but not if it’s lining the pockets of criminals.

By Karen YeEditor in Chief

Fraudulent charities abuse generosity

DECEMBER 2017 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY PANTERA PAGE 6

With its mission to “help bring creative projects to life,” the American corporation Kickstarter offers an outlet for artists, musicians, fashion designers, fi lm-makers, and innovators to transcend their ideas to the public to make their ideas a reality. The creative plat-form allows an enormous and vibrant community of developers to share their ideas as well as ask for pledg-es. In exchange, for their monetary contributions, the audiences have the opportunity to mold a universe and culture in which they have a say in the next invention, game, fi lm, etc. Since its launched on April 28, 2009, Kickstarter has had 14 million people back 131,170 projects, accumulating approximately $3.3 billion dol-lars. Currently, thousands of creative projects in the categories art, comics, crafts, dance, design, fashion, fi lm & video, food, games, journalism, music, photog-raphy, publishing, technology, and theater are coming to life, but some of my favorites in 2017 include but not are limited to: 1.Publishing: Dog Years - An Illustrated Book About Mental Health by Kaye Blegvad is an insightful book about depression. The analogy between owning a dog and living with depression honestly depicts what many depressed people feel but cannot explain. The story paired with its illustrations transcends the audi-ence into the life of someone who has survived mental health issues and explained how depression has im-pacted her relationships and self-identity. Through its authentic graphics and grasp of the connection between the mundane experience of owning a dog and learning to cope with depression, the book left me baffl ed. The issue of mental health has not been properly addressed in many communities because it’s often diffi cult to di-agnose and sometimes discarded as a millennial fraud. However, the book is an effective platform to remind people learning to train their “dogs” that they are not alone. 2.Technology: QUARTZ Bottle - Water Purifi cation in a Self-Cleaning Bottle by Justin Wang is a conve-nient, portable water purifi cation bottle. The water bottle uses UV-C LED lights to break up the DNA of harmful bacteria to eradicate 99.9999% of bio-contam-inants. QUARTZ operates at a touch of the fi nger on the cap to activate its 280 nm UV-C light that eliminate bacterial and viral contaminants. Automatically puri-fying six times a day, the insulated water bottle is the perfect substitute for existing reusable, germ-ridden bottles as well as deliver clean water to the billions of people without access to adequate sanitation or an improved drinking supply. Additionally, QUARTZ can help alleviate the plastic pollution dilemma and re-duce millions of tons of plastic that gets dumped in the ocean annually. It’s truly breathtaking to see how far science has evolved to encompass technology with the ability to transform lives. 3.Art: Glowing Galaxies - Glow-In-The-Dark Deep Space Artwork by Cathrin Machin are deep space artworks depicting hand-painted, glow-in-the-dark scenes of the universe. Additionally, the paintings uti-lize revolutionary 3D print technology to allow people to feel individual brush strokes. As someone who has always been intrigued by space and the mysteries of the cosmos, Machin’s canvas caught my attention. The artworks are unique with rich, vivid colors in the daytime and captivating glow-in-the-dark depictions at night. Machin’s enticingly gorgeous art has revived this childhood curiosity and inspired me to probe the realms space and divert my attention to a bigger picture.

The fi rst of the Seven Wonders of the World or the pyramids of Egypt, have long since been an icon for their beauty and mystery. In the biggest of the three pyramids, a large empty space was recently discovered. Greenfi eld-boyce, an excavator, explained that the space was, “above a tall, cathe-dral-like room known as the Grand Gallery, and this newly found space is com-parable in size— about 100 feet long.” Scientists from around the world have probed and explored the pyramid since the 19th century. They found this cavity using the newly developed tech-nology called the Muon Project. The cavity found in the pyramids could be

anything as far as scien-tists are concerned. The scientists in charge of the project are just glad the large void is there. One of the archaeologists explor-ing the pyramid through the muon project, Tayoubi, states, “I don't know what it could be. I think it's now time for Egyptologists and specialists in ancient Egypt architecture to collaborate with us, to provide us with some hypotheses.” This is a positive occurrence because it will open doors to show practices from the past. The Muon project is the means by which the void was found. Prior to this project people have used less safe methods to excavate and explore the pyramids. Tayoubi also claims, “People have been so reckless that they've even blasted through walls

due to lack of patience.” The Muon project is safer. Muons are negatively charged remains of cosmic rays that reach Earth. They shoot down from the sky at millionths of a second. Muons are so microscopic that they are harmless. Because they are so small, they are also very tough to detect. “Tayoubi explains that his team installed sheets of muon-detecting fi lm in a lower-level room of the pyramid known as the Queen's Chamber.” The end goal was to test if they could use muons to detect objects within the pyramid. To their surprise, while using the detection after it was confi rmed, the particle beams revealed the presence of another room. Scientists are excited to excavate this area and fi nd out what hidden treasures of history they discover.

