Seva Hester
Editor-in-Chief
All posts by Faith Collins
Awareness on campus Mental Health Month
Salma Valadez
Staff Writer
For nearly 70 years, the United States has dedicated the month of May to breaking stigma surrounding mental health and educating its citizens on this very prominent issue. Up until recently, the topic of mental illnesses and disorders has been a major taboo – especially for schools and workplaces. Both students and faculty have shown support for more open discussions about mental health.
“Talking about mental illness openly helps the person suffering, but also those around who might feel the same.These discussions show those who suffer they are not alone, and helps to break the stereotypes of mental illness. Because they have been stigmatized for so long, people are afraid to talk about them because they worry it makes them look ‘less than,’ but talking about them openly helps show that these illnesses are not an indication that someone is incapable any more than catching the flu is,” English teacher Mrs.Weber said.
Students and faculty have also expressed concern about the impact mental illnesses and disorders have on students.
“Absolutely, (mental illnesses affect students) in the same way a physical disorder might affect our ability to concentrate or complete our work,” Mrs. Weber said.
Although the school has several events to spread mental health awareness, there are many ways it can further break mental health stigma.
“(O’Connor can) Try to bring awareness to mental illness and acceptance through education,”AVID teacher Ms.Womack said.
The school has dedicated a week to spreading awareness about mental health to its students and faculty.
GOT: Humans of OC
Austin Hurt
Staff Writer
Game of Thrones, a show revered by millions, has just wrapped up its final season. From the start of the show in season one to now after season eight we have followed the characters for about 12 years through GOT time. It has been estimated that around one billion people watched the final season, making Thrones the most watched television show of all time.While the nature of the show is very mature with a large amount of violence and alcohol among other things, it doesn’t seem to drop the rating much even among teens.
Diving dreams of Regionals go down the drain
Jennifer r. Gardner
Staff Writer
As sophomore Dillon Jimison jumps off the diving board something feels off. Slight discomfort in his back that doesn’t go away. He knows that back injuries for divers are nothing to mess around with but he can’t stand the idea of sitting out during the championship season. He endures the discomfort in his back, earning scores of sevens and eights despite the growing pain. The atmosphere during competition is full of both anticipation and eagerness as his competitors and supporters watch from the sidelines.
“I get excited, I mean I know what [the divers] can do. Sometimes I’m a little nervous but most of the time I’m very excited for the fact that they’ll either hit it or they won’t. [Diving is] an individual sport and its tough,” Diving coach Barbara Rios said.
After the district meet, with first place secured, Jimison is taken straight to Sportsmed medical center.The diagnosis; a partial fracture that puts him on the bench for the rest of the season. Both Jimison, his family, and his coaches are stunned as their hopes for regionals go down the drain.
“His mom informed us that he was having issues.We knew it was a couple of weeks before districts and he wanted to try and make it through,” Rios said.
Dillon’s team and coaches were shocked at the severity of his injury, and as Rios shares, were very concerned for Jiminson but handled the situation well with good sportsmanship and support.
“It was the worst timing I could have had because it was the championship season so after districts I could have gone to region- als and after regionals state, but I couldn’t because my back fractured,” Jiminson said.
When Jiminson went to his coach and family about the fracture, there was no disguising their disappointment. Despite his success and skill, he would be forced to sit back and let his back heal before he could go back to diving. While the top six spots in regionals would be filled by Northside students, Rios shared that it was still frustrating not having Jimison able to compete against North East despite him having top state potential.
“What I had planned on doing was even if it was a fracture I would still have the option of being able to compete and maybe just tough out the pain but even my doctor told me that’s not an option. Like you need to sit out to keep things from getting worse,” Jiminson said.
While recovering Jiminson had to wear a back brace for at least three months, wearing it for over 23 hours a day, taking it off only for showers. Jiminson shared that it did fix his posture and that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Jiminson also described that his family and friends helped support him during this time and that his family especially played a big roll in his recovery. Their care and his passion for diving giving him the motivation to keep going.
“Diving is a terrifying sport [but] the thrill of getting a new skill, one that you didn’t think would otherwise be possible before, is a feeling I’ve never felt before. Its so motivating it’s keeps it worth it,” Jiminson said.
When his friends asked about what happened Jiminson tried to make light of the situation.
