Student Voice of Historic Hayward High

Former Assistant Principal Steps upDave Seymour, former assistant principal, becaomes principal of Hayward High School this academic year.

Jacky OsegueraThe Haywire

See PRINCIPAL, Page 2

Students Showcase Spirit For Rally

HPN Target Schools Neighborhood Demographics

-Funded by a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education-Led by California State University East Bay-Hispanic 51.8%-Asian 14.4%-African American 13.9%-White 12.5%-Other 7.4%-51% of households are low to extremely low income levels-36% of children under six are living below the poverty line-Given to HUSD schools in the Jackson triangle

Infographic by Karin Hoang

New Program Motivates HUSD Students To Graduate

The transition from assistant principal to being the new

principal can be an interesting and confusing change for many and that is the case for Hayward High

School’s new principal, David Seymour. Seymour has many good days as new principal, and many stressful days that follow those as well. “I’m nervous but I’m going to remain positive. It’s a lot of work,” Seymour said this as he

looked away from the computer screen. “I thought I was busy as an assistant principal, but I’m finding it to be more busy now. Some days are very stressful. And some days are great though.” Not only are some of the days stressful but there were some goals that came into the picture once Seymour became the prin-cipal.

“My goals were to first and foremost, keep doing some of the good work that Mr. Bullis had done.” Seymour said this as he smiled. George Bullis was the principal of Hayward High before Seymour. Bullis left Hayward High during the middle of the summer because he found a job elsewhere and the

With donations coming from local educators, government agencies, businesses, and nonprof-its, the Hayward Promise Neigh-borhood has a goal of raising graduation rates for schools in the Jackson Triangle area. Recently, AT&T donated $25 million to Cal State East Bay. Due to low income and poverty levels in the Jackson Triangle, Cal State East Bay donated more than $276,000 to Hayward schools to create programs that will improve the education system. “The intention of the project is to increase the graduation rate and lower the dropout rate by provid-ing additional resources, academ-

ic and social support and help get students to care about their educational path and future,” said Emily Chow, CSUEB Outreach Coordinator. The project will benefit Hayward High School with the fi-nancial aid for after school college tutors and a dropout prevention counselor. The dropout counselor should be present within the next several weeks with the goal of in-creasing the number of graduates each year. “I don’t think it’s going to happen the first year where all of the sudden we have a 100 percent graduation rate, but it’s something that is really positive and a step in the right direction,” claimed David Seymour, Principal.

The Haywire acknowledges Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Teachers Adapt to New

System

Roughly one year ago Hay-ward High received word of a new student grading system, Infinite Campus that would be implement-ed some time in the 2014-2015 school year. Anticipated to make grading more efficient and allow student and parent access, teachers were eager to make the change. Three months into the school year, however, some teachers are still struggling with such tasks as entering grades, and are missing key functions that prevent them from being able to help each stu-dent with all their classes. “I am not a fan, everything takes twice as long, even simple things,” John Edelman, first year teacher, said. To some it seems as though the difficult interface did not fix the issues that teachers encountered with Zangle. “It is suppose to be better than Zangle, but because we only had two hours of training it makes it more complicated to use,” teacher Jill Barbosa said. Dave Seymour, Principal of Hayward High, is aware of the responses to Infinite Campus but knows that with the new sys-tem comes an online portal for parents and students that will be accessible second semester, at the

Volume 2, Issue 1 www.HHShaywire.com October 2014

Students support their class at the rally in the gym by showcasing their banner, float, and dance after the march to the judges on Oct. 24, 2014.

Photos by Trenea Brocker and Karin Hoang

Matt DeCambraThe Haywire

Aurora GalambosThe Haywire

See PROGRAM, Page 2

Sports

Injured football player aims for a scholarship

Page 9

Feature

Scott Buros reflects on international teaching

Page 8

2 NEWS

administrators had to look for replacements. Many students from Hayward High would agree with Seymour’s thinking of being a good fit for the new principal’s position. He is a “fun,” “always-smiling,” and “interactive” principal. Most of the responses from the students and staff have been positive. Seymour hopes that he has a good relationship with the stu-dents, so he continues to greet stu-dents during breaks and by walk-ing from classroom to classroom and saying hello in the hallways at least a few times a day. “It gets a positive reaction from the students, so I know I appreciate them and I hope they

appreciate me,” Seymour said. A lot of students were upset last school year due to the transfer that was happening with Seymour who had been an assistant prin-cipal at Hayward High for three years. He was supposed to be an assistant principal at Tennyson High School for the 2014-2015 school year but because of Bullis’ retreat, he stayed and went up to being the new principal of the school. Not only did the new school year start off with a new principal but with a stronger set of rules. “We had a group of teachers together over the summer and we planned out some new things for this year that we wanted to do.” Seymour adds. Certainly, the teachers planned out the new

Contact Us: The HaywireHayward High SchoolRoom M61633 East Ave. Hayward, CA 94541(510) 723-3170 ext. 61274hhshaywire@gmail.com

The Haywire is produced, edited and published by students in the Journalism class at Hayward High School and serves as an open forum for discussion among the Hayward High School community. All opinions and editorials expressed in this publication and in Haywire Online are those of the Haywire staff and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Hayward Unified School District personnel.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @hhshaywire

On the web at: www.hhshaywire.com

AdviserMr. Karsten L. Barnes

Editor in Chief Matthew DeCambra

Managing Editor Hannah Santos

News EditorKarin Hoang

Farmer Life EditorMelissa Harris

Sports EditorChantal Remillard

Opinion EditorLezel Legados

Arts and Style EditorDia Jwainat

Photo EditorTrenea Brocker

Staff Writers Jasmine Barraza-Arias

Ines Aguilar Janae Perry Sarah Casco

Alexia FranklinMoriah Stall

Xochitl LariosJacky Oseguera

Aurora GalambosDiba Gordafkan

Fatafehi Eli Pooja Panchal

2014 Spring National High School Journalism Convention NSPA

Best in Show Finalist

PRINCIPAL, from page 1earliest. “I think having parent access is a great way for parents to watch over how their child is doing,” Seymour said. “ I am concerned however about how long we will have to wait for it, the fact that we do not have access means parents will be calling teachers for up-dates, which will take away from their time.” Any help for this program will come directly from the Hayward Unified School District. Although, there have been complaints some staff are still optimistic. “It’s a growing experience, and I think Infinite Campus is a good program; we just need to give it time,” Seymour said.