InnovationsBy Thuy Pham

NASA discovers pyramidsBy Sarah KhorasiSports Editor

Kickstarter ignites new innovations

Facebook users may have noticed more frequent and more ‘targeted’ ads on their timelines. Since Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, Instagram users have begun to notice tar-geted ads as well. “All of a sudden, I see these ads on my phone based on things I’ve searched for before, and I thought, ‘Where the hell did this come from?’” Says Chris Magner, a con-troversial issues teacher. Most users of the internet, in fact, don’t like seeing these types of ads. Mashable, a tech news net-work, even did a tutorial entitled, “How to banish ads from your Instagram

timeline.”“If users agree to the terms of service, then nobody us-ing the website or app can really say anything about it. Nobody really reads the fi ne print.” said Magner. Another issue users have with social media net-works collecting personal data is that collectors can give users’ data to political parties or insurance com-panies. In certain cases, data carriers like Google can collect data used to incriminate users. A case is currently pending in the Supreme Court over the issue. Federal protection agencies like Homeland Security and the National Security Administration are looking to collect data

on citizens largely due to the events on Septem-ber 11, 2001. Under the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. (Provid-ing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act, the government is able to monitor communica-tions over the internet. However, browsing data is different, says Magner. “It’s not communication. If I were to read a book on the chemistry of bombs, should the government know about that?” Magner concludes, “Seeing my personal infor-mation put to use on ads makes me feel weird. It’s like we’re advancing into some digital age.” He says. “I feel like it’s subliminal reinforcement.”

Targeted ads spy on youth

By Candler ClarkOpinions Editor

Targeted ads become an issue of privacy. (Photo courtesy of Bernhard Bergann [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

DECEMBER 2017 HEALTH & WELLNESS PANTERA PAGE 7

In the coldest seasons of the year, people are unsurpris-ingly trying to keep warm by any means possible. Beyond the conventional tactics of layering up on clothes and turning up the thermostat, an

alternative solution to the blis-tering weather has recently popped up. Cuffi ng season, a relatively new phenomenon conceived by the millennial community, has been urging people to survive off the body heat of others in order to last through the cruel autumn and winter months.

Supposedly, during this special time of year, people who are single or generally re-pelled by the concept of com-mitment and monogamy fi nd themselves longing to be tied down or “cuffed” in a serious relationship. Those affected by Cuffi ng season become lonely and desperate for the

warmth of human company due to the cold weather and extended periods of indoor activity. Understandably, winter partners serve a key role in providing vital body heat until the springtime, at which point their use has expired and they are thusly abandoned. “Cuffi ng season is good because then you have a snuggle buddy, and you can stay warm. If you don’t have one, you’ll just get too cold and die,” junior Brett Garner elaborated. The sudden notoriety of the cuffi ng season has respectively begged ques-tions of the fad’s scientifi c legitimacy. While its be-lievers argue that the phe-nomenon derives from a biological instinct of humans to actively seek out mates in the winter, the consensus of most scientists and experts alike rests that winter cuffi ng is merely a fun urban legend with no evolutionary or bio-logical foundation of which to speak. Parkview student

Felicia Nguyen shared her own theory on the phenomenon. “[Cuffi ng season] is a domino effect—one person gets into a relationship, and then everyone thinks they need to get into a relationship because they feel alone.” As entrenched as it has become in the current culture, cuffi ng season has contrarily stalled at Parkview, with students having yet to get into the spirit of the season. “As a person who is emotionally un-available and too stressed over school, Cuffi ng season does not exist in my mind. Maybe in the future,” senior Qing Gao explained, voicing the thoughts of the school majority. Needless to say, cuffi ng season is still working in high gear, gradually integrating into the fabric of society. “Cuffi ng season is normal. It’s a way of saying it’s time to get a boy-friend/girlfriend like you’d normally do, except now the season is fun because millen-nials have to feel special,” says senior Emani Brown.

Cuffi ng season makes its way to Parkview students

By Jordan Frederick Assistant Editor

Women’s health care may be on the chopping block

An older woman partakes in the Women’s March in 2017 by holding up a sign stating that Trump should stay away from her healthcare. (Photo courtesy of Bonzon McGrue)

Many students diagnosed with Attention-defi cit/hyper-activity disorder describe how they cannot seem to concen-trate in the classroom setting or how they constantly get bored or lose interest in com-mon academic lessons. Many teenagers treat this condi-tion with a medication called Adderall. Adderall is defi ned as a “...combination drug con-taining four salts of the two enantiomers of amphetamine,

a central nervous system stimulant of the phenethyl-amine class. This disorder affects approximately 11% of all children ages 11 to 17 in the US (Center for Disease Control), but what are the side effects of the drug? There have been many sto-ries told of how Adderall may negatively affect the brains of developing children, but many studies have invalidated this stance. After speaking to a student that used to be prescribed Adderall it is clear that doc-

tors and families alike take exhaustive steps to make sure students are given the best possible care they can get. Ethan Clark a senior here at Parkview said that when he was on Adderall, “My doc-tors gradually increased my dosage so I would not feel the side effects.” In addition, Clark said that once he was on Adderall he didn't even notice how much more fo-cused, alert, and attentive he had become. It was only after he stopped taking the drug that he began to realize all of

the benefi ts of his prescrip-tion. Clark did not give a reason to why he stopped taking Adderall but he did say that he is now taking another medication to treat his condition. Conversely, many have begun to join parents against medicated children groups. These groups petition to stop prescribing medica-tion for kids either because of personal issues with the practice, or because of claims of adverse health effects. However, neither

of these platforms have been scientifi cally substantiated. In addition, many of these parents believe in the adverse effects of vaccinating their children leading to outbreaks of ar-chaic and completely treatable diseases. Nevertheless, the dichoto-my of opinions surrounding the topic of medicating children and teens is rife with conten-tion. Whether to medicate or not remains a very personal, and very intimate decision that parents, children, and doctors have to make together.

