The Knight Magazine November 2017 1 NOVEMBER 2017 A DISCUSSION ABOUT GUN OWNERSHIP THE KNIGHT MAGAZINE Spirit Week! The Science Behind Happiness A Look At “Soaring Valor” PLUS: Student Spotlight on Photography Girls Golf & Boys Varsity Water Polo Letter from the Editors Hello, fellow students. We want to thank you for such a positive reception to our first issue of the Knight Magazine this year. We have been working non-stop since the previous magazine was published, and hope that you enjoy this one as much as its predecessor. In this issue we tackle issues like gun ownership, the ever-threatening opioid epidemic, and the increase of American troops in Afghanistan. On the lighter side, we hope you enjoy the Spirit Week pictorial put together by the new Publications Club, as well as some Thanksgiving recipes. It is no secret that a lot has happened since our last update. Between the tragic massacre in Las Vegas, the many hurricanes that have pummeled American shores, and a Dodgers World Series loss in Game 7, just to name a few events. As your Editors-in-Chief, we continue to try to promote healthy debate within our student body. For stories published more frequently, visit our school blog at ndhsmedia.com. If you want to be a part of this Notre Dame Publications mission, please see Mrs. Landinguin or Mrs. Moulton in room 40. Your Editors, Bridget Gehan ‘18 and Maria Thomas ‘18 THE KNIGHT MAGAZINE BRIDGET GEHAN ‘18 CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MARIA THOMAS ‘18 CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MARIA GUINNIP ‘20 Staff Writer BLATHNAID HEANEY ‘19 Staff Writer ASHWIN MILLS ‘18 Staff Writer SARAH O’BRIEN ‘19 Staff Writer DOMINIC PALOSZ ‘18 Staff Writer DANI POSIN ‘18 Staff Writer ALLYSON ROCHE ‘19 Staff Writer EVIN SANTANA ‘19 Staff Writer CHRISTINA SHIRLEY ‘18 Staff Writer MRS. SABRINA LANDINGUIN Faculty Adviser MRS. BETH MOULTON Faculty Adviser MR. ROB THOMAS Vice-Principal of Student Activities MRS. SHANNON KOBIELUSZ Vice-Principal of Instruction and Supervision MRS. ALICE COTTI Principal MR. BRETT LOWART President The Knight Magazine is the student magazine of Notre Dame High School, a Catholic college preparatory school in the Holy Cross tradition, that educates the hearts and minds of students who are diverse in talent, ethnicity and society. Any signed editorials reflect the views of the writer and not necessarily the views of the editors or of the school’s administration. Letters to the editors are encouraged and may be emailed to [email protected] or dropped off in the Burns Building, Room 40. Letters must be signed, and the editors reserve the right to edit any letter to conform to the standards of The Knight Magazine. Any advertisements in the magazine are not necessarily an endorsement from either the editors or Notre Dame High School. The Knight Magazine November 2017 1 THE KNIGHT MAGAZINE THISISSUE How Did We Get Here? The growing opioid addiction crisis in 2 America. Should Private Citizens Be Allowed to Have Guns? The Power to 4 Kill vs. Our Inalienable Right The Rap Battle Explicit content aside, not all rap music sends 6 a negative message. Deployment Spike The Increased United States presence in 8 Afghanistan due to continuing conflicts. NAFTA: The Great Exchange As NAFTA is being renegotiated, 10 what are some of the things we need to know? America’s Greatest Generation Soaring Valor: Ensuring that the 11 sacrifices of America’s defenders and their families are never forgotten. 14 Spirit Week A pictorial of a week of whimsical fun! From Our Table to Yours Recipies from different cultures often joins the 16 menus of the traditional American feast. Happily Ever After . Science, nurturing the soul, and achieving 18 happiness. The Roots of Modern Slang Decoding the language of Notre Dame 20 students. 23 Student Art A look at the work of Mr. Lee’s art classes. Student Spotlight Meet Savanah Hwang ‘20 and Esteban Zamora- 24 Juarez ‘18 25 Fun Corner Crossword puzzle and meme. It takes a team. The Girls Golf team, that is. On the Cover: Teachers 26 Putting in Effort take part in Spirit Week field games. (Photo by Mrs. 28 Sink or Swim Boys Varsity Water Polo caps off a good season. Landinguin) 2 The Knight Magazine November 2017 The opioid drug carfentanil, fentanyl for short, is at the center of a national prescription drug crisis today. (Photo by Philip Montgomery) How Did We Get Here? The growing OPIOID ADDICTION crisis in America BY: ALLYSON ROCHE ‘19 In July, I attended Politicon, “a convention for tens of thousands of people including children, parents, and political nerds” in Pasadena, California. CNN’s Senior grandparents of almost every race and socioeconomic class. Political Correspondent Brianna Keilar moderated a In June 2017, the National Institute on Drug Abuse panel and discussed the opioid epidemic. The discussion reported that 90 Americans die from an