By Michael O’Reily-Birtcher

I’m Michael O’Reily-Birtcher and this is my story. When I was four-years-old I was sent into foster care because my mother was not only a drug addict, but also an alcoholic and found unable to support a child by the state of Oregon. I stayed in foster care until I was six-years-old. By the time I was eight-years-old I wasn’t sure what to think anymore, until I heard that Thomas O’Reilly and Harold Birtcher, my current parents, wanted to adopt me the first time they saw my picture. I wasn’t sure what to think about this because by this time I had heard kids talking about “gay people” and how they were not like everyone else.

The adoption process could not be done through Ohio, so they did the adoption through Oregon where it was legal for two males to be listed as my parents. This process took from March 2002 to May 2005, because I also had to get my name changed from Bubba Miles to Michael O’Reilly-Birtcher. Even after everything was finalized, we still had to drive from Columbus, Ohio to Dayton, Ohio every two weeks to see how everything was going and to ensure that Thomas and Harold were suitable parents. As my story of how I was legally adopted by two gay men got out, the media decided that it needed to be covered and sent a lot of different reporters to our house to interview my parents and I. I would often be pulled out of class at school to be asked by the principal how things were going, if there were any problems, however all of my friends supported me 100 percent.

Today at UAHS things are starting to cool down and there has been a lot of support from my teachers and staff at the high school. During middle school there were a few incidents with people saying that because my parents were gay I was gay, and that students were saying it’s not right, and God hates who we are. However, I soon found out why other kids started saying all those mean things, and that it wasn’t because they hated who my parents were, it was more that they didn’t know how else to react because it’s something different and something new, which they aren’t used to. That goes for everything new, you instinctively use caution around it until you know what it is. In this case people didn’t want to find out more about gay people because in their minds they have already deemed it as wrong. Overall I’m very happy with how my life has tuned out, and I’m honored to have two dads, because it feels like I get to start something new and unique.

In September 2010, five homosexual teens committed suicide within just three weeks, according to an Oct. 3, 2010 New York Times article by Jessie McKinley. Among these deaths included Tyler Clementi, a former freshman at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey who jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, 2010. His suicide was in response to a viral upload of a video of him having sex with another man in his dorm room.

It is devastating stories like Clementi’s that brought the problem of harrassment at school to the forefront of American culture. Suicide prevention has been further promoted by featuring stories on the nightly news, inviting speakers to come in and speak at schools, and even creating national campaigns.

One campaign in particular is the “It Gets Better Project,” which was created by Dan Savage. Savage said he first started his campaign because he was saddened by the frequent stories of gay teens committing suicide after being taunted in school and helplessly wishing he could have told these kids that he, a successful gay man, was living proof that it does get better, according to an interview with MTV News on Sept. 30, 2010. Savage and his partner, Terry Miller later posted a video on Youtube, informing young LGBT teens who struggled with harrassment and coming to terms with their sexuality their own story of hope.

This was the first video of many, which later caught the eyes of celebrities and was popularized by contributors ranging from Perez Hilton to President Obama. This inspired both gay and straight teens as well as adults to share their own stories of how “It Gets Better,” and creating a place where thousands of people in the LGBT community could post their videos of hope to help struggling teens.

Along with a published book of many LGBT’s inspiring stories, Savage created a benefactor site called “The Trevor Project” which is a 24/7 hotline to help struggling members of the LGBT community. According to their website, “The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youth.”

For immediate assistance in dealing with bullying and questioning sexuality, call the toll-free Trevor hotline: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386).

To share inspiring stories with other LGBT members, please visit the It Gets Better Website: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

With more teens coming out during high school, three UAHS students describe their experiences and acceptance within the UA community

By Kate Magill, ‘13 and Abby Godard, ‘13

“Because I’m gay!”

The words fly out of Will Todd’s mouth before he can stop them. They are the words he’s been waiting to say to his mother, and now they are finally out in the open. Storming out of the room, Will takes a walk to clear his head and cool off from the heated fight that led to his outburst.

As a sophomore, Will had already come out to other people in his life, including close friends, but up until now he had not felt ready to share the truth with his parents. But as he walks back into the room to face his mother, Will knows he has made the right decision. His mother welcomes this revelation with open arms.

“When I got home she said,  ‘You could have always told me that. I don’t care [that you’re gay],’” Will said.

As a high school student who has experienced coming out, Will understands the mixed emotions that can come with opening up to others, something that can often be nerve-wracking as students grow up and begin to discover who they are.

Facing The Truth

Unlike their heterosexual classmates, gay students often undergo a more complicated process of embracing their sexual identities. However, more and more students are coming out during their high school years, and many are finding the experience to be much more positive, according to the Feb. 7, 2007 article “Gay teens coming out earlier to peers and family,” by Marilyn Elias of USA Today. This can be seen in the rising number of Gay Straight Alliances across the United States. In the mid-’90s there were a few dozen alliances nationwide, but as of 2007, there were 3,200 Gay Straight Alliances registered at schools throughout the country, according to the article.

Students in Upper Arlington, including senior Hannah Schreiber, are joining the movement by coming out during their time in high school. Although she had a more formal coming out process with her friends and classmates by officially telling them she was a lesbian, Schreiber said she has always known she is gay.

“Basically I’ve just always known,” she said. “In elementary school I was a huge tomboy, I had the short haircut and everything. Freshman year I came out as bisexual as I was testing the waters. Then later freshman and sophomore year, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gay.’ The thing with me is I’ve always just been completely open about it.”

While Schreiber did officially come out at school, she said there was no need to formally come out to her parents.

“My family has always been really open and accepting about that kind of thing. I was really lucky with that,” she said. “Ever since I was little my mom knew, and I didn’t have to come out to my parents. My mom has always said to me, ‘If you’re gay, that’s fine. We’re always going to love and accept you for who you are.’ And they’ve always been really supportive.”

Like Schreiber, senior Joe Todd also found an accepting environment after coming out. Joe went through this process during his freshman year and said it was an easy transition.

“Coming out was actually extremely easy because it just happened naturally,” Joe said. “My mom actually asked me if I was gay instead of me going to her and letting her know, which made it a lot easier. I’m pretty sure all of my close friends and family already knew I was gay, so when it was clarified it really didn’t change anything, except I became more open with them about it.”

While Joe and Will both endured the coming out process, Joe said his journey differed from that of his twin brother’s.

“I was somewhat surprised to learn that my brother was gay just because I thought if he was, he never would have come out in high school,” Joe said.  “I probably fit the gay stereotype better than he does, so I thought if he was gay, he wouldn’t make it known until later. It was actually surprising [to me] that he came out to my friends before I did. It was also pretty surprising for me because I heard about it through my friends, because we hang out with a lot of the same people.”

Will also said that while he and his brother did not initially bond over coming out and being homosexual students in high school, it is now something that has brought them closer together.

Most importantly though, Joe stressed the acceptance he felt from his family and friends.

“Everyone was extremely supportive, and I didn’t experience any bad feedback from anyone,” he said. “I never really flat out told [my friends and family] that I was gay, but they accepted it. Today, we can openly have conversations about my sexuality and it doesn’t change anything.”

An Accepting Environment

When speaking about their coming out process, Schreiber, Joe and Will focused on one aspect the most: acceptance. At UAHS all three seniors said they have found the acceptance level to be high, and that they have experienced limited problems with bullying.

Joe said that he has received positive recognition for his decision to come out, and that it has affirmed his belief that UAHS is an open environment to students of all backgrounds.

“I’ve actually had teachers and other students come up to me and tell me they respect me for it, which is nice,” he said. “Students should also know that the acceptance level at UAHS is surprisingly high for a community that lacks homosexual diversity.”

While all three students said that they have not experienced any direct bullying, Schreiber said she does feel hurt by the gay slurs she often hears used. Schreiber said she isn’t offended when friends jokingly use phrases such as “That’s so gay,” because she is comfortable with them and knows it is meant to be lighthearted. She said she is less comfortable when people use derogatory terms, especially when used by those she doesn’t know.

“It’s a lot of times with my friends that they’ll say ‘That’s gay’ every once in a while, and they know that I’m gay and they’re just joking around, so it really doesn’t bother me,” Schreiber said. “But when people say stuff like ‘faggot’ or ‘dyke,’ then it bothers me. When people are clearly being offensive, it bothers me.”

Will said that while he has never experienced outright bullying at UAHS, he has found in himself in uncomfortable situations with those that do not agree with his sexuality.

“I’ve definitely been in situations where people were talking about how gays were against their religion or the way they were brought up. Which is kind of like being the elephant in the room… It’s really awkward in those situations because you can’t be yourself,” he said.

Although Schreiber, Joe and Will all agree that UAHS has been an overall accepting environment for homosexual students, Schreiber said she did experience one difficult situation with a permanent substitute last year.

While writing an essay that was in favor of legalizing gay marriage, Schreiber’s substitute teacher tried to alter her thesis statement and veer her opinion away from being in favor of legalizing gay marriage for all citizens across America, and change it to state that homosexuals should be permitted to be married specifically in a church.

Later in the semester, she said he then used gay slurs to prove a point in front of the class.

“He was like, ‘Pretend we’re at the World AIDS Conference,’” she said. “Then he began speaking in a stereotypical gay man’s voice, ‘OK, hello, I’m here with my partner, and I’m here to talk about AIDS.’ Why do I have credibility?”

Schreiber said that as the teacher continued, her class grew increasingly uncomfortable with what had been displayed in their classroom.

“I was in the back of the room just fuming; I was so angry,” she said.  “And he was just like, ‘You guys can just say it. Why am I credible? I’m gay! You know, gay guy… AIDS.’”
Distraught, Schreiber left class and went to talk with her counselor. The administration later talked with Schreiber’s substitute, where he was persistent in saying that he had done nothing wrong.  After the conference, the substitute was no longer seen subbing in the district. For this, Schreiber was often blamed and criticized.

“A bunch of people ended up thinking I got him fired or something, which isn’t true. I was just trying to stand up for myself,” Schreiber said. “And a bunch of people said, ‘Oh you must not be comfortable with yourself.’ And I was like, ‘No I was just trying to get the idea out there that it’s not OK to have those stereotypes.’”