Adderall takes its toll on students’ mental healthBy Leon ChristianBackpage Editor

By Jenny NguyenCopy Editor

As winter nears, two Parkview students partake in cuffi ng season to give each other warmth and companionship. (Photo by Thuy Pham)

According to CNN, there is a proposed bill to allow employers to have more leeway to withhold birth

control coverage on religious grounds. This bill would af-fect the way that women get birth control. Birth control is a standard part of women's daily lives. Even though it

prevents pregnancy, it also controls irregular periods, acne, and cramps. If women did not want to take the pill every day, they could also take birth control in different

forms such as an IUD, the Evra patch, an implant and a Depo shot. Woman take birth con-trol for irregular periods or for controlling period pains. “I’m taking birth control as pain control to manage my period. I used to have to miss school once a month and be in so much pain that I wouldn’t be able to leave the house but now I can do normal stuff and live my best life. It didn’t solve all the problems but it’s a lot better now that I’m taking birth control,” an anony-mous source says. Many blame Trump for making women’s healthcare harder to afford. “At the moment, we are still pro-vided free birth control on insurance, but I think every woman should have a right to contraception. Trump

should not have the right to choose how a woman uses her body or treats it,” eleventh grader Mary Papettii says. Women’s healthcare is not limited to birth control. Things like the luxury tax on feminine products and the ability to have abortions. When women go to purchase feminine products, there is a 10% tax on the product. Luxury taxes are also put on the sport team’s payroll to total it. MAny women believe that the government shouldn’t place luxury taxes on feminine products because women can’t help when their period comes. “Us women already have to pay for feminine products, which sucks because our menstrual cycle is natural and something we can’t help. So luxury taxes should be low-ered,” says eleventh grader Karizma Love.

DECEMBER 2017 COMMUNITY PANTERA PAGE 8

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DECEMBER 2017 FEATURE PROFILES PANTERA PAGE 9

Students learn about space from NASA astronaut

Senior Grace Buckley clearly remembers her second grade dreams of being an astronaut. This dream is not uncommon among young children who are inspired by the prestige of holding such a title. For most, being an astronaut remains nothing more than a childhood dream, but for

Victor Glover, astronaut is his offi cial title. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid, but the dream has kind of grown up with me,” Glover explained. Glover visited Parkview on November 3 to speak to the astron-omy, ROTC, wrestling, lacrosse, and football team students. Through sharing his unique expe-

riences and knowledge, Glover gave an inspiring presentation. The once in a lifetime op-portunity became accessible to Parkview students because of MJROTC teacher David “Gunny” Erwin. Gunny was Glover’s class drill instructor during offi cer candidate train-ing, and the two have kept in touch ever since. “I wasn’t sur-prised at all when I found out he had become an astronaut. I didn’t know about his aspira-tions to be an astronaut, but he was an outstanding candidate,” Gunny explained, “I feel like a really proud father.” Glover spoke a lot about being successful and how to be successful. Glover’s presen-tation centered around three main components that he be-lieves has lead him to be suc-cessful. Through his interactive engagement of the audience, Glover had the entire audience chanting his keys to success: be gritty, be a life long learner,

and be a good person. Glover was shy to men-tion the obstacles he had overcome to get to the posi-tion he is in today, but later, in a personal interview, he went on to elaborate that he was the fi rst person in his family to go to college. Growing up, he didn’t think that being an engineer was a possibility, much less becoming an astronaut. Glover began his jour-ney to becoming an astro-naut by fi rst joining the marines where he learned to fl y aircrafts. This ex-perience allowed him the opportunity to become an engineer. “I got to see some astronauts come speak to us at a test piloting conference and that was when I profes-sionally thought all right, you know what, however many eggs I’ve got I’m go-ing to put them in that bas-ket and see what happens,”

Glover explained of his decision to pursue a career as an astronaut, which he was able to accomplish after months of rigorous training which included learning the Russian language. Glover’s unique expe-riences have taught him some valuable lessons that he communicated to the students. He adamantly expressed the importance of working with a team by explaining the impor-tance of good teamwork among astronauts and the other workers at NASA, and relayed this message to our students as well as the importance of appreciating our teachers and staff call-ing them student’s “personal board of directors.” Through the guidance of Gunny, Glover has been able to achieve a status that is only currently bestowed upon 44 Americans.