Junior Takes On Family TraditionsSarah CascoThe Haywire

It was the day of the Regional round giving everyone her the

impression that she was calm, and maintained a pokerface. It was her turn to present her business plan, she was internally a nervous wreck and didn’t expect to win. Bobbie Reyes’ victory was a step closer to advancing to the National Challenge, competing against other young budding entrepreneurs. “She was so articulate and lively, the judges just fell in love with her,” said Rick Charles, business teacher Reyes’ grew up in the busniess environment due to her mother graduated from University of Phoenix with a Masters’ degree in business. “I would always hear my mom talk about business on the phone with her friends,” Reyes said. Reyes has recently competed in the Network For Teaching En-trepreneurship (NFTE) National Competition and was ranked in the Top 43 in the nation. The NFTE challenge compe-tition started around April last year; the participants created a business, presented their plan, and were judged based on how feasible it is. “Its hard to start a business. You have to put almost all of your money into it,” Reyes said. Reyes’ business was called Ap-parel of Champions, that makes

things at Hayward High. For instance, they got rid of all the orange vest hallway passes, and produced new lanyard bathroom passes. Also, the assistant princi-pals seem to have a part in rein-forcing the rules of the school. “It was a group of teachers that kind of came up with the ideas, new rules and some of the new things and the assistant prin-cipal’s are kind of now enforcing them.” Seymour said. Seymour’s transition to being the new principal for Hayward High has a positive outlook on this transition. “Everyday there’s challenges that I had never experienced be-fore that I have to overcome. And I think so far, so good.” Seymour says.

customized spirit packs for high school clubs and sports. During her freshman and sophomore year, she was involved in sports, which inspired her to come up with the name. Reyes moved on to the semi-fi-nals which was held in San Fran-cisco and moved on to the regional round in Mountain View, and won the $1,000 prize. Her business was ranked Top 2 out of 600 business plans in the Bay Area. Reyes made it to the national competition, which was held Oct. 9, in Silicon Valley. And the stakes were even higher, with the win-ning prize being $25,000. But Reyes didn’t make it to the finals. “I worked so hard for over a year,” Reyes said. “I shed a few short tears, but I knew I had to make the best out of the whole experience.” Although, she didn’t make it to the final three, Reyes received rec-ognition for her work by the City of Hayward, earning a certificate from the mayor. She has even been offered a job in San Mateo, by a mentor throughout the competi-tion. And in November, the school board will recognize her. Reyes is careful not to let all of her recent success overtake her. “You have to stay humble in order to learn and to succeed,” Reyes said. “[Because] once you let everything get to your head, that’s when you start to drop. The money, fame, success, could go just like that.”PROGRAM, from page 1

Junior Bobbie Reyes shows her business potential on national level by competing against other young entrepreneurs.

Photo by Karin HoangBobbie Reyes was recognized by City of Hayward for her performance in business competition recently.

Hayward High’s Spirit Rises

Every year spirit week comes out on top. This year students showed their spirit greatly by dressing up to support their school class and get points to-ward DTR. Always some-thing new and creative that students bring to the Hayward High campus inspiring them to keep the tradition going. Se-niors leave Hayward High knowing its in good hands and expecting the seniors of next year do as great as this year and even better.

Photos by Alexia Franklin

Halloween

Photo courtesy of Yelp

The Smores Sundae’s a popular item on the menu of Kuhstered Food Truck at Off the Grid Food trucks in Hayward.

Off the Grid Food Truck

Where: 777 B Street, Hayward in front of Hayward City Hall

Food: Indian Food, Mexican Food, Medditer-ranean Food, Custard Ice Cream

Food Trucks Head Off to a New Loction in Hayward

When: Every Monday from 5pm-9pm

Entertainment: Free music (usually)

trucks in Hayward has brought people from all over the Bay Area to get together and eat different traditional foods. Many people believe that Hayward needed food trucks in this location for a long time now and because it’s here now people think that driving to Off the Grid is worth it. Off the Grid offers a variety of food from well known resturaunts all over the Bay Area and the people who go there love it.

Nothing to eat at home on a Monday night? Why

don’t you head to Off the Grid Food Trucks. Off the Grid’s new location has created an outstanding environment for people of the Hayward community and people from around the Bay Area to come and enjoy their meals. The Food Truck’s new location has created a larger space for others to be able to sit and enjoy their meals. The Food

Dia Jwainat The Haywire

$ $

67.4 % will be spent on adults buying cos-tumes

47% will be spent on people carving pumpkins

36% will be spent on people going to haunted houses

52% will be spent on peo-ple having Halloween parties

20% will be spent on people buying costumes for their pets

$2.2 billion will be spent on candy in Hallow-een 2014

168 billion people will participate in Halloween

According to National Retail Federation

3 ARTS & STYLE

Spent on

“Happiest Place on Earth” is Scariest Place in October Ines Aguilar The Haywire

Photo By Ines Aguilar Cinderella’s Castle and Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney Disneyland, the place

where dreams come true has made no expecta-

tions this Halloween season. Orange and yellow colors fill the Disneyland park and people big and small run around filled with Halloween excitement. The Disneyland Resort celebrates Halloween between Sept. 12 and Oct. 31 with select night dedicated to Halloween filled festivities. During these select nights Disneyland cel-ebrates Mickey’s Halloween Party, beginning Sept. 26. On these nights Disneyland closes early for Mickey’s Halloween Party ticket holders and visitors dress in their favorite characters

to enjoy a night of trick-or-treat-ing in the park.The streets of Disneyland are decorated for Halloween with fall colors, lights and hundreds of unique hand-carved pump-kins. The streets of Disneyland are filled with cheerful charac-ters, villains and children of all ages stopping to take photos. The resort’s traditional forms of entertainment con-tinue; parades and live perfor-mances fill the streets daily while the park’s themed divi-sions contribute to the Hallow-een theme. Certain rides such as, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror are refur-bished for the holiday. These festivities continue to draw the crowds into the

happiest place on Earth. The best plan of attack to beat those crowds is arriving early to the park at by opening and taking advantage of Magic Mornings in both Disneyland and Califor-nia Adventures. Packing lots of water will keep you hydrated throughout the hot day and away from Southern California’s zincy tasting water. And save as much money for those souvenirs buy packing light snacks to eat throughout the day and dinning outside of the park for your bigger meals. As Walt Disney said, “Here you leave the World of Today and enter the World of Yesterday,

Cindrella’s Castle and Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney are still on display during the Halloween season.

Diba Gordafkan The Haywire

The Evil Within Price: $59.96;Rated: Mature (M 17+)Rating: 4.5 stars Shinji Mikami has once again worked his (terrifying) magic! The Evil Within is an anticipat-ed horror ride with every scene you expect from a horror movie. Terrifying, crazy and full of action. The game keeps your palms sweating at every minute, craving every minute of some terror. GamesRadar says that it is a unique horror game worth experiencing.