“I told ‘em it was just arching my back wrong and [a fracture] can happen to any diver and it happened to me. It was unfortunate timing considering it was right when the season mattered the most but what can you do,” Jiminson said.
Despite all of this, however, Jiminson continues to look on the bright side. He shared that even though this year didn’t go as well as he hoped because of his injury he still has high hopes for the next two years showing not only his endurance but also his drive to succeed. He shared that not once during his injury did he feel like considering leaving diving, and that through it all he felt like this whole ordeal was simply something he had to get through and that he can’t wait to get back.
“Any kind of fracture or sitting out and not being able to play is frustrating but you will return and you will return stronger so if you just keep your head up things will be okay,” Jiminson said.
A “Constellation” Series Review
Jennifer R. Gardner
Staff Writer
The final installment of the “Constellation” series “Defy the Fates” by Claudia Grey was released April 2 of this year. After about a year-long wait “Constellation” fans can finally sink their teeth into this conclusion. For a series recap, the story centers around teenage orphan Noemi Videl who goes off to fight for her planet’s independence from Earth in a futuristic setting where the Earth has been revenged from years of pollution and overcrowded conditions. The Earth wants to use up their other interplanetary colonies for resources and land against their will which causes a war between the colonies and Earth. During this war, Noemi stumbles across a forgotten mech, a sort of cyborg android, Abel who had been left behind by his father and creator Mansfield. As the series goes on, both Noemi and Abel travel across different star systems and learn to look deeper into themselves and the world around them. Along the way, these two encounter many new people, obstacles, and moral dilemmas that force them way past their comfort zones and boundaries.While this series was a pretty interesting ride, it did fail to fully utilize the sci-fi premise as it leaned heavily on troupes for its plot’s major developments.This reliance on troupes wasn’t a bad thing but the series as a whole could have definitely gone deeper into the ideas it presented.
The first area needing development was its use of supporting side characters. But the very diverse supporting cast, with differing motivations, was one of the positive things in the series. Aside from the main characters, they aren’t given as much time for the audience to get to know or care about. An example of this is with Virginia Redbird, a sassy tech nerd who definitely provided some of the comic relief within the story. She could have easily been included as one of the main characters if she had been given more time with the audience and a bigger role to play other than the ship’s main mechanic. Because the story focuses so much on Noemi and Abel, Virginia is forced into the limelight time and time again. This kind of treatment would be fine if she weren’t such a big part of the plot. Her quick-wit and backstory are eclipsed by the slow burn romance between Noemi and Abel. While Virginia’s neglect could be justified by her tendency to be a lone wolf, there are other characters whose ideas and gray morals could have been better explored, either with more conversation or a better fleshing out of their backstory. This problem is obvious with the lack of attention towards the leader of the terrorist group Remedy. The author meant for her, Riko, to be morally gray in that she uses excessive threat because she feels it is the only way to stop Earth’s tyranny.What the author does well with this character is that she shows her twisted moral compass and how it hurts the resistance rather than aid it, but what could have made this better was if the audience was more acquainted with Riko herself and with Remedy’s other members. By showing the audience how other members of Remedy feel about their actions towards the Earth and how it impacts them, their families, and their small community, the story could have taken a grittier tone and opened up a deeper discussion about how oppression brings out the worst in human nature.
Furthermore, for a book that claims to explore distant planets and star systems, it sure spends a lot of time with Noemi and Abel. Alone. On a spaceship.Talking. Putting all of the plots’ weight upon these two characters is a bit risky but for the most part, thanks to the couple’s banter and personal growth, these long stretches of them just traveling around and spending time with each other were some of the most charming scenes. But when you have an intergalactic war with differing perspectives, characters, planets, and challenging moral dilemmas just waiting in the background of the plot, it can seem a bit too convenient for them to just have all this time to themselves. There’s a part of the first book, “Defy the Stars” where Noemi and Abel watch Casablanca as they wait for the repairs on their ship to finish. Now, this was a pretty cute scene that added a bit more fleshing out to Noemi’s backstory and how the loss of her family had affected her, but the way the author does this is through dialogue.What could have shown through Noemi’s interactions with other character and help her grow herself outside of the Earthship she has with Abel is instead told to the audience directly from Noemi herself. Usually, authors follow the mantra of ‘show don’t tell’ but with Grey, she’s using dialogue and inner thought to convey and explain too much of the character’s actions to the audience. If the goal for the main character was embedded a bit better than the audience would not need constant reminders on why Noemi and Abel are scrambling around the galaxy like lost chickens.