By Catie GeltingFeatures Editor

Students perform with The Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra

Parkview’s fine arts program has many talented young individuals, whom individuals audition for the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. The orchestra strives for giving a profes-sional experience to the members and strives for

competition among the members. The auditions take place in January, and involve Robert Spano the music director of ASYO. This year, three Parkview students, Hans Kang, Will Clark, and Ethan Clark made it into ASYO. These students worked

hard to prepare for this audition. Ethan Clark, principal bassoon of the Wind Ensemble success-fully auditioned into ASYO. He has been working hard on his technical skills in preparation for his audition. “I’ve been tak-ing private lessons since sixth grade. In my private lessons, my instructor and I worked on tech-nical studies to help improve my

Victor Glover has endured years of training to obtain his dream job. (Photo courtesy of Robert Markowitz)

Ethan Clark performs with ASYO at an overture concert. (Photo courtesy of Jenn Kim)

Some may think, “Why do people decide to be-come bus drivers?” “My kids were going to school, and I thought I could use the extra money.” Mrs. McGarr chuckled. “I do it because I love it.” Every day, drivers dili-gently wake up at the crack of dawn to transport three sets of about 60 children

to school, for about four and a half hours total. Even though this job may seem easy to some, bus drivers oft en have quite the task to accom-plish. Having to moni-tor the children while navigating roads can prove to be diffi cult. Ac-cording to the Highway Traffi c Safety Adminis-tration, there were 1,353 fatal school bus crashes

Bus driver reveals the motive behind her job choiceBy Candler ClarkOpinions Editor

between 2003 and 2012. Th is can oft en be due to distraction. “I’m not scared. I have some loud high school kids, but I manage to focus on the road,” said McGarr. Bus drivers do their best ev-ery day to safely transport their riders from home to school, and vice versa. “I treat my riders the same way I would treat my own kids, and some of my riders are kind of like my second family.”

“I love my bus driver,” says sophomore Zoe Flores, “She talks to me everyday

when I get on the bus, and occasionally will tell me jokes.”

rhythm. With all of this hard work, I got into ASYO at the end of my sophomore year,” explains Clark. In ASYO, members meet every Saturday for over three hours. In rehearsals, members go through and practice each of their pieces, to make sure that the pieces won’t fall apart at a concert. In ASYO, members play a variety of music, from clas-sical to contemporary. “In ASYO we play a range of stylistic pieces. Right now, we are playing “Vicious Circles” which is around ten minutes long, “William Tell Overture”, which is fifteen minutes long, and “Sibel-ius Symphony 1”, which is our longest piece, and lasts forty minutes long.” Clark describes. Hans Kang, another

member of ASYO has also been taking private les-sons since sixth grade. He describes the lessons as interesting and very helpful in developing his musical skills. “First my teacher and I go over basic fundamentals on playing the instrument such as scales. Then we go over solos, orchestral ex-cerpts, and etudes. We also play duets together to prac-tice playing with someone else,” Hans describes. Participants of ASYO hope to take away many things from their experience in ASYO. ASYO provides them orchestral playing ex-perience, a challenge against other people with their same skill level or higher, and the opportunity to meet new people through sharing the same passion for music.

By Jordan Frederick Assistant Editor

DECEMBER 2017 STAFF PAGE PANTERA PAGE 10

OTHER VOICES STAFF EDITORIALHealth takes a backseat to academics

PATRONSThe Pantera staff greatly appreciates the generous donations made by the following

patrons to help support and make publishing our newspaper possible:

2017-2018 Pantera StaffEditors-in-Chief Karen Ye Thuy PhamAnika Akbar Peter Fedyk

Managing EditorJordan Frederick

News Editor/Business ManagerMarie StanfordFeature EditorCatie Gelting

Copy EditorJenny Nguyen

Online EditorHannah Campbell

Opinions Editor

Sports EditorCandler Clark

Sarah Khorasi

Entertainment Editor

Distribution ManagerKalee Wiley

Josh Hurst

Staff PhotographerJennaya Montoya Carlos AlonsoMadison Davis

Staff WritersMuskan Babwani Leon Christian Emily Ogbodoyy gg

Advisor - Heidi Campbell

The Pantera Editorial Policy

Content of The Pantera represents only the views of the student staff and guest writers, not school offi cials. The Pantera is a student-produced newspaper, published with the intent to inform, entertain, and give voice to the Parkview High School community, as well as to educate student journalists. Each issue is an open public forum for student expression under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Publication of advertisements does not indicate an endorsement by GHSA or by The Pantera staff. All advertising rates are available upon request from any Pantera staff member or advisor. The Pantera editorial board reserves the right to reject any ad.

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PATRON INFO

To be a patron, please fi ll out the contract on our website (https://phspantera.com) and make a check out to Parkview High School.

Q: What are the Pantera Editors’s thoughts on all the school clubs seemingly valuing leadership above all other traits, such as generosity and honesty?

Letter to the Pantera Editors

Karen: Many of Parkview’s clubs focus on what qualities make a leader and be-coming a leader. Even the school heavily invests in having its students become leaders. Leadership is no doubt a valuable trait, and it’s hardly the worst trait clubs could empha-size. With this in mind, I feel that the overemphasis of “being a leader” is rather single-minded and a gross simplifi cation. It is true that leaders are pivotal to a group. Without guidance, nothing would get done. What seems to go ignored, however, is that a group needs followers in order for there to be leaders. There is a reason why the idiom “too many cooks in a kitchen” ex-ists. If every single person is strongly representing his or her own ideas, it might be a struggle to come to a consensus. Not everyone can be a leader. Not everyone should be a leader. If everyone was a CEO, who would be making the products? There is no shame in not being a leader, and the growing sentiment of “you must be a leader” is a disservice to our future generation.