A Broader Debate

As one of the most influential aspects of today’s society, the media has also greatly impacted the debate over gay rights by including homosexual relationships in the story lines of popular TV shows, including Glee and Modern Family. Some celebrities have also become icons for the gay community because of their open sexuality, such as talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

Joe said he believes that the media has given members of the LGBT community a voice and has helped people everywhere understand that gays aren’t much different from everyone else.

“I think the media has had a positive influence on the acceptance of homosexuality in the U.S., because Ellen and characters on Glee are admired and liked for who they are, regardless of their sexuality. In fact, a lot of people are attracted to them because they’re gay. I think characters like them in the media help portray gays as people who aren’t so different from the rest of the world,” he said.

Unlike his brother, Will said that while the media has definitely helped, he feels that shows such as Glee oftentimes portray gays in a stereotypical way, which does not give a clear depiction of gay people as a whole.

Senior Matt Pesavento, who is more conservative on issues concerning gay rights, agreed with Will. (Pesavento’s full interview can be found here.)

“I have avoided Glee, since the show has, in my opinion, morphed into a documentary of the struggle through which gays must go,” Pesavento said. “I think the show portrays gays as stereotypes, which is inaccurate. Not all gays manifest in such a flamboyant way.”

Although shows such as Glee have displayed such stereotypes, Will and Pesavento both agreed that shows such as this have brought the debate over gay rights to the forefront of Americans’ minds.

Another issue that is at the front of the debate over gay rights is the question of gay marriage and its potential legalization. This is a topic that students such as Schreiber will have to face directly, as she currently cannot be legally married in her home state. Schreiber said that on this controversial topic, while she respects the opinions of those who do not feel gay marriage is right, she disagrees with them.

“I think if you don’t like it, then don’t have a gay marriage,” she said. “People are free to decide. There are lots of things in society that I don’t necessarily agree with, but people have the right to do what they need to do.”

Will agreed with these ideas, explaining that while he respects the opinions of others and doesn’t judge those who have opposing views from him, he doesn’t necessarily understand why others argue against gay marriage.

“I just think it’s really wrong to say who can marry whom and who can’t marry whom, because if you love someone than you should be able to marry them,” he said. “But I’m not going to look down on you for having views other than my own. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.”

Schreiber and Will are among the growing trend of acceptance of gay marriage among Americans. The percentage of Americans who believe gay marriage should be legalized is the highest in the nation’s history at 53 percent, according to a May 2011 survey by the research institute, Gallup.

The idea of respecting differing opinions is one shared not only by those who support gay marriage, but also by those who do not. Junior Stephanie Small does not agree with gay marriage; however, she too upholds the opinions of others.

“Personally, I am very conservative and I wish our country was run the way it was back when our forefathers founded this land,” she said. “Marriage has always been defined as the union of a man and a woman. In marriage, two people become a family and create a family.”

Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, a prominent religious institution in the area, also does not condone homosexuality, but does not persecute it either. Senior Pastor Paul Ulring said that while UALC does have specific beliefs against homosexuality, it is not something about which the church spends time preaching.

“We believe all sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual marriage is not God’s will and best for us,” Ulring said. “This is not an anti-gay church at all, though a few people have tried to cast us as such over the years,” Ulring said. “Our ‘position’ on the issue is not a front burner deal for us in any way. It might be for specific members in their own lives, but not as a congregation in terms of emphasis and program.”

The “We Believe” statement of the church, which includes the beliefs on which UALC is based, further expands on Ulring’s thinking. In it, the church states that all sexual activity outside of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual intimacy, is sin. It also says that those who have committed this sin can turn to the grace of God and be forgiven. Ulring also said that while this is the belief of UALC, which includes the prohibition of gay wedding ceremonies, it does not divide the church, and that they do in fact have members who are lesbian and gay.

Another issue that is often considered controversial in the discussion of gay rights is gay adoption. Joe said that he feels that gay couples should be able to adopt in order to give children a much needed loving home. In his opinion, when children seeking adoption are denied a possible new family because the couple is gay, the government is denying them the chance of having a loving and supportive family.

Schreiber said she is also in favor of gay adoption and believes that a gay couple could provide a child with a home just as well as a heterosexual couple.

“If a gay couple is going to go through all the steps they need to take in order to be able to adopt a child, they’re going to make sure they provide a good environment for that kid,” she said.

Schreiber also mentioned that she does not agree with the notion that a child adopted by a gay couple lacks the influences of both female and male role models.

“You can have male and female influences without them being your parents,” Schreiber said. “Obviously my parents are my biggest influences, but there are plenty of people I look up to that are not my parents. So that argument just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Unlike Schreiber, Pesavento believes a lack of both female and male influences is one of the pivotal reasons why gay couples should not be permitted to adopt children. He believes that an environment with a traditional family structure of a mother and a father is the most beneficial for children and will provide them with the most appropriate home. However, he said he does think that children in abusive situations who are in need of a home, especially if a traditional family structure is not available, should be permitted to live with a gay couple in order to give the child a safer environment.

Small also does not condone gay couples adopting children, because she feels it could alter their growth.

“Children are in the heart of their development stage and they learn many things from their parents. I believe all children need to have a father and mother,” she said. “I believe if a kid grows up with same sex parents, it can hinder their development and their learning about life.”

A Feeling of Hope

As students continue to develop into adults, acceptance and understanding of those different from themselves is important not only in regards to those in the LGBT community, but for all people. Schreiber noted that it is important to be aware of others, and that factors such as sexuality do not change the character of a person, which is what really matters.

Joe and Will also said that the most important part of a person does not lie in his or her sexuality, and that it is important to look past these differences and stereotypes.

The idea to look past stereotypes is an idea held by those on both sides of the debate, including Pesavento. He said he feels that just because an individual does not believe in ideas such as gay marriage, does not mean they are not caring towards others.

“Conservatives are often the scapegoat, when there is objection to definition of human right, as they appear less compassionate towards individuals than liberals do,” Pesavento said.

As a part of this belief in defying assumptions, Small said that aggression between opposing groups should be avoided.

“People should be able to have a debate or an argument without aggression towards one another. No solution will be made if the two groups can’t even cooperate, even if they disagree,” Small said.

Having now successfully opened up about his sexuality to others, Will said he can appreciate the bravery it takes to share something so intimate about oneself with others. However, he encourages others to open up to those around them.

“I was really nervous that no one would be accepting, but it just shows that if you’re fearless people actually respect you more,” Will said. “I actually had people say, ‘Good job. You were one of the first gays to come out in our grade, and I just really respect you for it because I could never do that.’”

Joe felt the same way, saying that he also believes that opening up to others helps a person to feel more comfortable in his or her own skin. After coming out, Joe said he was able to strengthen his relationship with others, because he was able to be more honest with them. He explained that without such a big secret looming over a relationship, people can become closer. Most importantly, he said that opening up about whom you are leads to a more confident, happy person.

“After coming out, students become a lot more comfortable in their own skin and become an all around happier person,” he said.  “You become more confident and proud of who you are, which makes others proud of you.”

Q: What are your thoughts on gay marriage? Do you believe it should be legalized?

A: No, I do not think that gay marriage should be legalized. I will allude to the ultimate reason why gays should not be given the right to marry, later down the page.

Q: What influenced your opinion on this?

A: Of course, for every individual’s conception of a matter, albeit the articulated issue is extremely controversial and rather political, one’s outlook to said issue is shaped initially from the environment from which he or she came, the culture in which the individual was raised. That being said, each sector of the culture can have an ideology that is arbitrary, within the context of the larger state, but as an aggregate, an opinion is shaped by the large-scale views of that culture. Estimates of anywhere from 70% to 90% (admin says statistics are from fox news lol: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99945,00.html) of Americans claim to believe in God, today, which means that, even in a secular society, religion indirectly shapes our views on issues – even if we are not religious. It is the very reason many of our laws coincide with the Ten Commandments and biblical teachings.

Q: Do you believe gay couples should be allowed to adopt children?

A: No, I do not believe that gays should be allowed to adopt children. To me, this is one of the biggest concerns with the uprisings and manifestations of gay-activism. It is, without a doubt, the government’s main role, in the lives of the American people, to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

“The proper role of government is to prevent other people from harming an individual.” – Milton Friedman

It is nature, history, and science that have decided that natural kin is one man and one woman – I did not. I do disagree with allowing a child to live in an abusive family, so I am not arguing that it is better to subject a child to abuse than to a non-traditional family; however, statistically, there is a highly unmet demand for children, in the United States. Hence, I call into question: would we rather forcefully subject a homunculus to a life with an unnatural family than furnish the life of that child with a life as traditional and normal as possible.

Q: Is your entire family conservative?

A: Yes, but out of my entire family, I am probably the most conservative.

Q: How has your family environment affected your opinions on these topics?

A: While one may try to moot my assertion that choosing to become gay is, in fact, a choice, I present the notion of uncertainty as a consequence of ignorance. At this moment in time, we simply cannot classify gay as a mutation or as genetic, or as an anatomic difference, because we have no proof of such. A little anecdote: To say that being gay is not a choice is like saying there is a sixty-fifth dimension inside the eardrum of the person to your left; we have no evidence to suggest it is correct. I reserve the conviction that science may one day provide the answer to the issue of homosexuality, but, at this moment, there is no evidence, of which I have a ken, to suggest that gays are different from everyone else, genetically or anatomically. Too, I argue strongly that I firmly believe there are only two ways which one can believe a human came to be: religion (the grace of God) and evolution (the skeptic scientists). Now, axiomatically, being gay does not work with the religion point-of-view, but it seems not to work with evolution either. The “gay gene” would have died-off many years ago. I instead think that the individual is choosing to become gay – though, perhaps subconsciously (which is indeterminable). Whichever one chooses to believe, there is no evidence to suggest that choosing to become gay is predetermined, and, thus, I suggest that we pay less attention to the testimony of the opposition, until there is legitimate evidence to suggest otherwise.

In a followup interview …

Q: Do you think teens (or people in general) who are against gay rights ever feel resentment from others? Why or why not? Do you think this is due to unfair stereotypes from people on both sides of the debate on gay rights?