NBA 2K15 Price: $59.99; Rated: Everyone (E)Rating: 3.5 stars There’s a huge difference in this 2k15 than the others. The game itself features approximately 5,000 new animations, shoot-ing systems, new team-specific play sets, and more control over rebounding, shooting, steals, and blocks. There is improvement in the gameplay, even more for an impressive result. You’re still getting the challenge of profes-sional basketball in video game form.

Destiny Price: $59.99Rated: Teen (T)Rating: 4.5 stars In Destiny, from the creators of Halo, you are a Guardian of the last city on Earth, and you are able to hold an immense amount of power. You’re able to explore the ancient ruins of our galaxy, far, far away. You are left to defeat Earth’s ene-mies, reclaim all that we have lost, become a hero unimag-inable to the history books. This is the next evolution of public gameplay and storytelling.

Five Nights at Freddy’s Price: 4.99Rated Teen (T)Rating: 4.5 stars Welcome to your new summer job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza! The main attraction is Freddy Fazbear and his two friends. They are animatronic robots, programmed to please crowds. The goal is to make to morning without running out of power. Can you survive the nights?

Far Cry 4 Price: $59.99Rated Mature (M 17+) Relase Date: Nov. 18You are Ajay Ghale. Traveling to Kyrat to fulfill your mother’s dying wish, you find yourself caught up in a civil war to over-throw the oppressive regime of dictator Pagan Min. Explore and navigate this vast open world, where danger and unpredict-ability lurk around every corner.

Watch Dogs Price: $59.99Rated Mature (M 17+)Rating: 4 stars You play as Aiden Pearce, a brilliant hacker and former thug, whose criminal past led to a violent family tragedy. Now on the hunt for those who hurt your family, you’ll be able to monitor and hack all who surround you by tricking everything connected to the city’s network.

Dias De Los Muertos

Dias de los Muertos is a special Mexican Holiday to celebrate those who have passed. Yesterday at the library, English teacher Joel Ochoa and his Puente students showcased tribute altars for various classes. One of the Puente stu-dents made an altar of Walt Disney. The alter for Disney was to remember him for all his accomplishments before he passed away. Dias de los Muertos is an important day to many in the Latin culture.

Photos by Dia Jwainat

Video Games Galore Newest releases should keep gamers busy this month

4 ARTS & STYLE

Photo By Ines Aguilar

Disneyland Mickey’s Halloween Party ends today

Student Dances to the Beat of the Aztec Drums Jasmine Barraza

The Haywire

ressed in a skirt and strapped sandals, with bead-ed bracelets, and colorful bandan-as, Jacqueline Carrillo, a senior at Hayward High School, shows her love for Aztec dancing. “I love Aztec dancing but I get tired.” Carrillo said. Carrillo dances with Lak’ech, which means “I am your other you,” a group of Aztec dancers. The group she dances with is made up of twenty four dancers and they practice -very hard- at a big studio on B St. “Ever since I was little, I had a fascna-tion with how music can make people move with grace and how strong a person can really be,” Carrillo said. “I found out about this local Aztec dance group by my friend Adriana Aguilar. She was kind enough to invite me to

the practices, and I was hooked on the first day. I have been dancing for four months.” Only four months in, Carril-lo has already completed four performances. According to friend Julissa Pena, senior, it is nerve-wracking for Carillo to perform in front of her hometown friends and family in Hayward. “Now that I understand drum beats and movements, I can con-centrate on my thoughts, which for most of us is a prayer of show-ing appreciation to Mother Earth, wind, water and all of the ele-ments that give us life,” Carrillo said. “It might be hard to under-

stand at first but when you hear the drum it takes me to a different place and state of mind.” Getting plenty of rest and havingtime to dedi-cate a couple of hours to dancing, Car-rillo is blissful

enough to be on the Lak’ech team. “It changed my point of view on differences in culture,” Car-rillo said. “What I learned is way different than what my teachers taught me, it opened my eyes

more.” The Lak’ech changed Carrillo’s point of view on differences in culture, but yet it is tiring for her, because of her busy schedule. “Jacqueline is one of our star students right now” said Manuel Garcia, Aztec dance teacher, “She has been dancing here with us for four months.” Despite Carrillo’s work load, her passion for dancing made her not want to quit, continuing what she loves most. “Dancing inspires me because there is no limit to how someone can incorporate their own style to any dance, and getting to discover mine as well as seeing my peers find their style of danc-ing,” Carrillo said.

New faces, New PacesLong time Bret Harte teachers make transition from middle school to Hayward High

Trenea BrockerThe Haywire

alking onto campus on the first day of school, there was a familiar face to most stu-dents at the end of the hall in B-1. Kyle Howard transitioned from working with middle school stu-dents at Bret Harte to high school students after many years. He decided to take the job after old principal, George Bullis brought the idea upon him. “I told Bullis before he left that I preferred to teach 11th or 12th-grade and when they needed an AP teacher they asked me if I wanted to do it and I accepted,” Howard said.

Chuckling, Howard describes how his first days at Hayward High went. “My first day, I was a complete wreck. I was stuttering, my drawer got locked and I couldn’t get out my copies,” Howard said. “I don’t know, I felt like a new teacher for the first couple of days.” “The first week was hard, the second week was difficult, the third week I started getting the hang of it and now it’s pretty smooth.” His desire to experience a new environment of students was part of his reason for leaving Bret Harte. “There’s less focus on behavior and there’s more focus on just the academic side,” Howard said. Growing up in the Bay Area his entire life and still wanted to be a part of the community so he took Hayward High’s opening as an opportunity for a change. “I was tired of middle school and it was time for something new, I didn’t want to leave the community and I definitely want-ed to see the kids that I’ve taught go through the system before I made an even bigger change,” Howard said. Teaching 12th-grade AP/reg-ular English and one 9th-grade class for leadership while being the Activities Director, How-

ard had to adapt to the different environment of kids that he used to teach while at Bret Harte. The level of maturity was noticeable between the different grade levels in the classroom. “They come in and sit down, they’re not running around and their conversations are different,” Howard said. Howard intends to leave an im-pact on all of his students through his teaching methods and personal experiences. Still transitioning from teaching different grade levels, challenges are faced but are gradually getting better as the weeks go by. Howard is dedicated to making his years at Hayward High worthwhile for his upcoming and present students. “I’m still getting used to the way things are but I’m picking up at it,” Howard said. Howard takes in a lot of input of what his students have to say about what goes on in the class-room. Not only does he want his students to learn the material but to absorb what he’s teaching to prepare for the future. “Hopefully my students think I’m a motivator, someone who believed in them, expected them to be successful and to raise their expectations,” Howard said.