This leads into the third issue that hinders the book’s overall impact and pacing. Now pacing is a tricky subject, some books and media do it perfectly and some miss the mark, but that said a general rule of thumb is that the pace you have in the first chapter of a book is the one you have to try and at least stay somewhat true to. With the first book in the series, the pacing started out slow and stayed that steady but was completely thrown kilter with the third book “Defy the Fates”. One of the main concerns fans of this series had was that the third book was considerably smaller than the first, something very unusual for the final book in a series in comparison with other literary works. For reference “Defy the Stars” had 501 pages while “Defy the Fates” had little over 466 pages. A 35-page difference may not seem like a lot but take other book series like “Harry Potter” with a 374-page difference between its first and final installment. Now a page difference may not be as big a deal, but seeing as “Defy the Fates” was meant to tie up all the loose ends and leave the audience with something to take away from the book series as a whole, it should have been longer. This ties into the final book’s weird pacing because, even though it was shorter, it still had an almost laughable amount of added drama between the characters, planets, and Abel’s creator. Now, this could be seen as a good thing, if the audience had been given more time with the supporting cast and the world. But to rip us from the main characters and shift the previously established focus is quite jarring.
All this being said, the “Constellation” series still had redeemable qualities that pushed it past being a mediocre read. But those same qualities should have been utilized to a greater degree within the story’s narrative to make it a stronger and overall more satisfying ending.What could have been a fantastic cautionary tale about the exploitation of resources and how oppression impacts different groups of people was not given enough breathing room to become more than a slow burn romance with bits of action sprinkled in.
Censorship in journalism
Emily Bayardo
Staff Writer
Censorship, the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. Censorship is a common issue that is faced throughout day to day life. Whether that be through art, photography, internet, television, or journalism censorship occurs quite often. So, who exactly has the power to deem what is considered “acceptable?”Often times, the public turns to the generic answer of either the government or private groups.As of recently, there has been a movement in Texas to eliminate prior review and censorship within journalism. With that being said, the argument that is presented is “does censorship suppress the First Amendment right of free speech?”
Over years of rapid technological advancements, social media platforms such as Twitter are in use as information outlets that journalists can use to share their stories.These platforms have also taken on the role of censors, while somehow attempting to find the duality of free speech in moderation of a couple policies. Clearly, there are many cracks and flaws within this attempt. Content is flagged, blocked, or even taken down completely without warning.This can be detrimental to the public due to the fact that so many people turn to Twitter, Facebook,Youtube, and/or other forms of online media rather than classic outlets that would not publish such content. There is obviously a clear difference in numbers a story reaches if only one-hundred people are able to read it over one-hundred thousand.
Online media censorship is actually found very commonly across school districts. Now, yes, there is an extent as to where it is understandable to place restrictions and I acknowledge those circumstances. However, while using the internet at a school, there is always a common issue of material that gets flagged and then blocked.This is an issue because as students are trying to research for projects, work on online assignments, etc they are unable to reach these sites due to censorship proxies placed by the district.
Another issue that is also holds controversy is the power of prior review. Prior review occurs when a person of authority outside of a staff of editors, demands and insist they read a copy of the article(s) prior to the distribution and publication of the piece. At Har-Ber High School, in Arkansas, the newspaper staff ran into this problem. After re-publishing a previously censored editorial that had criticized the district’s inconsistent policy on transfer students, the staff faced backlash from the Spring- dale School District. Jared Cleveland, the district’s deputy superintendent, demanded that both articles get taken down immediately due to its disruptiveness. This had been taken to court and under Supreme Court Ruling Tinker V. Des Moines (1969) the story was in no way as controversial and disruptive to be censored by a public school. According to SPLC Senior Legal Counsel Mike Hiestand, the school officials have their backs against the wall and are insinuating that despite what the law says, they will do what they want.
Change is most definitely needed. Stu- dents, young writers, and journalists should not have to fear that their writing and stories will become censored because of shedding light onto the taboo.What is needed is an uncensored platform, within moderation, to bring light onto the subjects. As a result, the New Voices of Texas Bill is having its hearing in state courts. The bill protects young individuals right to share ideas and gather information relating to current public concerns.