A: In response to the first question: yes, I do, but it extends much beyond just gay rights. Gay marriage is illegal in most states, so, by definition, it is progressive to support gay marriage. The simulacrum (Not a 9^th grade word) I am trying to create is that liberals, by their very nature, are progressive; so, gay activists tend to vote liberal. On the contrary, conservatives tend to vote and express interest towards less-progressive, more traditional, familial values. To juxtapose the two ideologies, I will admit, taints the image of conservatives – liberals appear helping, caring, giving. Conservatives, on the other hand, appear materialistic, greedy and egotistic, because the typical conservative ideals hinder advancement of more contemporary concerns. I like to call liberals do-gooders, because, at least in my experience, liberals really think they’re helping. Again, this extends much beyond gay rights and gay activism. In comparison, conservatives are often the scapegoat, when there is objection to definition of human right, as they appear less compassionate towards individuals than liberals do, for previously mentioned reasons (traditional familial views, in this case).

Q: Off of this, do you think that resentment and aggression should be avoided from people on both sides of the debate?

A: Ideally, yes – it’s impossible to avoid, though. Political ideology is sort-of the root from which a person makes decisions. It’s shaped by everything from the person’s parents, to his school and religion, to his country and region of the world.

Q: What is your opinion on gay marriage? Should it be legalized or allowed in churches?

A: I am against all legalization of gay marriage; and, I support an amendment to the constitution that defines marriage as one man and one woman.

Q: Can you expand on your opinion on gay adoption? How would a child being raised by a gay couple suffer as compared to a child being raised by a heterosexual couple?

A: Essentially, my view is that the government should regulate adoption, with a law, or something of similar nature, so that in order to adopt a child, a family must be, in fact, a family – one man, woman. I question why we feel the need to allow gays living together the right to adopt children. As I said in my previous quote, I am against child abuse and think the government should stop abuse from occurring. So, in theory, I would think that a child with an unnatural upbringing (two dads, moms) is less affected, in the grand scheme of things, than an abused child. As an answer to the unasked question: yes, I would be pro gay adoption, if there were no traditional families to accept the government-taken, abused, children. But there is unassailable evidence that shows that, in the United States, there is a higher demand to adopt children than there are children to be adopted.

Q: How do you think the recent rise in the media of gay teens and couples on shows such as Glee, 90210, and Modern Family, affected people’s opinions of gay people? Has it affected your opinion at all? Do you think shows such as these are influential in shaping people’s outlook on gay rights? How so?

A: Yes, it has affected the opinion of people, by painting a stereotype of gays and giving air to the plight of gays. I find the media to be generally too left leaning. I watch Fox News, which has come to have negative connotations; I used to watch shows like Modern Family, but I don’t have too much time to watch them, right now; and, I have avoided Glee, since the show has, in my opinion, morphed into a documentary of the struggle through which gays must go. I think the show portrays gays as stereotypes, which is inaccurate. Not all gays manifest in such a flamboyant way – I would think that would upset the gay community. The fact that, often times, in shows like Glee or Modern Family, the “gay” is actually straight, only bolsters stereotypes. I don’t want to be painted as somebody with his head in the ground, though: I have been to Boystown in Chicago, I know and associate with gays and I disagree with gay violence.

by cassielowery, ‘13 and oliviamiltner, ‘13

John*, a student at UAHS, sits in a group at his drug dealer’s house, cigarettes in hand. His dealer goes around passing out sandwich baggies containing heroin, while collecting money. As the group begins shooting up, John immediately feels at ease.

“With all these people sitting around not judging me… it gives me a sense of community,” John said.

For him, heroin, is a way of forgetting all his problems.

“It leaves me emotionless, it’s an escape for me, to get rid of all the crap in my life,” John said. “At the same time it also makes me feel invincible, as though nothing could bring me down and even that feeling that nothing could kill me.”

The effects John experiences while on heroin are not uncommon. According to Marcel Casavant MD, chief of the Pharmacology / Toxicology department at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, heroin is used around the world today as a common, strong pain reliever related to morphine. It is also available to users in multiple forms.

“Some heroin looks like a fine powder, and some heroin looks like a black or brown putty or tar,” Casavant said.

Heroin can be smoked or snorted, but is most commonly injected into the body.

“[These methods] get high concentrations [of heroin] into the blood rapidly and… once it’s in the bloodstream, the drug itself has an easier time getting straight into the brain [than other drugs],” Casavant said.

John has noticed that more people are looking for a similar release, and are taking advantage of the relatively easy access to the drug.

“[Heroin is] for sure…becoming more commonly used. It’s also easier to get. Even at school I could go and get my fix,” John said.

Recently, heroin abuse has increased at UAHS, as well as at many other high schools around central Ohio, according to Upper Arlington police officer Scott Metcalf.

“[Heroin use has] risen in the past five years or so,” Metcalf said. “Obviously with the run-ins that we’ve had with various individuals—including [a kid] who’s 16 years old—it’s very sad.”

The increase in heroin use is due in part to its availability, as John noted. Metcalf said a heroin drug trafficking ring has developed in central Ohio.

“The problem is, Columbus is now a distribution center for major drugs, including heroin. We used to not be a distribution center hub,” Metcalf said. “Our large influx of illegal immigrants have direct connections to drug cartels; and the drug cartels are using that to their advantage and have [the immigrants] bring [heroin] into Columbus.”

According to Metcalf, one of the ways the drug is distributed is through balloons, which are used to sneak the drug into the United States. Several grams of the drug are placed inside a balloon which is then swallowed. A string is attached to the balloon so that it can be pulled back up after arriving in the United States.

Because of the many ways traffickers have found to move drugs into the U.S., heroin distribution in Columbus has made the drug extremely inexpensive.

“You can buy a 10 gram balloon for about 10 to 15 bucks,” Metcalf said. “And then there’s also black tar heroin….which is even cheaper, maybe 5 to 10 bucks.”

Heroin at UAHS

Not only has heroin entered Columbus, but it has also found its way into the high school itself.

The drug is also relatively easy to obtain at the high school. Some students are even dealers themselves.

“It’s not all that expensive since I have a nice supply of money coming in from selling,” John said. “Hell, sometimes the people I sell for are nice enough to throw me some for free.”

According to John, getting hold of a more serious drug like heroin is not as hard as some may think.

“It’s as easy to get as someone walking into a gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes. [The] only difference is, it’s not cigs and how much you can get and how often you get it all just depends on who you know,” John said.

Principal Kip Greenhill said one of the reasons heroin has become an issue at UAHS is because of a combination of low cost and the excess of money. According to him, suburban schools have a larger issue with substance abuse in general because students in the area have greater access to money.

“The national data shows that in communities like ours there’s more of a substance abuse problem than in rural or urban schools because of the money,” Greenhill said. “Families here have more money that students can access for drugs or alcohol.”

Greenhill said focusing solely on heroin will not solve the overarching problem of substance abuse.

“You [usually] start with the prescription pain medications, and before the prescription pain medication it’s usually alcohol or marijuana. It’s that progress. Not everyone goes through that progression, but that’s where it starts,” Greenhill said. “Communities make a mistake when they focus on one drug. It’s not a heroin problem; it’s a substance abuse problem.”

Heroin was not the first drug John used, as Greenhill noted is the case with most users.

“I smoked cigarettes and sometimes smoked pot [before I started doing heroin],” John said. “But my main thing… was OxyContin and Percocet.”

These two drugs are prescription pain medications, which have similar, yet weaker, effects as heroin. John was a freshman when he used heroin for the first time.

“I was at my dealers house one day, picking up an order of OxyContin and he had some other dudes there buying [heroin],” John said. “I was kind of curious as to what it was, so I was looking at it [when] one of them started talking to me…and he asked me if I’d ever done it before. I said no and he asked me if I wanted to try it. Before I knew it, I was answering sure. Next thing I know, he said he’d let me try it for free and boom, veins popping out and needle going in.”

Taking action

In order to combat the substance-abuse problem at the high school, Greenhill has taken a unique stance on prevention. Instead of bringing in police officers and drug dogs to help enforce laws and rules proposed by the government and the school, he believes in creating a trusting environment where students can find a comfortable place for learning and education. He wants the focus to be more on the individuals who have been found using illegal substances, rather than targeting the entire student population through random searches.

“If someone brought a police dog into my office to search, I’d be offended,” Greenhill said. “We have a unique climate in this school… I could mess that up really easily. [If] I bring police dogs in here … our whole relationship is going to change and the culture in the school is going to start to change.”

He also believes that search dogs would not be more effective at discovering illicit drug users than the current system is.

“I can tell you right now, anyone that the dogs catch, I already have a suspicion,” he said. “ I’ve probably already talked to the parents and said, ‘I think your child’s using.’”

In addition to his aversion to police and drug dogs in UAHS, Greenhill insists that expulsion will not solve a student’s substance-abuse problem.

“I’ve never seen anyone’s drug or alcohol use change because you kick them out of school,” he said. “I’ve been suspending students for 30-some years, and I don’t think that’s ever happened.”

Though aware that there have to be consequences for these types of actions, Greenhill is more focused on helping the students get back on track. He encourages his students to get counseling and forces them to comply with certain procedures.

“What we’ll do with someone that’s been caught [using drugs and alcohol] multiple times, we’re going to put you out of school for a fairly long period of time,” Greenhill said. “When you [do] come back, you’re going to have to go for counseling and submit to random drug tests done by the school.”

Current Policy Concerns

Greenhill’s attitude towards alcohol and drug abuse has raised criticism among many people in the district, including those on the school board and some police officers.

“Most [administrators] don’t buy into it because they think you’ve got to have a lot of rules and you’ve got to enforce the rules, but I come along and say few rules,” Greenhill said.

Officer Metcalf is one of those who disagrees with Greenhill’s approach to substance abuse.

“I think one of our problems here is we’re not doing enough about [the drug problem at the high school],” Metcalf said.

He believes that instead of tarnishing the school environment, the use of police officers and/or drug dogs would be beneficial. This is partly because it would help students overcome their negative views of police officers.

“I still get the vibe, and I hear it here and there, [that students are] thinking that we are out to get them. That’s not the case,” Metcalf said. “The reason we end up … having encounters with students is because they make mistakes. It’s not anything personal. We encounter adults that make mistakes [too]; we’re not just looking for [students].”