How do you feel about seeing your former students that you taught at Bret Harte? It is the highlight of coming to Hayward High. I love seeing my old students, I love having my old students in some of my classes. It makes it easier of a transition to move from Bret Harte to Hayward High.

What made you decide to switch from teaching at a middle school to a high school?I’ve always thought that teaching spanish is my passion. At Bret Harte unfortunately because its

Moriah StallThe Haywire

a middle school, there was only 2 elective classes, so the rest of the time I taught other things. At Hayward High, they needed a full time spanish teacher, and so I said now is the time.

How do you like teaching at Hayward High so far? I’m happy. Its a different change teaching Spanish 3. But the students help me, and we kind of work it out together. So, I think I’m doing okay. I’m doing well.

What are the biggest changes from middle school to high school?Bret Harte was more personal, it was a smaller school. Hayward High is huge! Also, the contents, difference just in Spanish 3. The kids and the problems are still the same, high school or middle school, do your homework, study, be responsible be respectful.

What do you miss about teach-ing in middle school?I miss teaching the other subjects, I liked teaching Language Arts. Its a different kind of class and ambi-ance. I also miss the innocence of the middle school students which is gone by the time they get to high school.

5 FARMER LIFE

Kyle Howard Paula Cruz de Ibarra

“Dancing inspires me because there is

no limit to how someone can

incorporate their own

style to any dance”

W

D

Jacqueline Carrillo practics her dancing alone along with her other team members in their dance studio to prepare for routines performances

Photos byJasmine Barraza

Anxiety Women are twice as likely to ex-perience anxiety as men.

Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children.

Anxiety disorders also often co-occur with other disorders such as depression, eating disor-ders, and attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder (ADHD).

Typical age to have anxiety is 13 years old

DepressionAbout 20 percent of teens will experience teen depression before they reach adulthood.

1 in 4 women will require treatment for de-pression at some time, compared to 1 in 10 men.

Untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide, the third leading cause of death among teenagers.

Between 10 to 15 percent of teenagers have some symptoms of teen depression at any one time.

Bipolar Eating Disorders

ADD The researchers found that 2.5 percent of youth met criteria for bipolar disorder in their lifetime

The rate of bipolar symptoms among U.S. teens is nearly as high as the rate found among adults

When one parent has bipolar dis-order, the risk to each child is l5 to 30%. When both parents have bipolar disorder, the risk increases to 50 to 75%.

Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents

95% of those who have eating disor-ders are between the ages of 12 and 25.8

Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors

Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S.

3 to 5 percent, or about 2 million, of American teens suffer from ADHD or ADD

Non-hispanic white teens are about twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADD or ADHD (8 percent) than Hispanic (4 percent) or African-American (5 per-cent) teens

Teen ADD and ADHD are usually ac-companied by at least one other behav-ioral or developmental problem, and a higher risk of juvenile delinquency

OCDOCD affects as many as 3% of the general population, roughly one million of whom are children and adolescents.

Unlike the high female: male ratio in other anxiety disorders, the ratio of boys to girls is 2:1

OCD has been reported as early as the preschool years, with a peak onset age of about ten

“People need to stop using mental illnesses as

adjectives. Mental illnesses are not cute

or special.” -Diba Gordafkan

ence depression in some point of their life. The National Insti-tute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that approximately 11 percent of adolescents have a depression disorder by the age of 18. Suicide is the third-lead-ing cause of death among aged 15 to 19, according to NAMI. So, it’s not uncommon for a teen to have a mental illness, but many people are taking the seriousness and danger of it, making them “pretty” and “required”. Society has made the viewing of mental illness as a cute trend instead of an SOS. People are taking some-thing so personal and scary, something dark and awful, and making it sunshine and rain-bows. Why? I ask this question everyday. Why would someone want to take painful afflictions and make it something it isn’t? Why would someone want to take something that kills teens before they start their lives,

before they begin their futures, and fake it to perfection? I believe this fascination with depression and many other mental illnesses devel-oped from the likes of movies, books, and tv shows where “broken” people are seem-ingly put back together by a significant other. Hollywood disfigures and diminishes the true nature and impact of mental illnesses. The distortion

igning on to Tumblr and Instagram isn’t the same anymore. While scrolling onto the sites, you see faded pictures of scarred skin and pills sprawled on the floor, edited to the core, black and white lettering about sadness and suicide - the sadder, the better, it seems. These are terrible things, mental illness, low self-esteem and all, but we’ve started to romanticize them, making it the worst romance of them all. Let me say this very plainly: anything about mental illness is not beautiful. Noth-ing at all. Self-harm is not fun. Suicide is not trendy. Bipolar is not an accessory. Schizo-phrenia is not cute. Mental illness is not as glamorous as the Tumblr users say. It is not a sexy weakness. There is no “strange beauty” in illness. You don’t ever want to suffer from something so calam-itous. Some examples of the “self hate” I see on these specific sites are the black and white pictures of scars and running blood from fresh self harm cuts while the person says they’re “sad and tired”, or a planned picture of used cigarette butts on the table with antidepressants spread over the surface. Some people prefer comments. I just recently saw a Tumblr user reblog a post which said: “I wish my weight was as low as my self esteem”. These are completely unacceptable and hurtful because glorifying an illness does not make it look serious. According to NAMI, about 1 out of 5 teens will experi-

6 FARMER LIFE FARMER LIFE

S

7Mental Illnesses are being romantacized instead of taken with serious caution

Mental Illness from a Professional Point of View

What does it mean to have a mental illness?Mental illness means that there is an issue with the brain that is effecting the way the neurotransmitters work. Mental illness can take all kinds of shapes and forms. There’s a lot of different ways that they show up and that they affect people’s lives.

How do you feel about people who have mental illnesses?I enjoy helping people who have mental illnesses. I think that it can be a chal-lenge and I feel for people who are real-ly struggling because I know it can be a long road to starting to feel better . And I feel a lot of times it’s out of people’s control.

About teens romantaciz-ing mental illnesses, why do you think that they are doing this instead?I think that it’s possible that it’s com-mon for teens to feel confused or lonely potentially at times. And so what I try to do is work with those teens to uncover what the real issue is, such as difficulty at home, feeling alone, puberty, things like that.

Why do you think its so common for teens to have mental illnesses?I think adolescence is a time when the brain is growing and changing rapidly. I think that is one of the main reasons sometimes issues with mental health surface at the time and also there have been studies that shown that mental illnesses tend to show up during ado-lescence. A lot of times what i see is environmental stress, family, difficulty, trauma, all of those are things that contribute most to what I work with.