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High school requires a balance of workload, extracurricular activities, and a social life all leading up to a single moment of either “Congratulations” or “We are sorry to in-form you...” from college admission letters. How-ever, with the dire need of achieving the former of the two, sacrifices to a student’s mental, emo-tional, and physical health are made simply to gain the acceptance that defines four years of suffering. To many, but not all, the years of middle school required little to no effort to achieve the grades and the time to tend to needs

in health. The first day of freshman year, however, the naïvete is apparent when one does not perform as high in their classes as they initially expected. Some take this as an opportunity to learn to do better and achieve that desired 4.0 GPA before the semester is over, whereas others brush it off and hope for the best on the next test, only to find they may perform worse. When the necessary actions becomes apparent, however, students take the challenge by abandoning a few hours of sleep. Albeit not completely, sleep is the first aspect of a stu-dent’s health that they give

up on—until fours years begin flying by and sleep has become something of a distant memory as they are found idle upon a mess of papers at 5 a.m., in furious attempts to complete their AP Government research essay to subsequently decipher literature dating back to the fourteenth cen-tury. The priority of rigor clouds judgement, and self deprecation from not understanding the content of five AP courses ensues, ensuring a poor mental health to forever endure. Sleep only ever be-comes for the week during school breaks, but even then there is the neces-

sity of studying for finals, preparing for AP exams, or even catching up on Stranger Things. From all of this, especially during weeks out of school, where does exercise come in? Emotional relief? Atten-tion to mental health? Our bodies are constantly being put up to the challenge of Social Darwinism and subsequently deteriorat-ing before they can fully develop. Although, not all stu-dents are the same. Where it may take a student A a mere hour to study for a test, it might take student B five hours to achieve the same grade; and not

because they cannot priori-tize, but because everyone learns content differently. Four years of high school require a choice between academics or health. Health is forever, but truth be told, so is quality education. When it is up to a fourteen year old to decide, however, how will they know what is right when they cannot even distinguish between “its” or “it’s?” The solution is so narrow, so impercep-tible, that it might as well be non-existent. So why does a student have to die with their diploma before they can even enter the workforce?

DECEMBER 2017 PHS EDITORIALS PANTERA PAGE 11

Food in the classroom: a terrible crime or a harmless act?

Flawed tardy system targets freshman and leaves no room for error

There are many factors that keep a school running, and one of the most impor-tant aspects is not having hungry students prowling the halls. Rules regarding food in the classroom are more like a guidelines. It’s up to the teacher and their classroom rules. I believe teachers should allow food in class-rooms; students focus better when they are not hungry. Coach Bevins, US His-tory teacher and a football coach, believed that stu-dents should be able to eat in classrooms, but with a twist. When asked how he

controls the food in his room, he simply stated, “The way that kids eat in my classroom is based on a tax system. This reduces the amount of food that is eaten in my room because they know that if they bring a lot of food into my room and eat it, I will have my fair share. Every-one pays taxes.” Bevins’s continued, stating, “So basically it’s a way to use real world ideas in the classroom but with food. I mean every student wants to eat in class, so the tax system is a way for them to do that still works within the framework of a school setting.”

With this system, stu-dents gain a better under-standing of how the real world works and gives teachers an excuse to have a quick snack. Bevins’s room is very controlled in the fact that all food being eaten is be-ing watched. Coach Bev-in’s system is a win-win for both parties. Bevins also believes that if every teacher had this type of rule embedded in their class, it could teach their students a valuable lesson. Not only about a stable rule in a classroom but also it teaches the kids the important aspects of life that are not taught in academics.

Throughout our school years, punctuality has al-ways been taught as impor-tant. Yet how can students be capable of arriving to school on time when they are inter-rupted by traffi c and car accidents? Although there are students who do not have a reasonable excuse to being late, there are students who are late not on their actions. In the end, hard-working students are labeled with tardies in which they could not control. The school knows that not everyone can be on time, so there are exceptions to being late. For a student to have excused tardies, their reasons must fall under one of the categories: illness, military, or a court appoint-ment.

However, many stu-dents have their own excuses such as over-sleeping or their car is-sues that do not meet the guidelines. Of all the students at school, freshmen are the ones that receive the most tardies. Maureen Lawson, a clerk in the Attendance Offi ce, said that fresh-men are commonly late because “...freshmen are new to the system, and they don’t know where to go.” Some argue the system is fl awed because it con-tradicts itself. If a student is to be punished for missing the bell by a precious few seconds, it doesn’t make sense why he or she would be punished in a way that he or she would have to spend several minutes of class

time walking to the nearest offi ce to get a slip of paper. Additionally, traffi c causes many students to arrive late mostly because traffi c can happen any time. Meanwhile, there are still diligent students that arrive promptly on time. Junior Ryan Allen stated, “[Students] should not blame it on traffi c, get here earlier. There is no excuse.” Senior Neivy Martinez added to Allen’s statement, stating, “Honestly I believe that the policies we have today are perfectly fi ne.” However, students have been receiving detention for being late numerous times to school. Many students such as senior Tanees Shahid believe that there should be more exceptions to a limit. While arriving to school, students will meet many delays on the road.