Metcalf also believes that the presence of police officers at school would not instill fear and discomfort within the student body.

“I’ve always felt that, even if I were over there, I don’t think you all would be scared. I don’t think it would upset this balance of serenity [Greenhill is] talking about,” Metcalf said. “If I were standing in the hallways and greeting y’all and saying, ‘Hey, how was softball last night,’ you shouldn’t be intimidated by that. And to be honest with you, if you’re not doing anything wrong, you shouldn’t be intimidated anyway.”

He also said he was opposed to some of the parent’s views on police officers and search dogs in the school.

“I’ve heard stories too from other parents that have talked to other parents and they say, ‘We’re glad the officers aren’t in our schools, but different reasons [than Greenhill’s]. Not for the tranquility of the school, [but] because…if we bust these kids for possessing marijuana or illicit drugs or something they’ll never be able to get into college with those felony convictions,” Metcalf said. “Thinking, ‘Well, I want to keep police officers out of the school because that could harm my kid in the future’… I don’t understand that mentality.”

Metcalf said he would take a different approach to the situation.

“If I was a parent at this school, I’d be the first one knocking on his office door, saying ‘Why aren’t you doing that?’ I’d be at [my kid’s] school if that was happening. I would be there, saying, ‘Why aren’t’ we doing more?’ Metcalf said.

Legal Consequences

Police searches for drugs is one way schools try and fight substance abuse. Greenhill sees this as being inefficient, as police officers must have a probable cause before they conduct a search, whereas he only needs just cause.

“I have more freedom to search than a police officer,” Greenhill said. “If I have a suspicion that you could have drugs—that suspicion being you staggered when you walked down the hall [hypothetically]—I can search you. A police officer can’t.”

Metcalf agreed that police have more restrictions regarding their ability to search compared to school administrators.

“The school has a little different policy,” said Metcalf. “The school, because it is their property, they’re allowed to check lockers, for instance, on their own. If I come in, I either have to have a drug dog hit on that locker, or I have to have a search warrant to get in that locker… because it’s not my property.”

According to Metcalf, a police officer needs to have more hard evidence to search a student. For example, a police officer must see a student trade a suspicious-looking substance for money before being able to search them for evidence of a drug deal.

Metcalf still believes searches and drug dogs are effective and would like to see them implemented at the high school.

“My [son]…goes to a very small country school. They do drug dog searches…He doesn’t have anything to hide, so he doesn’t care. He thinks it’s kind of cool to see them…[It] makes him feel safer too, knowing that [stuff isn’t] in there,” Metcalf said.

If the police or school does find any illegal substances, the student in possession would not only be in trouble with the school but would also face serious legal consequences. Unlike marijuana, getting caught with heroin is a felony, not a misdemeanor for both possession and trafficking. The degree of the felony varies from a fifth to a first-degree depending on the amount of the substance involved in the offense, according to the Ohio Revised Code (Chapter 2925). This means that a prison term can be imposed on the offender.

Such consequences took effect last spring for 2007 UA alum Michael Stechison. He was convicted of robbing five UA businesses with a fake gun—including Graeter’s on Lane Avenue—in an effort to support his heroin addiction.

“No thought went into it,” Stechison said in an interview with 10 TV. “It was just, ‘What do I need to do to get high?’ There’s money there and money gets me heroin. That’s basically all that went through my head.”

After spending several months in an out-of-state treatment program, Stechison is now serving a prison term of up to 25 years for his crimes.

An Ongoing Issue

Drug abuse had always been an issue at UA, according to Greenhill. It is a problem that is extremely difficult to control.

“Where drugs and alcohol and marijuana are concerned, there’s not a school in the country who’s been able to lick it,” Greenhill said.

However, while Greenhill and Metcalf disagree on the current policy, both are dedicated to the ongoing fight on substance abuse.

“I hear about these young heroin addicts at the high school, and I’ve seen a couple of them, and I didn’t even recognize them… It hurts,” Metcalf said, “I’m a parent and I don’t want to see kids go that route.”

Greenhill, also, wants to help these kids as much as possible and hopes that the community sees this.

“I want people to know that I really do have a plan on how to deal with this,” Greenhill said. “ You may not agree with it, but I’m not turning my back to it.”

Metcalf also said he’s seen students wanting to reach out to each other.

“[Some students] see their friends going downhill or maybe making poor choices and say, ‘How can we help them?’” Metcalf said. “There’s a lot of compassion out there… I just wish we could all get together on it.”

By Olivia Miltner, ‘13

Grasped in Hannah Dorfman’s hands was a white envelope, and inside, there was a life-changing announcement: a potential college acceptance letter from from her dream school, Massachusetts’s Tufts University. This single piece of paper could determine where she would spend the next four years of her life, and ultimately, the path her future would take. To the 2011 UAHS alum, Tufts was ideal. It had everything she wanted in a college, from good political science and music programs to excellence in academics.

“I went to visit and I fell in love with it,” Dorfman said. “I literally got on campus and was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going here.’”

After skimming the first few lines of the letter, Dorfman’s eyes lit up and she could not help but cheer. She was accepted.

Preparing for college

Dorfman’s acceptance to her first choice college was a feat her entire family celebrated; however, they quickly realized the financial pressures they now faced.

“I got a fair amount of money [from Tufts], but we are still paying a lot,” Dorfman said. “I talked to my mom and dad about [whether or not] we could make it work, because I knew it was a huge investment. But they were willing to make the financial commitment.”

Dorfman is not the only UA student struggling to meet the financial requirements of higher education. College counselor Mark Davis has noticed a rise in the number of UAHS graduates planning on going directly into the workforce.

“The graduating class of 2007 had 90 percent of its members attending a four-year college and eight percent attending a two-year college, leaving two percent of the class doing something other than college,” he said. “Conversely, the graduating class of 2010 had 81 percent attending a four-year college and 12 percent attending a two-year college, leaving seven percent of the class doing something other than college.”

In order to secure an edge over other applicants, Dorfman bolstered her applicaation not only with a rigorous academic course load, but with a plethora of extracurricular activities as well. In addition to playing both lacrosse and volleyball, she joined the Ultimate Frisbee team, played cello in two UAHS orchestras, was an IB diploma candidate and served as president of the German Club.

And while she prepared herself in these facets of college acceptance, she greatly underestimated the impact that price would have on her college situation.

“[The overall cost of college] is a huge factor,” she said. “My family didn’t started saving early for my college. It was a big mistake to not prepare ourselves earlier.”

A rising trend

Senior Zoe Ribar has also begun considering how finances will affect her path to college. As she started doing research on the cost of attendance, she admits she was taken by surprise.

“I knew the college prices would be high, but I never knew how immense the out-of-state costs would be,” Ribar said. “Often the prices can be double the cost for out-of-state tuition than-in-state, a factor that certainly is an incentive to stay in-state.”

Of the various schools Ribar has considered, the average cost of tuition, room and board is $35,000. Five years ago, these prices would have been considerably lower.

According to Davis, today’s high cost of post-secondary school is a product of five years worth of accumulation. Schools have had to raise their cost of attendance and give smaller scholarships due, in large part, to the decrease in donations from corporations, alumni and other organizations and individuals that make up endowment funding for colleges. Additionally, Davis noted that the budgets of many public universities have been greatly reduced due to a loss of financial support from the state government.

“Since 2005, the average increase in tuition, room and board, fees and books has been between five and 12 percent per year,” Davis said.

Colleges with endowments of $1 billion or more lost about 20 percent of their total endowment amount between the 2008 and 2009 school year, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund Institute, an organization that advocates for teachers and administrators associated with higher education. In an article by Justin Pope, an Associated Press writer who specializes in education, colleges such as MIT and Stanford admitted that the 2008 market crash forced them to confront the largest budget cuts in memory.

So what can students do to counter these rising obstacles? According to the College Board, the majority of students use financial aid to help pay for the cost of college; however, Davis explained that financial aid can prove difficult to obtain.

“If [colleges] have millions in donations each year from alumni and they have an endowment fund of $100 million, they will be more likely to give sizable [scholarships] compared to a college that has low donations and an endowment of only a few million dollars,” Davis said.

For example, one can compare George Washington University, a school Dorfman was seriously considering, to a school like Harvard University. George Washington’s endowment, although still over $1 billion, pales in comparison to Harvard’s $27 billion in 2010, as noted by the colleges’ websites. The difference in these endowments directly affects the amount of available scholarship money, so that, according to the 2011 US News and World Report, George Washington University’s average need-based scholarship or grant award is $27,600, while Harvard’s is $37,000. To put that into perspective, the total amount of tuition, room and board—minus the average amount of need-based grants and/or scholarships—of GWU is over $27,000 and Harvard’s is only $12,000.

“George Washington [University] is one of the most expensive universities in the country, so I needed a really good financial aid package from them, and I didn’t get it,” Dorfman said.

According to Dorfman, financial aid works best for those who exist on the far ends of the economic spectrum. However, financial aid for middle class families, may not be as helpful.

“Many [upper-middle class families] are too affluent to qualify for significant financial aid but not wealthy enough to pay out-of-pocket,” according to an article by Jane Kim for the Wall Street Journal.

Dorfman’s family experienced this firsthand.

“My financial aid adviser at Tufts said that the formula to determine financial aid isn’t designed for middle class families,” Dorfman said. “It works well for richer families who can afford college and lower class families who can’t.”

Scholarships and savings plans

Although financial aid may sometimes be difficult to receive, scholarships can be extremely beneficial and offer immense opportunity for people who might not be as financially privileged. For example, Ribar explained that potential scholarships drive her to succeed in school.

“Scholarship opportunities are so important to college applicants. They motivate us to do well in school and, in the long run, can save [us] thousands of dollars,” Ribar said. “With increasing college tuition, it could be a potential sports scholarship that allows you to afford or attend a school.”

Not only do potential scholarships push students to work hard in school, but by working with the school and financial aid officers, scholarships can also be a major asset in helping families afford college.

Dorfman was able to work with her Tufts’ financial adviser to assemble a package to help her pay for school.