The Worst Romance of Them AllDiba Gordafkan

The Haywire infuses mental illness with a certain allure and mystique. The obsession people have with making mental illness into something beautiful and romantic is one thing I hope will go away as how it came to be in the first place. It is not beautiful or poetic, it is a chem-ical imbalance in your brain that can cause you to think and do things that are dangerous and painful. It is a heavy item strapped onto your back while climbing a steep hill, climbing and climbing until the item crushes you, trapping you from breaking free. It is a dark cloud that emerges over you, never breaking apart to let the sun touch your skin. It is not something that can be magically fixed by writing a song and it can’t be cured by meeting the right person. It is not something that love, poetry, acting, nor Holywood

can fix. It is something that most people live with for the rest of their lives. Dieting techniques don’t mean you have an eating disorder.The fact that one time you got nervous does not mean you have anxiety.

Being sad some days doesn’t mean you are depressed. Stay-ing up all night doesn’t make you an insomniac. Just because you’re sad one day and happy another does not mean you are bipolar. Just because you have every day problems does not mean you have a mental illness. They’re not fun and they don’t make you cute or special. Stop romanticizing things that hurt.

“I felt like depression is a growing problem that each day more people are getting depressed from the way people treat them. I feel like there needs to be something or somewhere that they can go to to just let out their problems, not just a hotline that they can call.” - Mariah Haymon 12

“I think that it’s okay for people to be bipolar, like, to express their feelings. If I ever have it, I wouldn’t feel like an outcast, I’ll try to express my feelings so I wouldn’t have to feel different, just normal.” - Muzek Williams 9

“I feel people that have anxiety, ADD, ADHD, should go to professionals to get the right results. Be careful, they might misdiagnose, so just make sure you get the full picture, not half the picture.” -Armaria Arnette HealthCorps Coordinator

“I think anxiety is just a really unfortunate thing for all, and I feel bad that teens our age, maybe as young as us, have to go through so much stress, cause anxiety and stuff. I think it’s just a really terrible thing to happen to your life.” -Qais Faraj 10

“It’s something horrible that teenagers have to go through at this young age, they shouldn’t worry about their body and how it’s shaped. They should just do what they want to do and not worry about what others think.” - Irvin Araiza 10

“I feel like that people with OCD, it’s not their fault that they’re born with this disease. They aren’t any different from anyone else and shouldn’t be treated differently.” - Jaylen Johnson 12

Fiona Chu: A Student’s Commitment to Performing Arts The spotlight is

on you

Lezel LegadosThe Haywire

Name:Melanie Dominguez

Grade:Junior

Hobbies?My favorite hobby is eating, I also enjoy cross country, and

watching TV.

Where do you see yourself in 10

years? I see myself working

in the field of criminology or

forensics. I want to go to SF State because

they have a really good program.

If you could be any animal, what

would it be?I would be a tiger. I

really like tigers. They’re mysterious,

in a way. And they are very ferocious.

Who motivates you and why?

My mom motivates me. She tells me that what matters is how I do in school because at the end of the day. Good or bad choices, she is going to stand

by me.

assion fills Fiona Chu as she leaps across the stage, landing on pointe, ending with a bow for the audience. Ever since childhood, Chu knew that she wanted to be involved in the performing arts, specifically ballet. “I got into ballet when I was around 4 years old,” Chu said. “I pointed at the TV and said to my mom, ‘I want to do that!” Chu has taken up martial arts as a side activity, but ballet has risen above all other interests. “I’ve experimented with some other forms of dancing, but this one has always stood out to me because of it’s elegance and gracefulness,” Chu said. Through dancing, Chu is able to de-stress from her schoolwork along with everything else occur-ing in her life on the weekends. Chu originally began ballet in Castro Valley then transitioned to a studio in Hayward continuing her career of 11 years. “Ballet has been a stress reliever for me,” Chu said. “It lets me forget my troubles because at that moment, all that matters is dancing.” Fellow Hayward High student, Alleah Parker, practiced ballet with Chu, showing how the ballet community creates lasting friendships.

“Dancing together was fun,” Parker said. “It built a strong bond between us since we saw each every other weekend. We still talk when we see each other at school.” Although most would cower with stage fright when in front of an audience, Chu feels happi-ness when she dances in front of

Melissa Harris and Janae PerryThe Haywire

HHS teacher lends a hand to those in need

others. “Something about it makes me feel happy and confident,” Chu said. “I don’t think, I just do it. When I dance, I see darkness, I hear nothing but my breathing and the music, I feel weightless because of my focus.” Mako Hirota, one of Chu’s close friends has experienced the

elegance that Chu displays when she is on the dance floor. “I went to one of her dance classes to finally watch her,” Hirota said. “When she danced she was really flexible and very poise. She had her hair up and was wearing her uniform, she looked really pretty all dressed up.” Chu looks up to professional ballet dancer Misty Copeland. Chu respects Copeland for being what she calls an “unlikely” ballerina.

“Misty’s style is so unique,” Chu said. “Her dancing isn’t like anyone else’s because even with her grace and elegance, her moves are powerful and strong. I strive to be like Misty because of her physique, I don’t have an ideal body shape either so she’s an inspiration.” Despite hurting the arches in her feet due to pushing herself too hard and not being used to all the weight put on her feet, Chu still pursues her love for dancing. “Dancing has given me a chance to forget everything even if it is just for a little while,” Chu said. “Dancing makes me feel free.”

Hannah SantosThe Haywire

n autumn of 2004, 21 Arizona State University students joined a South African exchange program for a semester to experience the differ-ence between living in the US and

living in South Africa. With the skills of a novice and the enthusiasm of an aspiring teacher, Scott Buros set out to Kayamandi, a township of Stel-lenbosch in South Africa, to make a difference in the lives of young African students at Ikaya Primary

School. Now having taught for six years, Buros can look back on his experiences in Africa and point out exactly how far he has progressed in teaching. “Having never taught a class before and having no experience teaching, I was ill-equipped to do this,” Buros said. “And I didn’t know how successful we were.” In Ikaya Primary School, Kay-amandi, the building was made of cinder block, there were no desks, the building lacked actual toilet facilities, and the court of the school was a concrete square. “It was pretty rough,” Buros said. “We were just trying to duct tape everything together and make it work.” For Buros, it was not the condition of the primary school that created the obstacle, it was the language barrier. Also as his students would call him, a scary “American wrestler”, that created a separation between him and his students. But within the brown and grey buildings were kids that were full of enthusiasm. Buros described his students as resilient. “No matter how under supplied or underfunded we think we are, you don’t really need anything but two minds for learning to take

place,” Buros said. “For as many shortcomings as we feel like HHS has, we have more than enough to develop our brilliant student body, and initiate learning. Sure stuff is better than no stuff, but give me curiosity instead of a computer.” If his wife would let him, Bu-ros says he would move to Africa tomorrow. Buros mentioned that the cost of living in South Africa was inexpensive. As well as it is stunningly beautiful, and in need of teachers. “As much as we like to judge South Africa as a country with real racism problems, I wouldn’t say they are any worse than they are in any American city I’ve ever lived in,” Buros said. Buros says as time has gone by, he has realized that even in the smallest ways, his efforts had made a difference. He says he’s learned how nourishing it is to be a teacher. “As time has gone on, I’ve sort of given myself some more lee-way there and said it’s very likely what I did had some immeasur-ably effect on some kid’s life,” Buros said.

