Over the years, the traffic at the high school has grown to be efficient for the students, staff and overall community. Recently, the traffic has gotten substantially worse.
Two years ago when I was a freshman, there were two ways I could enter the building. Students could be dropped off at the main entrance where buses also were, or in the back by the athletic office. I come to school from the Kent side, so it was always easiest for my mom to drop me off in the back.
Within a few months, traffic was switched and buses were the only form of transportation that could enter the back, and everyone who was dropped off or driving had to use the main entrance.
Last year barriers were placed in the parking lot, separating the parking lot into two lanes. The barriers made traffic move so much faster and traffic was not nearly as bad.
Now, the barriers still work, but Officer Smith usually comes and directs traffic, even though the barriers are already there.
This school year is the first full school year that I am driving to school. Last year as a sophomore I occasionally drove, but I have driven to school everyday of this year and experienced every form of traffic.
Keeping in mind that I live less than five minutes away from the high school in a neighborhood off of Fairchild Road, I typically leave on the late side of the morning since I am so close.
At first, I would leave my house around 7:05 in the morning and arrive very early to school. I obviously did not need to leave 25 minutes early when coming to school, so I started leaving later.
The absolute latest I have ever left my house is at 7:18, and even then without Smith directing traffic, I have been able to successfully make it into the building before 7:30.
A couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday morning I left my house at 9:10, which is plenty of time to get to school. Smith was directing traffic and at this point it was his first or second time directing the traffic. I waited in line for over twenty minutes.
My sister and I were late, as well as many other students. The line to get into the attendance office was nearly out the school doors. On a regular day with no direction of traffic, there is rarely any line or many kids that are late.
As the weeks have gone on, Smith continues to direct traffic. I never know when he will be there because he is not consistent either. Some days he comes, some days he does not.
For the past few days, I have left my house at 7:10 and did not park my car until 7:25, barely making it to my first period class. I think it is ridiculous that I am expected to leave so early in order to be at school on time when I live less than five minutes away.
Without Smith directing traffic, I have managed to leave my house twelve minutes before school starts and was able to go through the line, park my car and be inside the school.
Not all of the traffic is Smith’s fault though. Since I am coming from the right side of the school, I do not have access to the parking lot right away, so I have to drive all the way around and park.
It is extremely hard for cars to proceed through the parking lot when a huge flow of students keep walking through the parking lot.
Around 7:20-7:25 is when most students are walking into the school, and everyone is scattered and they do not leave enough room for cars to pass by.
I appreciate Officer Smith trying to help out the community and those who attend the high school, but I believe he is not needed in the mornings. I very much appreciate his help at the end of the day because it is much needed. He does an amazing job of getting everyone out of the high school parking lot at 2:30 and I am very glad he is there.
I may be bias because I have heard he helps the other side of traffic which is usually a huge line, but overall most students are late due to the traffic.
All posts by Stohion Staff
Serenity Movie Review
Cori Van Orman
IMDb review: 5.1/10
Personal review: 6/10
Serenity was a very strange movie. The main character, Baker Dill, played by Matthew McConaughey is a fisherman who lives an interesting life.
He is obsessed with finding a large sea animal and cannot focus on anything else. While in the middle of trying to figure out how to catch this fish, his ex girlfriend appears and informs him that her husband is abusive.
She is played by Anne Hathaway and she is a strong woman who cannot find a way out of a tough situation. She asks Baker to get her husband drunk and knock him off the boat in order to keep her and Baker’s son safe.
While all of this is happening, a man is seen chasing Baker but it is unknown who he is and what he wants. Eventually it is found that he is trying to help Baker and sell him a piece of equipment to catch the fish.
The man keeps telling Baker he knows his plans to kill the man and he tells him to follow the rules and just catch the fish. The man refers to himself as the rule keeper but he is not sure why.
Baker tells the woman, Karen, that he cannot kill her husband. He tells himself he is not going to and even tells his shipmate to protect him from temptation.
In the end, Baker decides to kill him. He kicks his shipmate off the boat and tells him he is going to do something he should not do. The shipmate uses the money he made to hire men to break Karen’s husbands hand so he cannot fish the next day.
As the mystery of Baker’s life is unfolding, Karen is telling her husband she needs a fish. She guilts him into wanting to fish even with a broken hand and he shows up on Baker’s boat ready to go.
In the end, Baker kills the husband and the real reality of Baker’s life comes out. In an unexpected twist, everything about the mysterious existence of Baker is exposed.
The movie was very entertaining and pretty enjoyable. Parts of the movie were very stressful and had the audience on edge. The characters were hard to relate to as they are all grown adults suffering from real life problems. The movie had a few confusing scenes that did not make sense until the movie was over.
The movie showed what it is like to be controlled, abused, and in a tough situation. The movie was very eye opening to the effects of abuse on parents, children, and people viewing the incident from the outside. The movie was overall very touching. The movie touched on important topics in a very delicate manor. While bringing light to a situation, the producers were careful with wording and expression of characters.
The ending was extremely unexpected and had the entire audience shocked. Overall this movie was enjoyable, but slightly stressful and confusing. In the end everything came together, but the progression of some scenes was slow and dragged on forever.
Indoor Track
Elissa Stanley
As spring is being looked upon by many of the high school’s athletes, runners, sprinters and throwers take part in indoor track to prepare for the outdoor season. Regular track season (beginning the first week of March) is being looked forward to as girls indoor track has a good amount of athletes preparing.
Track coach Aaron Morris says the team has about 20 sprinters, 15 distance runners and five throwers [shot put and weight throw, not discus due to limited space] training this winter. Events taking place this winter are 60m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m, 60H, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put and weight throw.
As said, Morris explains that throwers can not participate in some of their real season events. “Some indoor events are a little different during indoor because of the space restrictions” says Morris.