On the fl ip side, Alge-bra teacher Drew Spires believes that students should be able to eat any-where in school, but not in his room. “I have three students who would come in each class and just leave all their trash all over the room. It’s mainly the trash and the cockroaches and crumbs everywhere,” he commented. “The teacher before me allows her stu-dents to eat in the class-room, and when I come in after her it smells like a foot in here.” Drew Spires defended his stance on the issue, “The reason I’m also very strict about my rule is

because since I’m a math teacher, the curriculum is hard. All the students must put 100% focus on the mat-ter. Just like cell phones, food is a distraction from school.” Both teachers are basi-cally saying that students should be able to eat in classrooms as long as they are responsible and can clean up their trash. If everyone followed this then there would be no problem. Kids just need to see the importance of a clean learning environment, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a snack with it. If specifi c students make a mess, they should lose the privilege individually.

Humans are not perfect. This is an indisputable part of life. Humans can be, and are often, wrong. This is an everyday occurrence, and most of the time it doesn’t matter. Sure it may matter if you work at a nuclear power plant or fl y an airplane, but otherwise, it’s not a huge deal. It can usually be rem-edied by admitting one’s wrongs and moving on. Sometimes there’s a dis-agreement on what’s wrong

and what’s right. It’s always good to be respect-ful of other people’s ideas, and backup up one’s own points with facts. Teachers are also hu-man, which means that they can make mistakes and be wrong. Some teachers, however, seem to forget this. They are convinced they are 100% accurate in their respectful fi elds. To be fair, they have spent years studying it. However, sometimes the system that taught them

can be fallible. Mistakes are made. Dome teachers acknowledge this and will admit they’re wrong. Oth-ers, however, will take it as a personal offense that a mere student dared to chal-lenge them. As a general rule, the severity of the problem is almost always directly correlated the objectivity of the subject. For those who teach math, which is very simple right or wrong, they will generally acknowledge when they make a mistake,

with some exceptions. When you get to the other end of the scale, literary analysis, which is often subject to debate and personal interpretation, the teachers tend to get very defensive. They act as if their interpretations are facts, and anyone who disagrees with them either don’t understand the book, or are idiots. It’s one thing to assert that you are right when discussing something like parabolas, or basic phys-ics. However, the more

complex the subject, the less black and white it gets, and more disagreement and controversy appear. Teachers are absolutely more qualifi ed in their fi eld than their students. This doesn’t mean that the stu-dents are never right, and some things are not inher-ently able to be black and white, or right or wrong. There can be debate without it being a personal insult. Until some teachers learn some humility, they are a drain on academic growth.

Obstinate teachers are a barrier to academic growthBy Josh Hurst Staff Writer

By Hannah Campbell Online Editor

By Kalee Wiley Entertainment Editor

The only reasonable so-lution is to wake up earlier to get ahead start to avoid being tardy, though it’s only a workaround at best. No one can foresee car accidents blocking up roads, and as unfortunate as it may be, they are not terribly uncommon. Not only do students have to sit in traffi c, or

worse, wait for the police and sort things out if they are personally involved in the accident, they get slapped with a tardy the moment they walk into class. As it stands now, the exceptions for attendance are the same as always, and will not change for anyone anytime soon.

“...Even when I got every single answer right on that precalculus quiz, I just didn’t solve it like how she wanted to... so I got a 64.”

Dra

wn

by K

aren

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Slice of Life“I thought math was about bein

g

able to do things diff erently and

still get the right answer, but...”

Germany considers Christmas (or Weih-nachten) one of the more major holidays. lasts from the 24th to the 26th. During this time, cookies are baked and gingerbread houses are decorated. Christmas markets are also set up, off ering warm drinks and small gifts. Christmas trees and songs are also an important part of the holiday. If many of these traditions look familiar, it is because most American Christmas tradi-tions actually originate from Germany! (Source: The German Way)

Germany

The Swedish Gävle Goat is a large straw statue that has been built for Christmas since 1966. Standing at 13 meters tall, it is placed in the Gävle Castle Square for the Advent. This tradition has also given rise to the annual tradition of people attempting to burn down the straw goat. Despite all the eff orts of the local authorities to prevent arson to the goat, it’s been damaged or burned down 36 times. (Source: Momondo)

Sweden

Christmas is not incredibly popular or widely celebrated in Japan, but the people do celebrate in their own unique way: a dedicated feast of Kentucky Fried Chicken. People must order special Kentucky Christmas dinner packages weeks in advance or wait in lines for hours. The package itself ranges from a box of chicken at ¥3200 ($33) to premium roasted chicken at ¥5800 ($51). (Source: BBC)

Japan

The contents in the ¥3880 (

$34) Japanese Christmas KF

C Party Barrel

include eight pieces of chicke

n, “Christmas” salad, and d

essert.

GGGnnaaanan cclalaalaststtttiit mmmehohoouuuincredibly popular

Nigeria celebrates Christmas as a family event. The event is typically more focused on the religious aspects, and families usually attend church. Turkey is a staple of a Nigerian Christ-mas dinner, although beef, goat, and lamb are also widely eaten. Yams, salad, and jollof rice are also very common. (Source: WhyChristmas)

Nigeria

How to say “Merry Christmas” in many languages!Disclaimer: Some discretion used for romanization.