P

Scott Buros travels to Africa to teach children in need of an education

8 FARMER LIFE

I

Fiona practices her ballet at school in her downtime.Photo by Trenea Brocker

Photo by Trenea Brocker

Dancing has given me a chance to forget everything even if it is just for a little while

SPORTS

Measure L gives hope for new field

For years now Hayward High’s football team has not been playing on their own field. With every game, Hayward High’s fans and supporters have been cheering at Sunset field. Measure L is a ballot measure that, if passed, will provide all Hayward Unified schools $229 million for new upgrades. Mea-sure L will also provide schools with added student safety and improved schools facilities. Measure L also promises

Fehi EliThe Haywire

xx

Senior returns after second injury in two years Chantal Remillard

The Haywire The sky is dark and the lights are bright. The weather is cold and the smell of wet grass and dirty socks invades the air. Josh Maum-alanga stands on the sideline all suited up in his pads. No matter how bad the team is winning or losing, he stands patiently waiting for his day to come to do work on the field. Maumalanga has been playing football for some years now, and has played most positions. “I’ve been playing basically my whole life,” Maumalanga said. “There isn’t really a specific position I cant play.” With Maumalanga being an ac-tive athlete for a long time, he has established life goals for himself. “Nobody understands what football means to me,” Mauma-langa said. “Its like a goal I have and its like I have to make it.” Maumalanga has been injured

for the past two seasons giving him very little time to show what he can do on the field. And with a dream of playing college football for San Jose State a division one school,its going to take a lot of effort for him to get back into the swing of things. “Me being injured effects being recruited big time,” Maumalanga said. “Its possible, but its just less of a chance.” Teammate Jasdeep Singh has high hopes for Maumalanga’s future. “I feel like the next five games could determine where he goes in life,” Singh said. “I got a good feeling that he’ll get a full ride somewhere, especially San Jose State.” Singh, labels Maumalanga as a good leader with not many things he can’t do on the field. “He’s a good captain, the fact that he uses his voice to lead the team,” Singh said. “His strengths

are just doing what he does best, playing football. His weaknesses are probably getting injured.” With the football team hav-ing already played seven games, Maumalanga has only had the chance to play in the last two. Head Coach Justin Redemer speaks of his first game back. “Last game he was maybe 70 percent,” Redemer said. “He wasn’t really able to run very well so were hoping to see a little more clearly what he can do next game.” Redemer has been with Maum-alanga all four years of his high school career , most would say he knows what Maumalanga is capable of. “He just works hard,” Redemer said. “He doesnt complain, he doesn’t whine, he doesn’t get too emotional when he doesn’t need to be. He just goes out and get it does and plays as hard as he can,” Redemer said.

Struggle is real for student athletes

Lezel LegadosThe Haywire

New year, new season. Late practices, nights full of home-work, games and meets every

9 Mesure L will :.

.Improve school safety

Upgrade comput-er technology and science labs

.

Modernize classrooms.

.

.

Repair/replace deteriorated roofs,

Improve energy efficiency

Provide better access for children with disabilities

we are the kids who come to school in sweats and slides and stuff our faces 24/7, while learn-ing and paying attention in class like any other student. Even if we struggle to get our homework done or come home every day tired from practice, the success one feels at the end of a season is worth it all. According to inhighered.com’s David Moltz, Division I-AA foot-ball players, spent 41.6 hours per

week on athletics and 38.2 hours per week on academics. With ath-letics being favored by 3.4 hours, the commitment athletes have to their sport is intense. Nevertheless, school is not sacrificed for our athletic ca-reers. According to a research collected by the NCAA, 84% of student-athletes who entered college in 2007 graduated with in six years. Student-athletes take care of their athletic and academ-ic commitments, knowing that success in both areas is essential to their roles.

That being said, it’s no easy task. Sacrificing a few more hours of sleep every night may tax us mentally and physically, but it’s a sacrifice an athlete has to make in order to keep the privilege of being apart of the team. Success needs to be on and off the field, court, course, and track. The real reward is knowing your hard work paid off, remem-bering the blood, sweat, and tears you shed haven’t gone to waste, and achieving more than what was expected of you.

Photo by Danae Griffin

Hayward High a new stadium. The new stadium will involve a new rubber track with fake grass. It will also include new bleachers with lights and bathrooms. Athletic Director Kristy Prasad has taught at Hayward High for years and is excited for the new renovations. “This is the next step,’’said Prasad. Hayward High has been on a dirt track for long time, and ac-cording to Prasad student athletes have been suffering from shin splints, and much more as a result of the school’s outdated track. Be-

cause of the field, athletes suffer the consequences in injuries. Girl’s varsity basketball coach and physical education teacher, Quiana Wilsonis pleased about the idea of a new field.. “I’m excited. [Hayward High athletes]have been working at a disadvantage because of our dirt track and also having to travel to Sunset Adult school to play our football games,’’ Wilson said. To football players Sione Vai-tafa,15, and Isaac Espinoza,16, the new field will prevent them from hurting themselves. ”We don’t have to go through

struggles,[We] don’t have to deal with potholes,” Espinoza said. Senior player Jasdeep Singh 17,says the new field will open students eyes to what the staff can make happen.’’Measure L is an opportunity for high school students to actually realize that they have a facility to help them get better,” Singh said. Cross country captain Rodolfo Ramirez,16, hopes Measure will bring light to Hayward High. ‘’I want generations to improve and Hayward High school to be-come the best,”Ramirez said.

week, and injuries galore. These are the things that are no stranger to the student athletes at Hayward High. As the year begins to settle into a grind, student athletes around the school begin to plunge them-selves into their academic and athletic careers. We are identified as student athletes. It shows how we commit to both roles without jeopardizing one for the other. To the school,

Maumalanga takes a breather in his first game back, after a recent injury

With the help from voters, this is a predicted sketch of what Measure L could potentially bring to the new football and track field.

10 SPORTS

The King’s Move: Should LeBron have returned to Cleveland?

With Lebron James making the switch from Miami to Cleveland, Chantal gives her insight on why his return was the right thing.