Games and Mental Health
Jordan Barton
Staff Writer
I sat on my step grandma’s living room couch watching my mum. She’s playing “You vs Wild”, a visual novel lite about adventures in the wild. It looked cliche and fake, but as my mum chose whether or not to climb an unstable rope or a slippery rock slide by clicking the buttons on the Roku remote I saw her eyes glowing.
She felt in control.
Her brain surgery last year made tasks like getting dressed beyond her physical and mental ability, so to see her feel power was inspiring even though the illusion of control was poor to me, my mum was immersed.
She fell asleep part way through but woke up to keep playing as though nothing happened, it was kinda sad, but my mum didn’t mind, in the prison of her week body, this game let her flourish. A face I hadn’t seen her wear in years. Growing up, my mum indulged in TV, so to see her playing a game and enjoying it was a victory to me. I remember being annoyed at the tens of thousands of hours she’d spend watching random shows. Getting older I learned TV and sleep were just distractions from her depression, and I soon grew a strong empathy for her feelings. Like her I would sleep away my negative feelings but rather than tv, I ended up growing fond of games.
My first Minecraft, then Portal, Overwatch,Titanfall 2, and especially Dark Souls 3. Dark Souls 3 and the souls-like genre are brutally difficult. Propelled by my ego or some kind of masochism I began. Perpetually throwing myself against the wall that is Dark Souls 3.
In this, though I found some sort of meaning that through this game I could exercise courage and overcome this game that somehow made me feel responsible to complete it.
Unlike reality, Dark Souls didn’t care how long I took to accomplish a goal.
Though Dark Souls masquerades as a melancholy and apathetic game, its glum grey world and harsh punishment for your imperfect performance.The other people playing the game left messages for me another giving advice and encouragement that subtle but powerful, kept me moving.
After playing I realized that even though Dark Souls has a somewhat cheesy dark fantasy aesthetic it had everything it needed to give me the sense of accomplishment I needed to grow.
Just like my mum, we both had a game that on the outside looked cheesy and dumb, but we both experienced a game that gave us a feeling that would normally be unattainable due to physical or mental limitations.
Junior Alyssa Owens crowned Miss Helotes
Nicolas Weissenberg
Staff Writer
This year at the Helotes Cornyval a new pageant winner was crowned. Junior Alyssa Owens became 2019’s Miss Helotes. Owens shared she worked hard to prepare and looks forward to spreading a positive message about Helotes with the community.
“One of the things that we did was we got together every Sunday and we practiced for 2 hours and so we would go over walking patterns which is like walking down the aisle for the different parts of the show being the fashion and then the evening gown and then we also practiced interview questions on stage and then also off stage interview questions that were held in the morning. We learned to dance and we performed that during the show too,” Owens said.
After all the hard work and dedication, she came out victorious. Winning a pageant is a big deal and it comes with its own set of responsibilities.
“Just being a good image for the younger kids because I know a lot of kids look up to me and I remember when I got crowned the little girls were just staring at me and I find it so cute, but one of the responsibilities has to be maintaining a good image for the Helotes community,” Owens said.
Being Miss Helotes involves being a good role model in the community and especially for the younger crowd. On top of responsibilities, skills can also be gained through a new experience such as winning a pageant.
“I’ve had to learn a lot of time management because during the Cornyval time I was gone for like 4 days and so after school I had to run that way and then after that I had to do homework so lots of time management. Also just talking with new people and being more social,” Owens said.
Through the pageant Alyssa learned how to manage her time better as well as socializing more and communicating with new people. Participating in a pageant requires some form of support whether it be from family, friends, or teachers.
“One of my biggest supporters has to be my parents for sure and my sister and then my best friend Tyreke because he helps me a lot and helps me be more confident in all that I do. It has to be him and then also my parents for sure because they do a lot for me, they helped me practice my interview questions and they helped me just get ready,” Owens said. With support from friends and family she was able to build enough confidence to become Ms.Helotes. With the newly gained title Miss Helotes, Alyssa wishes to accomplish her goal.
“As Ms.Helotes I’d like to bring more awareness to what Helotes actually is and how close a community we actually are because I feel like people outside of Helotes don’t really know like ‘oh well I know Helotes is a small town, but what do they do.’ Not a lot of people know what Cornyval is, not a lot of people know where Floore’s is and those are like really hot commodities within the Helotes community. So as Ms. Helotes I’d like to get the word out,” Owens said.
She wishes to spread the Helotes culture beyond the city’s limits.