“I talked to the financial aid people at Tufts and got better a package,” Dorfman said. “I’ll probably be graduating with $30,000 to $40,000 in loans. The average student graduates with $18,000.”

Along with a work-study program and a monthly payment plan, Dorfman is receiving $28,000 in scholarships per year, an amount that will help her family financially.

Four-year alternatives

If a student cannot afford a standard four-year college, Davis said three alternatives can be considered:

1. Work for a few years and save enough to attend a community college and eventually a four-year college in the state public system;

2. Go to a two-year community college part-time and work as many hours as possible to support continuing in college and doing well;

3. Attend a two-year college to keep the costs down and take out loans.

Davis also said that it is important for students to utilize a college’s financial aid recourses to maximize the benifits.

“In the last two situations the student needs to work closely with the Office of Financial Aid to find possible grants or scholarships to help pay for college,” Davis said. “In each of these cases if the student is able to live at home to reduce expenses, this would be important as well.”

Although the status of college finances may seem daunting, there is hope for students who are struggling to pay for higher education.

“[Students should] try not to worry too much until they are faced with the financial aid package offered to them at each college they apply,” Davis said. “Begin checking out all the possible scholarship options available through colleges that they plan to apply to, as well as looking into possible scholarships available through scholarship search engines.”

Davis also recommends working part-time during the school year or finding a full-time job in the summer in order to save as much money as possible for college.

Planning ahead

When it comes to financial aid, planning ahead is also essential. According to Russ Golowin, a college financial adviser, families of students enrolling in college should begin research on their financial aid eligibility years in advance.

“Students and parents should take a look at their financial picture before senior year rolls around. Many financial strategies that can increase eligibility for financial aid should be implemented by January of the student’s junior year or before,” Golowin said. “Families need to know how student and parent income affects the aid awards, as well as what the most advantageous ways of holding savings are before time begins to run out.”

Golowin added that the common conception that a family has to have a low-income to receive financial aid is not necessarily true. Even families who make upwards of $100,000 a year can obtain healthy financial aid packages if they plan ahead and understand how packages are computed, he said.

And while money may be a large factor, there are other components to consider when trying to find the right fit. According to Ribar, students should consider how a certain college fits with their educational, extracurricular and social interests before analyzing the price.

“So many variables come into picking colleges, and I think that an easy way to rule out some could be the price. Your final decision, however, should not come from what college is the cheapest, but from your belief on where you fit best, as well as where you can learn best,” Ribar said. “We are all searching for the college experience, a place where we can meet new people and figure out who we are as an individual and where we might fit in.”

From waiflike models to rail-thin celebrities, the media’s message that ‘thin is in’ shapes many girls’ perceptions of their bodies—and their self worth.

The flat-screen TV flickers on just as the clock hits 10 p.m. Tyra Banks dances across the screen to the electric beat of her show’s theme song. As junior Katie Dunn’s stomach grumbles for a late night snack, she distracts her hunger with her number one guilty pleasure, competition and reality show, America’s Next Top Model. Over the next hour, Dunn studies the emaciated bodies of the reality show contestants. Mesmerized, her thoughts wander to how she can improve her body and be more like them.

She begins to ponder: What is true beauty? In the media, beauty is depicted as skinny runway models and bony celebrities. It is a relentless force, defeating body image confidence in some girls or revamping it in others.

An Altered Outlook

For Dunn, body image was something she thought about regularly, affecting not only her daily life but also her future plans. With dreams of someday working in the fashion industry, she strove for an ideal look, one that fit the media’s unyielding standards of beauty. Every morning and before each high school eventshe would plan and perfect each and every outfit, hoping to accentuate her slim figure.

“The media advertises beauty as correlating with being skinny,” Dunn said. “Since I really want to work in the fashion industry someday, I feel like in order to pursue that dream I have to be the ‘perfect’ size.”

Other students agree with Dunn’s view that the media displays unrealistic standards of what a beautiful woman should portray. From the scantily-clad, skeletal models plastered on the pages of the glossy magazine pages to the razor-thin actresses on various television shows, the growth of the media’s version of “true beauty” continues to impact the bodies of young girls.

Freshman Anna Cecutti said the media skews teenage girls’ views of what characteristics define beauty. She noted that magazine advertisements aimed at adolescent girls are particularly problematic.

“I feel like when I’m looking at magazines, they send the wrong message towards teenage girls,” Cecutti said. “Like showing that all these girls are tall and skinny, and that you need to be like that in order to be pretty.”

The TV show America’s Next Top Model has always had contestants with a multitude of looks, but with one common size: small. In the Aug. 16, 2010 article “America’s Next Top Model’ Contestant Shows Off Shockingly Thin Waist,” Sheila Marikar of ABC News wrote about the frail frame of Ann Ward, a 19-year-old contestant measuring six feet, two-inches tall.

“An adult’s hands [could] easily fit all the way around her waist, as judge Miss J. Alexander [demonstrated] in a trailer released from the show,” Mariker said.

As one of the smallest sizes ever seen on the show, Ward later went on to claim the title of America’s Next Top Model, thus sending the message to viewers that being skinny is beautiful.

Dunn explained how the popular TV show glamorizes the petite sizes of the contestants, transcending the message that body weight and looks can directly affect one’s personal success and eating habits.

“The more I watch the show the more I want to look like the people I see, so I think it has definitely started to affect how I see myself weight-wise and impacts what I eat,” Dunn said.

America’s Next Top Model compelled Dunn to begin various diets to maintain her figure. In one of these diets, she had to count each calorie she ingested. Dunn admitted that she quickly became tired of the regimen, and discovered new ways to satisfy her image infatuation. One of these alternatives was exercise.

“Trying to get away from dieting, I chose to start working out more,” she said. “I take a lot of various workout classes including spinning and body combat at my gym now, which improves my self confidence of staying fit without having to go on a diet.”

Mashing the media

Dunn is not the only UAHS student with the goal to be a high-heeled-wearing “fashionista.” In Manhattan, junior Abbi Jackson took the first steps in pursuing her modeling career.

For Jackson, the “perfect image” of the models seen on the CW’s top-rated modeling show, ANTM, was not any different from the ways of the Manhattan modeling world. Jackson used her confidence, bold personality and modeling heritage to become successful in the industry.

After booking photo shoots frequently, Jackson met with her current agency, Wihlemina Models, in the pursuit of taking her talents to the next level and with the possibility of shoots and shows in New York City.

“When I met with [Wihlemina Models] they said that my look, height and personality were perfect for what they were looking for, but that if I wanted to have more opportunities in the city, I would have to lose ten pounds,” Jackson said.

Health and Physical Eduacation teacher, Stacy Hoover, discussed her thoughts on societies’ pressures to be thin and the larger effect it has on girls who live in bigger cities, due to the extensive amount of advertising and the large consumption groups in urban areas.

“I think that girls in cities feel the pressures of society more so than in rural areas [and] fashion trends come more quickly,” she said. “What I mean by fashion trends is not just even the way that we dress but the way that we are expected to be physically. The pressures trickle down slower into the rural ares, but I do believe that city girls probably do feel it more quickly.”

However, Jackson used her confidence to combat the media’s influence. She took pride of who she was and what she stood for, and decided she wasn’t going to let the media alter that.

“I feel like it’s hard to meet genuine people in the modeling world, people feel like they need to play a certain role in the industry and I’m not going to become like that,” Jackson said. “One thing my dad has taught me from his experience is that in modeling you have to always remember that you are representing yourself. I feel like if I change my personality to be a part of the industry like so many of my friends have, I will be representing what I should be like, not myself.”

Like Jackson, senior Jackie Hobson disregards the media’s influence on weight and body image.

“I don’t base myself off the media because I don’t believe it’s right. Everyone is their own person and just because magazines and TV shows may make certain things out to be cool and ‘in’, that’s not how I see everything,” Hobson said. “We should be ourselves and not someone else created by [the] media.”

Despite her claim that the media impacts how teenage girls think about their bodies, Cecutti is in support of Jackson’s claim: to not live through the messages the media is sending. She explained how she acts in response to the media and why.

“I know people who aren’t very confident and base their own views entirely from the media but for me personally I don’t really try to be that way. That’s mainly because of the people I know, and what they’ve been through,” she said. “By being involved in their problems, I don’t want to have to deal with them, so I try not to go off of the media.”

True beauty

Jackson’s motive of being her own individual may not be what the media is trying to get across to young girls, but it is what makes her who she is. She discusses the importance of her personal identity.

“I don’t wear the labels, or act the way the media says I should, I just do my own thing, and I like the way I am, so I’m not going to let the media define me,” she said. “If that means that modeling can continue to work out for me then that’s great but I’d rather lose my modeling jobs then lose who I am due to the media.”

After considering her options and applying a levelheaded approach to the situation, Jackson decided on pursuing her career the way she was, without caving into the expectations from the media. With assurance in her look and what she stands for, she disregarded the fashion industries artificial poster child of beauty.

“I know what my potential is in modeling, and I think that I can be successful throughout my career without having to change who I am,” she said.

Coming to terms

Once coming around to Jackson’s perception and recognizing the harsh rules the media lays out for young girls today, Dunn grasped the concept of what beauty actually meant to her. She admitted that the industry she once greatly longed to be a part of was slowly breaking her apart. In response, she put more focus on aspects of her life that prove more significant than body image.

“I feel like after getting over the dieting and talking about it with the people I’m close with I started realizing that my friends and family are the most important thing,” Dunn said. “ I realized there are so many other things that they like about me. I always knew that everything wasn’t just about looks and now its just not as much of a concern of mine.”

While the unrealistic illustration of beauty displayed by scrawny models and celebrities may alter the body images of teenage girls, UAHS students have discovered ways of portraying “true beauty”— a concept that is not refined by the media’s grueling tandards.

“I know now that there is so much more to being beautiful, like intelligence, kindness and humor. I am determined to make it in the fashion industry but I am also determined to not let the media define me,” Dunn said.

Hoover reiterates the thoughts expressed by Jackson: body image is only skin-deep and inner beauty is what really shows.

“Girls in high school need to know that there’s a lot more then just looking good,” she said. “It’s about being confident and feeling good about who they are inside.”