opioid overdose was between Keilar and two experts, including author every single day. Even though the public will not know the and journalist Sam Quinones, a man who spent years total number of deaths until December, The Centers for documenting the struggles and pain that opioid addiction Disease Control Prevention has already reported 62,700 brings to Americans, and a mother named Jodi Barber, deaths caused by opioid overdoses in 2016, making it the whose 19-year-old son died of an overdose. Keilar said leading cause of death for Americans under 50. that people like Jodi Barber are “really out there on the More Americans have died from an opioid overdose cutting edge, trying to help people make sure that this is than in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars combined. something that doesn’t happen to them. That maybe it is In some counties, there is not a person who has something that their children can prevent having to go not been affected by the epidemic in some form. These through.” horrifying statistics lead Americans to ask one question: When occupied with the problems around the world, How did we get here? we tend to forget the many crises taking place on our soil. The epidemic began in the 1990s when those in After hearing in detail, about the horrendous torture of the medical community were informed that painkiller opioid addiction that hurts Americans, I immediately began medication (opioids including oxycodone, heroin, researching the crisis. morphine, and fentanyl) were not addictive. Thus, doctors The epidemic does not discriminate and has killed began prescribing the medication to patients. Today, many The Knight Magazine November 2017 3 people become addicted when their doctor prescribes them class whites living in rural areas, the epidemic crosses all the medication. However, others become addicted illegally. socioeconomic lines, even reaching households in Los The opioids are now on the streets, because people are Angeles, affecting Notre Dame students. selling the drugs they receive with a legal prescription. Ashwin Mills ‘18 said, “I always imagined hard drugs According to the U.S. Department of Health and like meth, heroin, or cocaine would be the real killers, but Human Services, from 1999 to 2010, the number of seeing someone in my family die of a simple prescription opioid prescriptions increased by 400%, leading to more was a wakeup call.” Mills’s cousin was a Calvin Klein prescriptions than people in numerous counties. More than model in his mid-20s when he overdosed on opioids and 289 million prescriptions were written for opioid drugs in died just 2 months ago. 2016. At Politicon, Brianna Keilar concluded her discussion There is not a state in the U.S. that has avoided by asking audience members to raise their hands if they this crisis, however, some have been hit harder than have been affected by the opioid crisis—either having others. Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, and had an addiction themselves or having known someone Massachusetts have officially called the epidemic a “state struggling with opioids. She wondered if the crisis extended of emergency.” to Los Angeles, my home city, in the dramatic numbers that Certain counties in Ohio and West Virginia hold the it did other parts of the country. I twisted my head to catch title of the most deaths. In a CNN special report conducted a glimpse of the room and was utterly speechless. About by Poppy Harlow, Dr. Kent Harshbagar, a coroner in 85% of the audience sat stoically in plastic, white folding Montgomery County, Ohio, said the “morgue freezers are chairs as they each stretched an arm to the ceiling, every overflowing” with bodies. He has had to perform autopsies hand representing a loved one’s lost battle. on victims as young as 13 months, because of they were The chilling statistics have motivated a number of exposed to their parent’s use of opioids including fentanyl. Americans to call on Congress, urging them to pressure NBC News reported that fentanyl is fifty times pharmaceutical companies to reduce the number of opioids stronger than heroin. produced and distributed. Others, like artist St. Vincent, After searching a car belonging to a suspected drug announced that she will be donating $1 from each ticket dealer, a police officer in Ohio made his way back to sold on her Fear the Future Tour to leading organizations the police station. Upon arriving, he noticed small white that provide “prevention, treatment, and resources to [help flakes on his shirt, and brushed them off. An hour later, with] opioid addiction.” he overdosed. After using 4 doses of Narcan to revive the If you feel compelled to reduce the number of deaths, officer, he later learned that the flakes on his uniform were you can donate to organizations that help treat addiction, fentanyl, and it had gotten into his blood system.