Almanza promoted to Assistant Athletic Director
Taylor Breig Staff Writer
In the month of April, Assistant Principal Sonia Almanza was promoted to the District
Athletic Director.This job comes with the expectation of working with high school and middle school coaches to help student-athletes represent Northside and their schools.
As a former head coach, assistant coach in multiple sports, and as an assistant principal, Ms. Almanza showed all the attributes of a great Director for Northside’s athletic department.
“I get to tap into my passion for athletics and the positive affect athletics has on students’ lives,” Almanza said.
Almanza hopes that this position can be a more prominent role in student life.
“Hopefully working with coaches and strengthening our athletic programs and building positive characteristic traits and values in our student athletes that will carry into their academics,” Almanza said.
When it comes to her dedication for the position, Almanza under- stands that this position is more than just a job within the district itself, but a job that affects the entirety of Northside and how it represents itself to both San Antonio and Texas.
“[I’m] able to work with all coaches and students in the district, not just a specific school and/or sport.Also representing Northside athletics not just in San Antonio, but in the state of Texas,” Almanza said.
This job is not simply one where she directs the athletic department, this position reaches beyond coaches and effects students directly. “Coaching multiple sports and working at different schools has allowed me to see different strategies and techniques that can be applied at other schools,” Almanza said.
Showing that Almanza has experience that would provide extensive support to the athletic department across all schools in Northside gives way to more changes and developments into athletics that will benefit athletes, coaches, and parents of athletes alike in the coming school years.
“I hope to inspire and be a resource for all coaches and students in the district. Seeing our former athletes come back to Northside to instill the same values they learned in a new group of athletes,” Almanza said.
With this hope in mind, the athletic department for the district is in good hands for next year’s athletics.
Almanza promoted to Assistant Athletic Director
Senior Eric Queller advocates for ‘Stop the Bleed’
Seva Hester
Editor-in-Chief
“The only thing worse than death is a death that could have been prevented,” senior Eric Queller said. Queller is an advocate for the National Stop the Bleed campaign.
The National Stop the Bleed campaign started in April 2013, four months after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. The campaign’s main goal is to prepare those who are in an emergency to be able to stop the bleeding from external wounds.
“The course gives the individual the necessary skills to render
aid to a person that has a severe bleeding injury,” Queller said. Queller addressed the Education Committee for the state Senate on Friday, May 17, 2019 about the need for the campaign’s training to be available in public schools, outlined in House Bill No. 496.
“I went to the Senate to testify because I believe that the government needs to hear from a student point of view,” Queller said. “I have put my whole heart into this issue and I will help and support in any means necessary to get this training out into our public education institutions.”
Queller shared he is open to go back to testify again if needed. At the Senate, Queller advocated for the need for the training of educators in case of an emergency.
“100 percent of external bleeds are preventable with applied pressure or the application of a tourniquet,” Queller said.
Queller, an Athletic trainer (A.T.) and HOSA member, worked to organize the Stop the Bleed training here at O’Connor high school and partnered with another senior at Brandeis to host a training as well. The Brandeis student, senior Natalie Muniz, was working to get with the Stop the Bleed project and raise awareness in her Independent Study Mentorship class.
Queller got involved with the Community Emergency response team locally and passed the exam about one year ago. He sat down and wrote his 15 page memorandum after the school shooting at Santa Fe High School. He also reviewed and discussed the safety and security plan with former Vice Principal Ryan Purtell. In the summer of 2017, Queller was asked to to be on the Northside school health and safety counsel.
Queller shared that he had his statement prepared and was ready to share his information but was apprehensive.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Queller said.
He gave 12 minutes of testimony and submitted his 15 pages to the health advisory council.
He shared his goal is to train 13,990 faculty and staff members in Northside ISD and is prepared to meet with the NISD board of trustees sometime in late May or early June.
Queller has also successfully worked with Governor Abbott to declare National Athletic Training Month officially in the state of Texas and was able to visit with Governor Abbott the same day of his state senate testimony and thanked Abbott for declaring March A.T. month.
Queller is enrolled at Midwestern State University for Fall 2019 and plans to major in Athletic Training. He also shared he is open to a future in politics and plans to work with MSU as an adviser or committee member to improve their emergency preparedness plans.
The Senate Education Committee voted on the bill on May 20, approving the plan to train educators. The bill will now move to the state Senate to be voted on.