By Abby Godard, ‘13 and Victoria Slater, ‘12

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday,” Caroline Pema said. “I had just finished lunch and was walking out of the Barrington Elementary School cafeteria when I saw my mom frantically running to me. She grabbed me and hugged me tightly while telling me that everything was going to be okay. I had no idea what was going on, and I grew afraid.”

Senior Caroline Pema recalls her mother’s attempt to explain the tragic events in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Pema, only in second grade, was too young to fully comprehend what had occurred; however, she did understand that her mother pulled her out of school due to a family emergency.

“I learned my uncle was actually in the World Trade Center that day for work,” she said. “He lives in New Jersey but commuted to New York every day.”

At home, Pema huddled with her family, watching the catastrophic events unfold on TV, waiting anxiously by the phone to hear news of her uncle’s fate.

“I remember seeing horrifying videos and images of the twin towers collapsing,” she said. “Saddened and devastated faces filled the television screen.”

Hours later, Pema’s aunt called to inform her family that her uncle had survived. Fear had driven him out of the damaged building and into the safety of the street below.

“After the plane crashed into the top of the building, a woman’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker stating that everything was OK, there was nothing to worry about, and that everyone should go back to work,” she said. “My uncle knew that something wasn’t right. He was on the 80th floor of one of the towers and fortunately made the decision to descend the stairs and exit the building.”

The survival of Pema’s uncle was not only the result of good timing, but good luck as well. Though undoubtedly thankful, the family remains humbled by an upsetting reality: Thousands of others were not as lucky.

“We are so blessed and thankful that [my uncle] was OK and that he survived, because we knew the severity and seriousness of the situation,” Pema said. “He survived the catastrophic events of 9/11 unlike so many others. I am so grateful, yet saddened that so many others didn’t have the same fate.”

Closing in

Much like Pema, English teacher Meredith Niekamp looks back on the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and finds it hard to believe that such a tragedy could have occurred just 10 years ago.

At the time, Niekamp lived just outside of the D.C area as an eighth grade teacher. She never fathomed that such a tragedy would occur in the United States, let alone within driving distance of her job.

“I remember planning for a class [during] third period and hearing from students that a plane had hit the Twin Towers,” she said.

Taken aback by such news, Niekamp was in shock. As the day unraveled, she was unprepared to answer students’ questions—many of which she had herself.

“Did you hear about the Pentagon?” asked a student in her fifth period class.

Baffled by the student’s unexpected inquiry, Niekamp stood frozen in time. The Pentagon was just a short drive away from their school in Maryland. Niekamp felt the distance between her school and the attacks of that September day become frighteningly close.

“Then the P.A. came on, and the principal just started calling students out [of class],” Niekamp said.

Interruption after interruption, the principal continued to read a list of seemingly endless names in a matter of seconds telling them to pack up their belongings and go home. Students were still being plucked from Niekamp’s classroom when the last announcement came over the P.A., informing everyone that school had been released. Immediately, Niekamp rushed to the main office to find out what was going on. It was there that she saw for the first time the unbelievable footage of the falling Twin Towers. At that moment, Niekamp was speechless. She could feel the energy of the room tighten as it was swallowed whole by fear.

When the dust settled

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 left disaster in their wake: a city in ruins, a country torn apart and thousands of families destroyed with the gaping holes left by the 2,819 victims of the attack.

According to the New York Magazine article “Sept. 11 by the Numbers,” 115 nations had citizens killed in the attacks. The entire globe was scarred by that fateful morning 10 years ago.

To Pema and most of the United States, the al Qaeda mission to fly planes into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon succeeded in creating raw terror. It was the terrorists’ prerogative to address their religious agendas in the most alarming and noticeable way possible.

“I believe 9/11 occurred because religious extremists felt it was suitable to use extreme violence and brutality to solve and address their issues,” Pema said.

That brutality proved to last long after the dust settled at Ground Zero. Niekamp remembers the feeling of constant panic and lack of safety that inhabited her school in the following weeks.

“It was devastating— so many people in the school knew somebody who was involved because we were a commuter city to New York and the Pentagon,” she said. “It truly was a time of terror in a school, and I will never forget the distance that I felt— the geographical distance— between the trailer [where I worked] at the school and people’s houses surrounding the school.”

Niekamp explained that the lingering atmosphere of anxiety was, in a large part, caused by lack of communication. Without the reassurance from government officials, American citizens remained unsure of the safety of their country.

“The chaos of not knowing what was going on was really what left us with that feeling of terror,” she said. “Once the leader of our country addressed the nation, and we collectively knew what had happened, that terror subsided.”

Once the initial feelings of shock diminished, Niekamp said that her school community began to identify the next step to take. After such a tragedy, which took the lives of parents of students and a former staff member, the school needed to determine how to pick up the pieces.

“There were a variety of opinions on how to move forward,” she said. “It was interesting living in the D.C. area, as there were a multitude of ethnicities, and people were quick to say, ‘let’s just go drop a bomb on a whole entire region of the world and wipe everyone off the face of the map,’ in presence of people whose families lived [in those regions]. That revealed some ignorance that was extremely shameful in my opinion.”

Even after Niekamp’s school extensively improved safety procedures and security measures, she still sensed apprehension, especially amongst the student body.

“Students asked a lot of questions about safety, and to me, that translated as fear,” she said.

Yet, Niekamp could not deny the extent to which her community was strengthened in the aftermath of Sept. 11. The mutual fear between citizens brought about a unified goal toward establishing protection for one another.

“I remember the lack of distance between us because, all of the sudden, we knew we were all there together and that we all matter,” Niekamp said.

A ten-year journey

As a result of 9/11, America— regardless of race, ethnicity, background, and gender— came together in a time of crisis to mourn over each life lost as if it were his or her own.

President George W. Bush recognized this unity during his Sept. 21, 2001 State of the Union Address.

“We have seen the state of our union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion. We’ve seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own,” Bush said.

President Bush also stated in his address that Americans were going to do whatever it took to ensure that justice would be accomplished.

“Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated,” he said.

The effects of 9/11 ushered in a new chapter in American history: a battle against terrorism. Now approaching the tenth year of the United State’s involvement in Afghanistan, Americans still have questions. Children in America today do not know a world without terrorism. Operation Enduring Freedom is the second longest war in American history, a mission taking almost three full presidential terms to complete.

Today, with President Bush’s initial goal complete of capturing and killing al Qaeda’s leader Osama Bin Laden­—mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks— an end to such destruction seems closer. In President Barack Obama’s own words, “Justice is done.”

“For over two decades, Bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies,” Obama said in his Justice is Done Speech on May 1, 2011. “The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.”

This achievement gave the United States the opportunity to slowly start withdrawing troops from the Middle East. It also gave Obama the chance to put an end to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

According to CBS News, on Aug. 31, 2011 President Obama put an end to Operation Iraqi Freedom, a war whose objectives Americans still question.

While reflecting on his thoughts and pondering about our nation’s past, junior Griffith Brown stands by former President George W. Bush’s actions following the tragedies of 9/11 and disagrees with Obama’s decision to pull troops out.

“From what I remember, public outcry for retaliation was very significant. Were I in George Bush’s position, I believe I would have done the same thing,” Brown said. “There is obviously much debate on our intentions and our purpose in the Middle East today, but I know for certain that I do not want to leave the countries we invaded just yet. Until those countries are as stable as possible and can function on their own, I do not believe we should pull out.”

While Obama continues to battle controversy over the seemingly rapid conclusion of the War on Terror, it is evident that soldiers engaging in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have established the peace they fought to maintain, no matter how unstable and short-lived that peace may be. For this, Pema explained, she is extremely thankful.

“9/11 has made me appreciate all of the armed forces that have to battle terrorists and terrorism on a daily basis, risking their lives so that we can stay safe and go on with our normal lives,” she said. “It has made me realize that terrorism has no boundaries, can occur anywhere and can affect anyone. It also made me realize the extent to which hatred drives individuals to perform abominable acts.”

As the United States turns the page on Operation Iraqi Freedom, the country looks back where it once was 10 years ago, its citizens finding it difficult to believe that their nation, once brought together by a tragedy, is now torn apart for that same reason.

We are all Americans

The day after Sept. 11, a new world seemed to have fashioned itself in the midst of the destruction. Niekamp recalls the feelings of peace and unity that encompassed the entire globe that day.

“On Sept. 12, I believe the news headlines in France were ‘We are all Americans,’” she said. “That collective support for our country worldwide was profound, and our support for each other as Americans was just as profound.”

However, the question remains if this collective support can be sustained today.

“Now that it’s been 10 years, we’re so divided, over things that matter a lot and things that don’t matter at all,” Niekamp said. “I am saddened that we can’t pull from that tragedy and maintain the notion that life is short and everyone wants the best for everyone else.”

This kind of distance, to both Niekamp and Pema, is the driving power behind such terrorist attacks like 9/11. According to Pema, the most efficient way to divert catastrophes like this in the future is reliability, trust and acceptance within humanity.

“In the future, if people can have more compassion and understanding of other people’s viewpoints and religious beliefs, tragedies like this one will hopefully be much less common,” she said. Pema added that communication is also key.

“Open and honest dialogue about our differences, aspirations and fears will help further the understanding of the worlds’ many cultures and will hopefully lead to greater peace,” she said.

As Niekamp looks toward the future, and wonders how the world will continue to evolve from the events of Sept. 11, she remains optimistic that humanity will retain their unified state once more.

“I’m hopeful that we don’t need something so tragic like [9/11] to be able to come together again. Maybe after 10 years this would be a time to recall those moments where people literally got into their cars and drove hundreds of miles to do whatever they could to support those people who were lost, who were looking, who were working, who were fighting,” she said. “I’d love for us to recall and retain that sense of unity again.”

At Upper Arlington High School, the participation fee for each sport is $85. Can you imagine having to pay more than six times as much for all sports at the high school? This could be the case next year for Pickerington schools, where the district is set to impose the highest pay-to-participate fees in central Ohio.

According to the minutes of the March 14 Pickerington Local Schools Board of Education meeting, the district plans to charge $500 per sport at the high school level and $325 at the middle school level next year. This came after the Pickerington Board of Education considered a proposal that would have charged $650 for some sports, including golf, swimming and basketball.