Chantal Remillard The Haywire

The King, or better known as LeBron James is arguably the best NBA athlete in history. Making the move from Cleveland to Miami in 2010 had to be one of the hardest decisions of his life, leaving the place that raised him. But he left and instantly became leader for the Miami Heat. The four years he spent in Miami he led The Heat to the finals all fours years and came out with two championships. Unfortunately, this past season he didn’t win the finals, and with

his contract being up in Miami he had some thinking to do. With the nation anxiously waiting for his next move, he chose to return to his home state of Ohio and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Being a Heat fan, I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed, ac-tually I was very upset. But once I read his essay on his decision to leave, how could I stay mad at him? James notes in his Sports Illustrat-ed essay in which he announced his decision: “When I left Cleveland, I was on a mis-sion. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to

Northeast Ohio.” Some may argue that James

gives up when the going gets tough, lose a championship and run back home. But its much to that, its about leav-ing a legacy for his people.

According to Forbes

Magazine James

is

the most pow-erful

ath-lete in

the world. He has a lot of people including kids looking up to

him. Forbes Magazine says, “ No individual athlete in major team sports has wielded such

Manoa does it allKarin hoangThe Haywire

Growing up in a family of successful athletes, there are some pressures that motivate Amelia Manoa to live up to the standard set in the family. “I got involved by going up to see family play sports and seeing them active in their sports,” Ma-noa said, “grow-ing up seeing them successful in sports feels really good.” Having a brother who plays college football for Hawaii Uni-versity, Manoa feels motivated to play sports in college as well. Manoa plays bas-ketball, soccer, softball, rugby, and volleyball. She started softball and rugby last year, basketball in fifth grade, soccer in second grade, and volleyball in middle school. “I plan on playing basketball and volleyball,” Manoa said, “Sports are my passion and just to keep in shape” Most would say balancing school and sports can be tough for student athletes, but Manoa seems

to have some plan to balance out things. “Education first. I just balance school and sports out. I do the same routine everyday. Wake up get my education go home do my homework and repeat that,” said Manoa. Varsity basketball coach and Quiana Wilson, s Manoa is a well rounded athlete.

“She works hard, like most athletes, she’s a lazy sack of potatoes,but when shes in it, she works hard, shes dedi-cated, she’s focused,” Wilson said. According

to NCAA.Org, more than 150,000 student-athletes receive $2.7 billion in athletic scholarships each year from NCAA member colleges and universities. There are a lot of benefits to being a student athlete. “Sports push me to get my grades up because without grades I can’t play,” Manoa said. Manoa keeps a good relation-

ship between her team mates and friends on and off of the field and courts. “Amelia is a good friend and a good person,” said Alexis Hart, one of Manoa’s teammate, “I feel good playing basketball with her because that’s another tall person to rebound and stand tall to block” Manoa has no trouble with balancing school work and five different sports and also keeping up good relations with others around her. “Shes got a real team focus and thats something you want from all your athletes,” Wilson said.

influence since Michael Jordan roamed the courts more than a

decade ago.” With him holding that title, he has the right to make any decision he wants. Ohio is where he can find the true him. James’s decision to leave affected a lot of people. It affected Miami because they lost a very valuable player that led them to the finals four years straight. He also lost a lot of fans. He gained lots of fans when switching to Miami from Cleveland. NBA players make trades throughout the season, but this one was significant. Tickets to a

Heat game went up tremendous-ly, just because of the fact that James was on the roster. Now the demand for Heat tickets will go down and Cleveland sales will skyrocket. No matter how many people dislike James, people will always pay to see him on the court. His goal is give back, Ohio is what raised James and help shape him into the man he is today. He wants to be able to give something no one will ever forget back. And thats hope.

Coming from a family of athletes, Amelia Manoa feels obligated to keep the tradition going.

Education first. I just bal-ance school and sports out. I do the same rou-tine everyday. ”

“

Q

Jersey Number10

PositionMH

Team Wins1-8

Quick Facts

- Amelia Manoa

I think he made the right move for his own decisions, knowing that he wanted to go back to his home town.

- Aj Ortega

No because, he left Dwayne Wade and that wasn’t right. D-Wade deserved better than that.

What do you think?

- Xavier Washington

Photo by Trenea Brocker

Why I am not a

feminist

Less skin, more spiritMoriah StallThe Haywire

I would not classify myself a feminist. I believe in equality between the sexes but for the most part as a pizza lady once told my editor and I, “the woman is always right.” Feminism became a fad at Hayward High when senior class president, Aesa Ruiz, began a campaign advocating feminism called Redressing the Dress Code, supporting girl’s freedom of dress. I didn’t see much of a point to this campaign at my school, when girls and guys alike were blatant-ly walking around breaking the dress code with faculty not enforcing it. Many of my classmates rallied together in support of the new campaign with a distorted idea of feminism. The idea of Redressing the Dress Code would allow my peers to continue disrespecting the rules, in even the most extreme matter, as long as it allowed them

to “express their individuality.” This idea of males sexualizating females at Hayward High School was something I saw the opposite of. Through my eyes, I saw my fellow female students sexualizing themselves through a variety of provocative clothing that seemed to grow literally smaller as the year went on. Efforts of “gender equality” should be aimed elsewhere instead of how I, a woman, dress. Instead of fighting for allowing girls to dress promiscuously, perhaps the feminism club should fight for a stricter dress code for male students. I understand that in other parts of the world there are still women fighting for equality, but where I live, socially, gender does not matter. Feminism has turned into an illusive power struggle between men and women which anyone should be ashamed to be apart of. This day and age, people

call themselves feminists believ-ing generation of gender oppression means women de-serve to be treated better, but we are all alike.

Through my research of feminism I stumbled upon the campaign “HeForShe”, their claims being strong, certain and filled with hope, I wavered in my status. I still do not call myself a feminist though. There is too great a misconception of feminism for

me to claim to be one. I believe in gender equality, but I do not need a word associated with hatred and sexual preference to identify myself. I fight for true feminism, a point where men don’t have to be masculine and aggressive and women don’t have to feminine and submissive. So I am sad to say that most of peers claim to be feminists without true knowledge of what it really means to be a feminist. Let’s fight for what feminism started, social, economic and political equality between men and women not my freedom of dress. I looked forward to seeing what the feminist club has in store for us all next.