Some translations may be inaccurate.Arabic: Eid Milad Majid (ديجم داليم ديع)

Chinese (Mandarin): Shèngdàn jié kuàilè (圣诞节快乐)

Danish: Glædelig JulFinnish: Hyvää joulua French: Joyeux NoëlGerman: Frohe WeihnachtenGreek: Kala Christouyenna (Καλά Χριστούγεννα)

Gujarati: Khushi NatalIndonesian: Selamat NatalItalian: Buon NataleJapanese: Meri Kurisumasu (めりーくりすます)

Korean: seongtanjeol jal bonaeyo (성탄절 잘 보내요)

Malay/Bahasa: Selamat Hari NatalNavajo: Nizhonigo KeshmishPortuguese: Feliz NatalRussian: C rozhdestvom (C рождеством)

Spanish: Feliz NavidadSwedish: God JulTagalog: Maligayang PaskoVietnamese: Chuć Mưǹg Giańg SinhYoruba (Nigeria, Benin): E ku odun, e ku iye’dun

Yupik: Alussistuakeggtaarmek (Source: WhyChristmas)

잘 보내요)

as))))))Average

Christmas expe

nditure on gifts

:

$906Average

amount spent

on Christmas ca

rds:

$29.14

Average numbe

r of holiday gift

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14.7Percent

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fts online:

55%Number

of housefi res ca

used by Christm

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Christmas Statistics

Science teacher Lindsey

Turner’s family lights up th

eir

entire neighborhood with a

n

incredible visual Christmas

light display.

Not only does the display

feature a 40-minute long

show with over 150 thousa

nd

lights, but it also won the fi

rst

season of ABC’s Great Chri

st-

mas Light Fight. It is the m

ost

extensive and intricate Chri

st-

mas light displays in Atlanta

.

(Source: Dekalb Neighbor)

“A vacation to someplace hot!”- Donna Bunson, faculty member“Rest. Relaxation. Peace. Quiet.” - Samela Reid, faculty member

“Graduation.”- Samantha Hatton-Lee, senior“A chance to relive life.”- Jimmy Nguyen, senior

“Sleep.”- Diane Benjamin, faculty member

What do you want for Christmas?“A bumper that isn’t falling off .”- Alexandra Scott, faculty member

“A Supreme jacket.” - Toona Emek, freshman

“Hard-boiled eggs.”- Jon Aldrich, faculty member“Shoes.”- Basu Kanaiya, freshman

“A chocolate orange.”- Maria Kotter, freshman

rist

“A vvaca at-- DoDoDonnnn a

DECEMBER 2017 GLOBAL EDITORIALS PANTERA PAGE 14

People on smartphones rob themselves of experienceBy Peter FedykEditor in Chief of Content

Music has been a corner-stone of human culture since the beginning. It’s an experi-ence cultures everywhere use to unite despite the many differences of those who share the music. From tribal drums and cultural dances to the modern state, music is a form of entertainment; artists release music and the masses use it to soften the blows of life. Its relieving nature has made concerts a common event for fans of specifi c artists to attend. This isn’t a new concept, but the intro-

duction of smartphones and a society geared toward sharing everything via social media has shaken up the current concert-sphere. Almost any show, in any genre of music, is littered with the uplifted luminescent screens of smartphones: the crowd sharing their attendance with their followers. This sea of recordings is benefi cial only to the disconnection of the audience from the almost omniscient aura of music that swallows the venue. Showing off has become more important than the show itself, and that’s an issue. Some claim this in-cessant need to share is simply

saving the videos to watch at a later date, but this is worse. Why prolong a missed memory instead of actually experiencing it in its encapsulating brevity, the very thing that makes it special. Not only does this rob oneself of an event, but also can stain an otherwise perfect night for other audience members. Imag-ine paying over a hundred dollars to see a world class act only to behold the live recordings teenagers save to their camera roll only to be deleted when their storage gets full. As cruel

as that can seem, it’s a real-ity that has been brought on by the technological age. Smartphones have their place, but technology is not one of them. In any case, these words can’t change anything. The only people who can change this are the artists themselves. Venues banning phones would only hurt sales and attendees would most likely just refrain from attending. However, they would and have listened to artists. Infamous hip-hop artist, Kanye West, and legendary guitarist, Jack White, have both started to

ask audiences to put up their phones and just enjoy the music. “We tried that the last tour. When we started, I asked if we could go out and talk to the crowd and say, ‘would you please just not take your phones out and enjoy this with our eyes and ears,’” stated Jack White when asked about the topic by Conan in 2014. “We tried it and people loved it. They applauded it when we asked them for that.” While this isn’t conclusive proof that things are improving, it’s a start. Eventually, people will be caught in the moment instead of a video of the mo-ment.

Students communicate their pessimism through humor By Karen YeEditor in Chief

“I want to kill myself,” a student comments to a friend before taking a test, “I’m just going to fail anyway; there’s no point in trying anymore.” Some students might murmur in agreement or even make jokes of their own in a similar fashion. To onlookers this spectacle might all sound extremely concerning, but most students

take these offhand remarks as relatable jokes or as melodra-matic hyperboles. “[Saying] ‘I want to die’, while serious in the past, has become a euphemism for many students trying to express their exhaustion,” senior Steven Nguyen explained. Is this phenomenon of pes-simism really as harmless as students say it is? While many would argue otherwise, I person-ally don’t see too much harm in it. At worst it makes people mildly uncomfortable, but