Pickerington’s need to raise costs in order to balance budgets combined with the budgetary problems of schools across the state raises questions about the appropriate cost to families for participation in athletics, the affect such costs could have on student participation in athletics and ultimately, the importance and role of athletics in the lives of students.

Financial problems are not new for scholastic sports programs in central Ohio. In 2009, following a series of failed levy attempts to raise more funds for sports and other extracirriculars activities, the Southwestern City School District shut down all extracurricular activities, including sports.

The situation left many students with questions about their athletic careers and many students left the district to continue playing. Others formed their own, informal teams, as senior Johanna Welling reported in December 2009 for Arlingtonian in an article entitled “Running their own show.”

Sports programs returned after a levy passed a year later; however, it also imposed heftier fees for participants. This year, Southwestern City School District students hoping to play a sport must pay $150 per sport. Additionally, students must pay $20 for clubs such as student council or mock trial.

Elsewhere in central Ohio, the Gahanna-Jefferson School District changed policies after an operating levy failed last November. The district will charge $200 per sport beginning in the 2011-12 school year.

With high fees and pay-to-play set-ups seemingly all around Upper Arlington, some wonder whether athletics at UAHS are destined for similar systems; some wonder if UA is practically already there.

Among those people is senior Alex West who was captain of the ice hockey team this year.

“I think, unfortunately, that money can sometimes be a barrier for kids playing sports—even sometimes here in UA,” he said.

West, like many other students including his co-captain senior David Whalen, is forced to play for a club, rather than for a team sponsored by the school. Costs for club sports, such as ice hockey, lacrosse and crew in the fall, can be much higher.

“The total fees were $2250 for varsity players, and $1900 for junior varsity,” Whalen said.

Senior Cam Williams, a lacrosse player, disagreed.

“It doesn’t seem like lacrosse is overly expensive,” he said. “The travel is the most expensive part.”

According to Williams, lacrosse players paid $275 for a trip to Maryland over spring break. The fee paid for buses, hotels and other team expenses, but came on top of other costs and fundraising.

Senior Grace Crumrine, a track and cross-country runner, expresses concerns about the costs of her sports. According to her, athletes in her sports paid fees of $90 and $125 (for track and cross-country, respectively). These fees were imposed in addition to the athletic participation fee that all athletes in school-sponsored sports must pay.

“These fees were in addition to the athletic fee,” Crumrine said, “which is why it is so ridiculous.”

West said that he believes these athletics costs can deter potential student-athletes and said he has seen it happen.

“I know a couple people who have abstained from playing because of the fees,” he said. “Some people within UA, but even more who played with me before and stopped playing at other schools because of price.”

According to senior boys crew captain Perry Kleinhenz, when costs get too high some sports have scholarship funds set up to help students participate.

“Quite a few teams have scholarship funds set up for people who would like to play but cannot afford to,” Kleinhenz said.

Measures can also be taken to allieviate costs for school-sponsored sports.

“My coach said you can email someone if you cant pay the $85 athletic fee and they’ll waive it for you,” Crumrine said. “But I don’t know anyone who did it.”

In Southwestern City Schools, sports saw a decrease in players following fee hikes, according to a Columbus Dispatch article by Charlie Boss entitled “About half of sports in South-Western schools see a drop in players.” The article attributes the drop to fees and reports that Franklin Heights High School had to cut programs, including freshman football and cross country, because of low student involvement.

To raise money without imposing more costs on players, many teams turn to extensive fundraising efforts to fill the gap between money earned from fees and team expenditures.

Most students are aware of the largest sports fundraisers at the high school. The lacrosse teams sell mulch; the baseball team sells subs. Fundraisers like carwashes or goods sales are common among many teams, also. Whalen said fundraisers such as the ad sales for the hockey team program provide financial relief from hockey fees.

“Ads sold for our programs come of the individual’s fees,” Whalen said. “The average player pays $1134. It just fluctuates depending on how hard they work to reduce costs.”

Williams said that the fundraisers the lacrosse team puts on are crucial for the teams financing.

“The way we fund most of the teams costs is through fundraising,” he said.

According to Whalen, the cost someone pays for hockey is entirely in their own hands.

“On average people paid for about half of their costs by selling ads,” he said. “Some people made the entire $2000, some people don’t sell many [ads at all].”

West agreed about the importance of fundraisers for his ice hockey team, and added that he thinks these fundraisers can cause problems for players.

“I think it has caused stress for some people who play,” he said. “They are always worried about money and paying for ice hockey. It’s also always a question of working a fundraiser to raise a lot of money or having to pay out of pocket.”

Such stress can detract from the attention that those students should be putting towards other activities.

“[For many, it can] be hard to concentrate on school or just playing [a sport] when you constantly have a car wash on a weekend or need to sell candy bars or whatever different sports do,” West said.

The lacrosse team’s mulch sale is among the largest sports fundraisers at the high school, Williams said.

“Selling mulch is a big part of lacrosse, both boys and girls,” he said. “Overall we sold 22,000 bags this year and made a $2.50 profit on each bag. These funds cover most expenses.”

It seems there is some question as to the level of fundraising for sports at the high school and how that fundraising could affect students. If other districts are a sign of what’s to come, the trends suggest the students may be asked to foot more of the bill or do more with less. •

From football to rugby, UAHS offers an array of sports and club sports. Though a few bring in significant revenue, most bring in their money from other sources. This means each team has to find its own ways to bring in money in other ways such as fundraising or boosters. Each sport also ranges in its expenses. Depending on how much travel occurs, or how much the team has to pay for certain programs, prices to play vary.

Despite misconceptions of some students, Upper Arlington athletic director Tim Schaefer said that funding for athletic teams is equal across the board.

“The athletic department itself charges one flat fee for athletes to play. This $85 fee goes to paying the coaches’ salaries and basic team funding. Outside of that fee, the teams themselves are in charge of any team fees,” Shaefer said.

Furthermore, Schaefer said that the rest of the expenses are often paid for by donations or fundraisers. Most sports have some sort of a fundraiser that pays for a lot of team fees. The hockey team has a car wash, the football team sells Stanley Steamer Carpet Cleaner and lacrosse sells mulch, among others.

Senior captain of the lacrosse team Cam Williams has participated in mulch distribution for four years now. According to Williams, distribution is a tough task that brings in most funds for the team. All in all, the lacrosse teams sell around 22,000 bags with a $2.50 profit on each bag for a total profit of $55,000 a year. On top of this, the lacrosse team pays for its own equipment and travel costs.

Junior Abby Dugger sells not only mulch for lacrosse, but also chocolate bars for cheerleading.

“All of the fundraisers are similar. It is just that mulch takes raising money to a whole another level. Also mulch has extra incentives since the top sellers receive prizes such as gift cards,” Dugger said.

If donations prove hard to come by, fundraisers can often be the most efficient way to raise money. Although bake sales can bring in some funds, they are not as productive as other fundraisers. Finding the most efficient way is especially important due to the fact that the school can only provide so much help.

According to Schaefer, the athletic department is more than willing to help, but with certain sports such as crew, aiding athletes can be nearly impossible.

“For example, in sports like crew, the team may travel to Boston for a regatta one weekend and Chicago the next. As a high school, in the midst of budget cuts, it can be impossible to aid all the athletes in need,” Schaefer said. “Student’s shouldn’t be afraid to play sports because of monetary reasons but I think most people understand there is a limit on how much we can help.”

The issue of educational budget cuts has implications beyond just athletics and extracurricular activities. Given current economic conditions and educational policy changes at state and local levels, broad cuts are being made at schools across central Ohio.

In the agenda for the April 11 meeting, the Pickerington Board of Education announced it would not renew contracts for 69 teachers and staff members who are in their first three years of teaching as well as other, more experienced faculty. In total, more than 100 workers are being cut.

In an interview with This Week, Pickerington Local Schools Superintendent Karen Mantia said the cuts were a necessary part of a comprehensive plan to reduce the budget.

“It’s a long, painful list,” she said. “We invest in human capital, and there’s not simple way to balance the budget without affecting teachers and staff.”

UA is also grappling with similar issues that will cause cuts in upcoming years. The minutes of a UAHS department head meeting describes the loss of funding the school expects.

“[Principal] Kip [Greenhill] reported that the district is targeted to lose 67 percent of its state aid,” the minutes read, “which amounts to 11 million dollars over the next four years.”

According to the memo, steps are already being taken to address the impending loss of funding.

“As a result, the Board of Education has put a freeze on teaching staff increases,” it reads. “All department budgets will be reduced up to ten percent next year. The reductions will allow us to set up a rainy day fund in case the levy [in November] is defeated.”

The decrease of state funding; however, is likely not as serious of a problem for UAHS as others. A financial update authored by Pickerington Local School District Treasurer Dan Griscom compares the financial situations of area districts. According to the report, UAHS has a lower reliance on state funding than nearby schools of similar academic standing. At 19.6 percent, the percentage of Upper Arlington’s dollars coming from the state is lower than most other school districts including Pickerington (51.4 percent) which relies most heavily on state funding. Only Olentangy, at 17.2 percent, is listed below Upper Arlington and the state average is 44.8 percent.

But if it comes time where the school board has to make larger cuts, some wonder from where those cuts will be made. Personnel costs of the Pickerington Local School District, which had to cut more than 100 jobs, were only 82 percent of total expenses. At Upper Arlington City Schools, personnel costs make up 86.7 percent of personnel costs, according to Griscom’s report. This would suggest job cuts could be in Upper Arlington’s near future.

According to the minutes of the department head meeting, such a situation is not here yet. Expenditure cuts were made without anyone losing their job at the high school, although some faculty was moved throughout the district.

Carla Fultz, president of the Pickerington Education Association, sums up the feeling and fears that many have.

“This will have an impact on many, many students., “ she said.

By Ceri Turner, ‘12

Sophomore Grace Tucker’s feet are among the last to rush through the doorway into her first period AP American Studies class. Her backpack, slung over one shoulder, has begun to slip down her arm under the weight of the half dozen books and binders stowed inside. She hasn’t yet found a spare moment to visit her locker, so in addition to her bulging pack she has a black duffel bag loaded with her crew and dance gear. She left her viola behind in the orchestra room after her Chamber rehearsal earlier that morning.