Halloween, the one day of the year that you can dress up in some crazy,

funny, and silly costume and receive candy by saying “trick or treat.” But in the past few years, Halloween costumes for females have gotten more and more explicit. From what it used to be, girls wanted to be a fairy, disney princess, or a witch for Halloween. But now, if you want to dress up, you’re ex-pected to wear a “sexy bunny” or “sexy kitty” costume with a corset, thigh high boots, and caked-on make up. So why should we pay attention to this? An American study titled Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls in 2007 found that girls learn how to self-sexualize them-selves around the ages 6-9 years old by the media. It also stated that girls choose the more sexualized doll rather than the non-sexualized doll for their ideal self or seen

as popular. The report also concludes that the sexualiza-tion of girls is an increasing problem and it is harmful to girls’ self-image and healthy development. Sex sells in the media. It’s in today’s music, tv, movies, and advertisements. Women are mostly to be re-vealed in the media in a sexual manner rather than men are. Examples would be revealing clothing, sexual body gestures or movements, and facial expressions that imply sexual readiness. Women in the media always look perfect, not a sin-gle flaw. Tall, long hair, perfect make-up, and skinny. Girls are learning to think that they need to be perfect or to look perfect. Thus caus-ing self-esteem issues, eating disorders and depression for young teen girls and older women. Girls always try to achieve that “perfect body” that the media sells out there. The biggest body image that is being displayed now is called the “thigh gap”. The thigh gap is the space between the inner thighs when standing upright

“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum in-stead of two sets of opposing ideals.”

-Emma Watson

11 OPINIONS

Ines AguilarThe Haywire

with knees touching. Losing weight can be a very emotional process for girls, even if girls do achieve the weight they want to be, they still aren’t happy with themselves. This is where the depression and self-esteem issues come in. The female body is treated so weirdly in today’s society. Its constantly being asked to be seen naked, but once it is, people act disgusted at the sight of it. Many people don’t realize or understand how much pres-sure girls are under. But some girls are better at hiding it than other girls. Halloween used to be about candy, the crazy parties, and silly costumes. But as the years went by, the female costumes went from silly to sexy. Girls shouldn’t feel the need to put themselves out there to look “sexy” or “the next it girl” or because every girl is doing it. What you put out there is how you are going to be treated.

Is gaming truly a sport?Definitely! Nope.

Matt DecambraThe Haywire

Chantal RemiliardThe Haywire

Paranormal activity is for real

I am a gamer, and have been since when I would play Pokemon, though I have

moved on to more complicated and competitive games. If I were to say that I want to play video games for a living, or that I think that some video games should be considered a sport, would you laugh at me? Probably, but the stereotypical perception of gamer is one that does not give them justice. The stereotypical gamer is usually thought of as this; a somewhat antisocial teen, that goes home and plays video games all night, and uses the weekend to sit at home and play video games for fun. Although for some people this may be somewhat relevant it does not properly reflect the competitive scene of gaming, also know as eSports and how in my mind it is a sport. As you may or may not know, some video games have a huge competitive scene with real or-ganizations. These organizations invest great amounts of time and money to become the best. They of course try to market their brand and players to where they create a fanbase. Their objective is the same as any professional sports to team, grow a large fan base and win. In fact in the 2014 X Games, eSports was one of the events with real medals. The eSports

community though, has grown to not just on a professional level , it is now at the high school and col-legiate level as well. An organization known as the High School Starleague is a high school eSports organization that is made up of more than 1500 high schools across North America. They work directly with school administration, to legitimize eSports as an athletic activi-ty, and host events in which schools can compete against each other. In fact, one of the most elite colleges in the nation, Robert Morris University in Chicago, offers gaming as a varsity sport with real scholarships identical to any other varsity sport. So if your parent starts to pass out when you tell them that you are going to play video games in college, this bit of informa-tion might just save a trip to the hospital. As we change so does the world; 20 years ago thinking of gaming as a sport would have been laughed at. So did having an African American president, or having a world run by technology, but all of this is true today. So then why can’t gaming be consid-ered a sport? It already is in 1,500 schools, might as well make it so in this one.

When the word “athlete” pops into your head what do you think?

Maybe words like, strong, active, and fit? In the world that sur-rounds us today new sports are being made up constantly, but is gaming a sport? Is sitting in a chair with a device in your hand while you watch a screen really a sport? According to Oxford’s dic-tionary he definition of sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an in-dividual or team competes against another or others for entertain-ment, according to Oxford’s dictionary.

When you endure in a sport you are then called an athlete. According to www.webster.com the defin-tion of an athlete is a person who is trained or skilled in exer-cise, sports or games requir-ing physical strength, agility, or stamina. Most sports require hours of physical training and workouts.

For a gamer, you can simply be a couch potato all day while you play your game. When you play a sport you are forced to get out and be active. Not all athletes are as strong as others but you can’t compare someone who looks at a screen all day with a controller in their hand to a football or basketball player. One may argue that gaming is a sport because it’s compet-itive and you need complete mental focus. But you need mental focus to do a lot of things, like driving a car or learning in school. So is school a sport? Definitely not. As an athlete I understand all the hours it takes to compete. It takes a lot. Not everyone is born with being great at a sport or gaming. They both take practice. To become better at a game, it can simply take one day of you playing the game. But sports are different, you have to constantly practice and put in every effort possible. In sports someone is always better than you, and its your choice to put in work everyday. “It’s not a sport—it’s a com-petition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition,” ESPN president John Skipper said. If the president of ESPN argues gaming isnt a sport that must mean something. Sports are physical and real and in-teractive gaming is simply not physical, it’s a competition but not a physical one.

Ghosts, demons, and mediums seem to be factors of many main-stream movies that come out in the theaters. If it isn’t about a pos-sessed doll or person, it’s about a house or even a box. The idea of ghosts has been around for centuries and people choose to believe in this mythol-ogy. Ghosts are spirits of a deceased person who appear to be a living person and demons are an evil spirit who take possession of a person or an object to bring hell into the real world. The source of a mythology always leads back to a book of some sort from past cultures or even a person passing down a story. There are proven events of paranormal activity [yes, exactly like the those movies] in present-day, thanks to the help of shows like “Supernatural” “American Horror Story” “Ghost Adventures” “Ghost Hunters” and even “Celebrity Ghost Stories.” I’m not saying you should believe

everything you see on television shows, but there many true stories of these events happening. I’m a firm believer of the thought of demons possessing your body or ghosts haunting an abandoned building which some may some is ridiculous, but there are too many facts to deny the truth. It is realistically possible for a person to feel the presence of a ghost or communicate with one thanks to a special person called a medium. Paranormal events shouldn’t be considered “myths” because prov-en facts show the image of a ghost or an actual possession happening. There are many given examples that one can not just make up in there mind. When a person sees a medium, they are expected to help the customer talk to a passed loved one which many don’t believe in but somehow seems to work that only a few amount of people can talk to the deceased. I know some people are scared of the thought of demons being real due to religion which plays a huge role in mythologies most of the time.

VS.

12 OPINIONS

Trenea BockerThe Haywire

11AM-10PM