it’s nothing too extreme. Whether or not they suffer from depression, it’s just a way for students to vent what they feel. “Since most people don’t actually have to deal with stuff like suicide, it’s easy to joke about it and use it to laugh off their actual problems,” senior David Xu said. These depressing, pes-simistic phrases might be indicative of something deeper, however. Although

it might not be the case for a majority of students, some could be using the humor as a way to cry out subtly, leaving peers none the wiser, as it is impossible to discern whether the comment was made in jest or otherwise. Some blame social media for validating depressive thoughts and suicidal ide-ation. On social media such as Tumblr, the predomi-nantly anonymous blog-ging allows for users to fi nd

support and become connected with other people like them. While this can become a useful coping mechanism, opponents claim that people are joining in on “trendy, faux depression” only to fi t in. Despite the concerning premise of “I want to die” and its associated phrases, it’s a way for students with mental illnesses to communicate their frustrations through humor, and those without to get in on the joke as well.

Racial profi ling is just a means to discriminate By Sarah KhorasiSports Editor

In today’s society, a con-cept known as racial profi l-ing has become a means for people to judge others based on inaccurate generaliza-tions. Webster’s Dictionary defi nes racial profi ling as the practice of classifying individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individ-ual’s race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.” Racial profi ling is in other words a form of discrimination. Racial profi ling is ever present in our society around us. Many people have expe-rienced this social injustice in many ways. Enforcement offi cials have been reported to be more wary or cautious around people of color. This has even gone as far as busi-ness owners choosing not to hire certain people because of their race. Racial profi ling also comes with personal ex-periences. I have had one such personal experience. When my family was on our way to the airport, we had to go through customs and security check. Because my mom was dressed in

traditional Indian clothing we got stopped for an extra random security check. Now if this had only happened once, there would not be a problem. However, this has happened almost every single time we fl y out of the country. My family even choses to leave an hour early to simple make the fl ight due to the long security check we know we will have to go through. That is the problem, no one should have to go through this because of a few bad encounters with Muslims. Before judging someone based off of their physical characteristics, it is important to actually speak to and get to know them. People are all not the same and should not be held accountable for something someone else has done. People should be held accountable for their own actions, regardless of their background or culture. Racial profi ling is wrong and an unfair way to judge some-one. Each person has their own unique aspects and qualities and it’s important to acknowl-edge this before making a rash judgement or decision about a person based off of their own generalizations, opinions, or misconceptions of a certain group.

Memes refl ect popular culture as the cornerstone of our generationBy Candler ClarkOpinions Editor

If you observe some-one born after 1990, chances are, at some point, they’ll be snickering to themselves while on some social media platform. In the internet age, every-one is connected, and the only universal language is humor. For this reason, humor, expressed through memes, has become insanely popularized between people who are familiar with the internet (young people). A ‘meme’ is simply defi ned as an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be con-sidered to be passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means, especially imitation. Argu-able, the fi rst meme could have been anything rang-ing from fi re to dancing to spoken language. However, the fi rst meme, in the sense of it being a joke, occurred during World War II. Named Kilroy, it was the fi rst joke to circle the globe. By the end of the

6 years the war took place, “Kilroy was here” was written on walls across the globe, similar to how Pepe the Frog was posted across message boards worldwide by the end of 2015, ap-proximately a year after its popularization. The fi rst internet meme was arguably brought with the start of YouTube. A quick search for “All your base are belong to us” yields hours upon hours of footage, with millions of views. Its origin traces back to a poorly translated Japanese video game from the late eighties: Zero Wing. “All your base are belong to us” was among hundreds of badly trans-lated lines, but “All your base” stuck. After video culture, memes started to spread to pictures, with a setup line on top, and then the punch-line on the bottom, all in the font Impact. Bad Luck Brian and Scumbag Steve were huge parts of internet meme culture in the late 2000s, due in part to the viral posting on 4chan and reddit imageboards, in-spired by earlier Japanese

message boards. The social media explo-sion led to the evolution of jokes into unaccountably many areas, varying from normal humor, described by jokes, puns, or relatable yet humorous images, to totally absurdist memes, character-ized by completely nonsen-sical and absurdist humor, for example, “mayonnaise and spaghetti hot pockets”. Whether this surreal humor is a positive evolution in com-edy is up to the onlooker, but corners of the internet con-tinue to look at minute things, such as the capital letter “H” and editing photographs as humor. Now that essentially every teen has a social media ac-count, everybody has access to memes. Memes can be found on almost anyone’s feed, and this saturation has lead to a widespread under-standing that humor is uni-versally sought after in the teen-twenties age group.This market for humor has lead to a constant infl ux of product from creators, with fresh, shareable content ready every day, keeping every-one with their face in their screens, refreshing for ages.

DECEMBER 2017 OPPOSING SIDES PANTERA PAGE 15

Around this time of year, there’s some controversy over whether “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” should be used. The fi rst and foremost state-ment I should make is that I fi nd that the very premise of the debate is ridiculous. Saying one thing or the other shouldn’t really matter—they both func-tion as cheery greetings or well wishes. Neither of them have any sort of ill intent in them and are essentially synony-mous.

Those who argue for “Happy Holidays” claim it’s more inclusive and less Christian-focused than “Merry Christ-mas”. It’s true that the holiday season isn’t just Christmas; many cultures celebrate with holidays such as Kwanzaa, the West African tra