Tucker hikes her backpack straps more securely over her shoulders before crossing the room and, in one practiced movement, swings both the backpack and the duffel to the floor and collapses into her desk. She casually brushes her hair behind her ears, unzips her backpack, grabs her American Studies binder and her pencil pouch and settles down to another long day of instruction, occassionally taking the time to doodle in her notebook.

“I do have a pretty strict schedule, and I tend to run crazily from one activity to another,” Tucker said.

Tucker’s hectic schedule causes her to give up the time that she might otherwise reserve for recreation or other non-school-related activities.

“My number one priority always ends up being school, which is not always the fun thing, but it helps me make sure I get everything done and I continue to excel,” Tucker said. “If I have to go to the LC or Math Lab for lunch, it’s what I have to do.”

Tucker is just one of thousands of students nationwide whose minutes are meticulously scheduled, whose days are achingly organized and whose weeks, months and years are all aiming for one thing—a trend which students, teachers and parents nationwide are beginning to recognize. This was the purpose of the documentary Race to Nowhere, which teachers as well as interested students and parents viewed in January.

According to the film, school today is no longer about learning. It is all about preparing for college applications, so Tucker and others like her can grow up, get a good job, earn enough money and live a happy life. Or at least that is today’s expectation.

• • •

Among parents concerned about the direction of education in the United States is Vicki Abeles, a mother turned filmmaker whose concern for the mental and emotional well being of her own children blossomed into a passion to change the educational system and American culture. After talking to experts, students, parents and teachers across the country, Abeles decided the best way to raise awareness on a large scale was to create a film that captured some of these students’ stories and the underlying issues.

“I was determined to give voice to those on the front lines of education—students and teachers,” Abeles said.

These voices came together in Abeles’ film, Race to Nowhere.

“[Race to Nowhere] points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired,” the film’s website said.

Since its production in 2009, Race to Nowhere has been screened in hundreds of locations, including over 70 theaters and schools. Among those schools is UAHS, where on Jan. 19 over 300 parents, students and educators came together to view the film and discuss the issues.

“[The film] raised a lot of concerns, both as a parent and as a principal, about the demands that are sometimes placed on students,” principal Kip Greenhill said.

These so-called demands are often vague and hard to define; the majority of the time, purely academic activities are the assumed culprit. With this hypothesis, the blame falls on schools, and in reality, that is simply unrealistic.

“It’s not just homework,” Greenhill said. “It’s participation in extracurricular activities; music, athletics, dance, a lot of different things, and some of them not even school related.”

Race to Nowhere trumpets that students are living in a veritable circus of commitments. America’s high school students are funneled from one grade to another, not learning information as much as briefly retaining it. Burdened by the pressures of their schools and the demands of their parents, both obsessed with image, students spend the tail-end of their childhood consumed by stress. Within this culture, school becomes less about learning and growing than the creation of an idealized self—all good grades, great test scores and community service—intended to optimally impress college recruiters. The film gives the impression that students today are struggling to maintain their sanity in the midst of all of these activities.

According to Greenhill, there is simply not enough time for students to participate in everything.

“You have to have balance in your life; you need down time for yourself,” Greenhill said. “Everybody in our society… we get over committed and overprogrammed, and it’s not healthy.”

• • •

In 1980, the average junior would take Algebra II, Biology I, a junior-level English course and the third year of their foreign language. A student looked at half a dozen colleges, and the search itself was not addressed until late junior year. According to college counselor Mark Davis, when the student finally did apply to college, both the competition and the scene itself were almost unrecognizable.

“The expectations of the highly selective schools, the competition, it was nothing like it is today. It’s day and night,” Davis said. “Part of it is size of population, and another part is that electronic aspect; students can now apply to more colleges much easier.”

The Common Application set a new single-day record on Dec. 31, when students submitted 127,175 applications.

“Those highly-selective schools [are] looking for a student who is unique and different, who has wonderful test scores, who has an A transcript, [and] has taken every competitive course that they could,” Davis said. “They’re looking for those kids that are in the top two and three percent of our society, those kids that can manage all that and have a life.”

For the other 97 percent of students, life is simply not that easy. Parents, students and teachers alike get caught up in the admissions process.

“In UA, we think that everyone is in that top two percent,” Davis said. “We should come back and realize [that] that’s a small portion of our student body.”

Largely due to the administration’s consistent recommendations that students take AP and IB classes, many students believe that such a schedule is necessary for success. Junior Kevin Yuh came to the highschool with a similiar mindset.

“I thought that I didn’t work hard enough in middle school, and that I really had to step it up in high school, now that it counts,” Yuh said. “I tunnel-visioned into academics and didn’t make the social connections I could have.”

Over time, however, Yuh has tried to manage his priorities and avoid overscheduling. Still, Yuh does not claim to be without stress.

“A lot of stress comes from yourself worrying too much,” Yuh said. “Teachers have high expectations, parents have high expectations, and when you’re in danger of not meeting those expectations you get stressed out.”

• • •

The world Race to Nowhere presents is unforgiving—students are expected to perform and produce, but are not given time to play. Although the film leads viewers to believe that this hypercompetitive environment is the norm, here at UAHS it may be more of the exception. Instead of getting wrapped up in the competition itself, students here motivate themselves.

“Everyone gets motivation from different places,” Yuh said. “When you’re young, it’s from your parents and when you’re older it’s from yourself.”

For Tucker, it is her own perfectionism that fuels her drive to succeed.

“I definitely pressure myself,” she said. “Just having people around me that are in advanced classes and working hard and getting good grades, that motivates me to do better and try harder. I push myself a lot.”

Race to Nowhere suggests that schools assign an excess of homework producing stress, cheating, cramming and an environment in which students learn facts to pass tests before forgetting it all the next day.

Some, though, believe that the problem that some students have gets projected onto the entire student population.

“We only hear about it when it becomes extreme,” counselor Mary Anne Nyeste said. “We don’t hear from all the people that think the amount of homework is just fine.”

But to Greenhill, the fact that some students experience this, or according to Abeles, many students, is concerning.

“That’s the point of having these discussions and showing the film,” he said.

Race to Nowhere cites dozens of kids, parents and teachers who give testament to the consequences of over-scheduling kids—addressing everything from lack of sleep and disinterest in learning to panic attacks and suicide.

“Most of the time the stress becomes directly related to time management more than the actual commitments that they’ve undertaken,” Nyeste said. “A lot of times we say yes to things and then we try and figure out how we’re going make it all work. We need to reverse that process.”

• • •

For some kids, this balance between commitments is effortless and, as a result, high school is manageable. One such student is sophomore Ben Kompa. Kompa is enrolled in several honors and AP classes and participates in a variety of extra-curricular activites. Despite these commitments, Kompa still finds time to relax and is simply not the type to stay up late studying. Instead, he uses his time wisely at school.

“On my busiest days, I do homework until eight,” Kompa said. “I usually do everything for points at school, and at home I’m just studying or practicing, so I can just stop working.”

Freshman Grace Saalman, a girl with aspirations to become a doctor, is another UAHS student for which this balancing act is second nature. Saalman’s secret to success is simple—she, too, has excellent time management skills and manages to balance her athletics, music and academics exceedingly well.

“I set a time for my extracurricular activities and then I have a certain time in the evening where I reserve that for my homework, and then after that I have an hour where I do my music,” she said.

Students like Saalman and Kompa handle their workloads almost effortlessly.

“[These students] absorb knowledge from a classroom instantaneously, they go home, they do a couple hours of homework, and they’re fine,” Davis said. “Then you have another student who goes home and works for seven or eight or nine hours to achieve the same thing, and when that happens it’s unhealthy.”

There are students like Saalman and Kompa, but there are also students who fundamentally do not have the capacity to handle so many activities.

“There are some people who can handle all kinds of pressure and stress, and for other people it takes just the slightest amount [and there are consequences],” said Greenhill.

These are the students that provide the basis for Race to Nowhere, plain and simple.

• • •

Every student is different, with different personalities, different passions, different aptitudes and different weaknesses. These kids have different dreams and aspirations, and, because of this, are on different paths that will hopefully lead to the fulfillment of these aspirations. College counselors like Davis are available to help students reach these goals.

“Every family has to look at their own situation, their student’s desires, and try to evaluate where the student is compared to the whole college process,” Davis said. “The film really did focus in on students who were having various types of difficulties with schools and maybe with expectations of a family that were much higher than a student’s capabilities.”

Greenhill said he hopes to apply this same concept on a larger scale in an effort to improve the situation here at UAHS. The first step of Greenhill’s three-step plan was the film showing in January, which was designed to raise awareness in the community.

“We took a very major step by showing that video,” Greenhill said. “It’s a wake up call that parents, students and also the school need to look at balance in people’s lives.”

Next, the administration distributed a survey March 16 in an attempt to evaluate the opinions of students and extract their own personal feelings about their school experience. The data collected will be tabulated and then, hopefully by early April, the development of organized discussions can begin.

“I want to have a team of parents, teachers and students sit and talk about the school climate,” Greenhill said. “Are we spreading [students] out too thin?”

• • •

Administrators are quick to point out the opportunities that students at UAHS have. They have AP courses, IB courses, honors courses, art, music, theater, family, consumer sciences courses and a wide variety of sports and clubs available to them every day.

“My role is to help every student balance that tightrope; to be challenged enough without being stressed,” Nyeste said. “On one hand, we want our students to take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities, but on the other hand we don’t want to be spreading them so thin that they can’t make a difference anywhere!”

Tucker, looking back, said she has no regrets about committing to all of her activities; however, she does have advice for other students. She urges kids to make sure they always have time for themselves.

“Pick one thing, maybe two things, that they really love and take courses that they’re interested in and that they think will challenge them,” she said.

Balance can be achieved. It is not impossible. However, it is going to take effort.

“I just hope that our kids here will find some way to balance life and not get too overly hyper about the whole process,” Davis said. “To still find time to be kids, to still have fun… I think that’s the most important thing.”

High school students are, after all, only high school students once.

“Carpe diem, seize the day!” Yuh said. “High school is only what you make of it.”