The indoor team competes at Kent State twice, Youngstown State twice, Spire Institute in Geneva, Baldwin Wallace and Mount Union. According to Morris, the season has been going smoothly so far despite the weather. “The season started out really well for us in the first two meets. The third meet was snowed out” says Morris.
Indoor track applies to the outdoor season by “giving us [the team] a chance to do a lot of things in preparation for outdoor track”. “It allows the athletes to prepare their bodies for the rigors of outdoor track. We use the conditioning and weight lifting as a way to limit the danger of injury when the intensity of training picks up in
March” Morris adds.
The indoor season is said to allow coaches to teach athletes how to do events that they may have been interested
in trying, but never done before. The team will work on technique with those that have done specialty events like high jump and hurdles and get a head start on the outdoor season. Also, giving athletes a chance to practice competing, both physically and mentally.
“By the end of May, athletes need to be mentally prepared to compete in big meets, on their own, in a strange environment, surrounded by tons of people in close proximity” says Morris.
Morris says the team holds a few athletes that have been performing particularly well this winter. Junior Aimee Grimm is currently ranked 11th in the state for the 60H as freshman Kirstin Spangler is tied for 23rd in the state for high jump. Senior Katie Hall broke the school record for indoor shot put at only the first indoor meet. The record was initially held by current track coach, Lainie Glasgow.
Grimm believes that training hard in the off season is “extremely beneficial by the time outdoor comes around”. Grimm has competed in indoor track for three years now. This year, Grimm is focusing on the 60m hurdles and the
400m. Grimm’s fastest 60H time is 9.78 seconds, as she hopes to break former hurdler Kayla Thompson’s 60H record of 9.16.
“The indoor season allows us athletes to compete in different events than outdoor allows, some of the races are
shortened and it allows you to work on the starts of the races, which are very important” says Grimm,
The Major Struggle With Concussions
Francesca Missella
Concussions are the most common type of injury among athletes competing in contact sports as well as the most common type of traumatic brain injuries overall.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a concussion is defined as a mild traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, jolt, or blow to the head. This movement causes the brain to be shaken around or to become twisted inside the skull.
“I’ve had two concussions, and I do still struggle with long term effects. I still have vision problems and struggle with vestibular, otherwise known as balance issues,” senior Sydney Allendorf said.
These actions lead to the stretching and damaging of brain cells which cause chemical changes in the brain making it more difficult for cells to function and communicate.
A concussion is a “functional” brain injury, which means injury affects how the brain works, but the damage is only temporary and they can resolve on their own within one to six weeks without medical attention.
The Center of Disease and Control estimates as many as 3.8 million concussions occur in the U.S. annually through sports, but only 5-10% are recognized and diagnosed by coaches, parents and athletic trainers. Physical symptoms of a concussion can consist of headaches, blurry vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness balance problems and sensitivity to noise or light.
Symptoms of concussions can be dangerous, such as seizures, not recognizing people or places, and unusual behavior. According to the Cleveland Clinic, adolescents are at a higher risk of seizures because of their developing brains. Most concussions can happen while on the playground, bike riding, or when playing sports such as football, basketball, or soccer. Before an athlete can return to play, he or she must be totally symptom-free and return to their pre-concussion scores.
“After my first concussion I had vestibular therapy for 6 months, visits with sports medicine for over a year and regular visits with a neurologist. My second one, I went to eye therapy as well as vestibular therapy for six months. My first concussion took me over a year to recover to 90% and be able to return to soccer. My second concussion took me four months to recover but I had to give up the game,” Allendorf said.
According to The Center of Disease and Control, once the athlete has returned, he or she begins a five-day program in which they increases activities while any symptoms are monitored. Once a person has a concussion, they are at a three to five times greater risk for a later concussions. One in five high school athletes will sustain a sports concussion during the season with 33% of all sports concussions occurring at practice, according to headcasecompany.com.
There are several long term effects of multiple concussions and not allowing a person’s brain to fully heal. Post-Concussion Syndrome is when patients who suffer a concussion take longer than usual to recover, which is found in between 10% – 30% of concussion patients. Second Impact Syndrome is when a second concussion occurs during, recovery which causes the brain to undergo swelling. Approximately half of all Second Impact Syndrome patients die from their injuries, and the survivors often suffer from lifelong irreversible disability.
The most well known long term effect of multiple concussions is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a progressive disease that has symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s. CTE was first discovered by neuropathologist Dr Bennet Omalu in the brain of Mike Webster, a former NFL player. When Omalu looked at Webster’s brain tissue under the microscope he observed concentrations of tau which is a protein.
“Having a concussion was a difficult experience for me because for two weeks I had to sit in the dark. I was not allowed to play on my phone, do homework for long periods of time or even watch TV. My head felt like it was gonna explode and I could feel my brain move when I took the blow. I felt like the whole world was spinning and all sounds immediately got extremely loud,” Allendorf said.
The 2015 movie “Concussion,” starring Will Smith, is the story of Dr.Omalu who challenges the NFL on the repeated hits to the brain from playing football can cause brain damage. As neurons die, large areas of brain tissue become affected, causing symptoms to appear including: memory loss, confusion, Parkinson’s-like tremors, walking problems, impaired judgement, depression and personality changes.
Repeated head trauma does not always lead to CTE and the only way to diagnose CTE is post-mortem by an autopsy. CTE has been found in the brains of 76 out of 79 former NFL players who have donated their brains to research. According to the Concussion Foundation, repeated concussion have been linked to increased risk of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as CTE.
“My advice is to genuinely listen to what your body is telling you. If you don’t feel like your ready to go back to everyday life yet that is okay. At the end of the day you will feel a lot better if you don’t rush the natural healing process,” Allendorf said.
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