Lemont High School 800 Porter Street Lemont, IL 60439 Issue 29 April 10, 2012 You’ve Got to Carry that Weight In This Issue Oh,by: Marisa Mars p. 3 Oh, You’ve Got to Carry News writer that Weight You walk through the hallways of school, a full backpack on your shoulders and another textbook in your arms, lamenting the fact that your locker is on the other side of the school. You plop down in your desk, sighing, and wonder why the p. 4 My Clicks Make a REAL school hasn’t recognized this problem or tried to fix it. According to research done by the University of California at San Diego, heavier Difference, SERIOUSLY!; backpacks lead to disk compression and spinal curvature. Prom Dresses As iscoliosis.com states, a properly—worn backpack with low weight can actu- ally build up the muscles in a student’s back. However, the site also acknowledges that an overburdened backpack can do more harm than good. “A heavy backpack, p. 5-6 Relay For Life for example, can pull a child backward, causing the child to compensate by either bending forward or arching their back.” This action compresses the spine, causing damage to the 33 disks that compose the spine and leading to injury. p. 7 Pests and Their Pesticides The maximum weight of a backpack should be no more than 10% of your body weight, according to usgovinfo.about.com, and many students’ backpacks weigh far more than that (see sidebar for further information). Junior Hanna Richa says, p. 8 Huingry for the Hunger “it [her backpack] is definitely too heavy!” Fellow junior Shannon Burke agrees, “My bag is way too heavy.” Burke uses a Games bag slung over one shoulder, which she says is “big enough to carry my books, but it hurts my shoulder.” She used to use a standard backpack but switched because the shoulder bag has more room. However, she said that on a couple of occasions p. 9-10 Appreciation it has made her arm go numb and it often leaves her back and shoulder feeling sore. What You Can Do p. 12 Injuries Don’t Stop Bulls Some students have taken to using alternative methods in order to alleviate the Winning weight of a backpack. Freshman Helen Kollarik tries to take frequent trips to her locker in order to keep her backpack light. However, this doesn’t always work for her. “I don’t usually have enough time to go to my locker and then get to class,” p.13 Soz Training; Can Base- Kollarik said. Maha Longi, junior, also tries to keep books in her locker. Longi keeps the books ball Make the Hit? she uses infrequently stored in her locker and asks to retrieve them when they are needed in class. “It helps keep my bag lighter,” Longi said. “But some teachers get annoyed when I ask to go get my books.” p. 14 Head, Shoulders, Miss Conor Matthews, a junior at Lemont, has discovered his own solution to overly That Free Throw heavy backpacks. Matthews uses a rolling backpack so he doesn’t have to carry all his books. He began using this backpack so “[his] back and shoulders don’t hurt”. photo courtesy of Google continued on page 3 TOM-TOM continued from front page tion before moving away from “in-hand” textbooks. “While most students3 have According to him, the backpack STAFF access to computers or smartphones outside of the building, not all students do,” with wheels is effective and helps to eliminate the pain he previously felt. Hamilton said. He continued that Lemont’s Informational Technology staff is EDITORIALS WRITERS He says it’s not an issue carrying it able to provide support for the school’s computers, “but performing that same HEAD EDITOR up stairs, and isn’t a problem in hall- function for student devices (laptops, smartphones, etc.) would be a monumen- Morgan McPartland Joshua Shubert ways “except for when people don’t tal task.” Cara Dohse see it and trip.” Hamilton adds that textbooks are expensive, so it is hard to keep the textbooks Ryan Kahle Tripping over a rolling backpack is updated with the latest information. But he also said that it is very hard to keep an issue in the hallways that doesn’t the technology up-to-date as well, since “those items often become obsolete EDITORIALS EDITOR quickly.” Morgan McPartland affect standard backpacks. But stan- FEATURES WRITERS dard backpacks are still a tripping Superintendent Dr. Sandy Doebert said Lemont has “moved into this arena of hazard. electronic textbooks one step at a time as textbook companies have done so.” Luke Whittingham A Different Type of She stated that while many textbook companies offer online versions of their Sonia Vavra books, purchase of hard copies are required in order to gain the code for the FEATURES EDITOR Injury Can Occur online book. So far, this is the approach Lemont has taken, though Doebert said Mallory Christine Maddy George Overloaded backpacks can also this could change. Michael Gaytan be a threat in an often un-thought of “Electronic textbooks are continuously evolving, and I believe that as more way. The more books students put in become available and textbook companies figure out a way to offer them while SPORTS WRITERS their bags, the larger the bags be- still making their profit, LHS will have more and more access to them,” she SPORTS EDITOR come. In a high school like Lemont, said. She, like Hamilton, is not keen on the idea of ridding the school of hard Ryan Peraino John Fiori where students are allowed and often copies of books altogether, though. Adrian Kalata expected to carry their bags around Although things are still in early progress, Lemont High School is working on making backpacks lighter and lessen the textbook load. So maybe you won’t Kurran Buck all day, backpacks become a tripping hazard. Backpacks left out in isles are have to carry that weight for a long time after all. DESIGN EDITOR Eric Gruber easy to trip over, especially in crowd- Rachel Hunter Effie Tounas ed classrooms. Tripping over backpacks can lead Backpacks are supposed to weigh around 10 percent to a multitude of injuries, such as NEWS WRITERS ankle or foot injuries. If the person of your body weight in order to be healthy. Anything NEWS EDITOR falls, he can experience injuries to over that poses a possible health risk. Rachel Miller is a Morgan McPartland Scott Salvatore his arms or wrists, possibly even his sophomore at Lemont High School. Her backpack weighs Marisa Mars face. 26 pounds, close to 30 percent of her body weight. Helen Nicole McKevitt What Lemont High Kollarik, freshman, has a backpack weighing 13.7 pounds SUPERVISOR “on a light day.” That is close to 20 percent of her body School is Doing Sean Clark In truth, Lemont High School has weight. Hannah Richa, junior, has a backpack weighing been aware of the problem of in- roughly 20 pounds, about 20 percent of her weight as PHOTO EDITORS DESIGN ASSISTANT creasingly heavy backpacks and is well. Junior Nina Moeller’s backpack weighs 26 pounds Alexis Caspers currently working towards solving also, and is over 20 percent of her weight. Of all the stu- Michael Gaytan this problem. Tony Hamilton, Com- dents asked, not one had a backpack that was under or at Maddy George munications Director, believes that 10 percent body weight. the school would need to carefully consider certain aspects of the situa- 5 My4 Clicks Make a Difference, by Ryan Kahle Relay For Life Seriously! by: Nicole McKevitt Editorialist REAL Editorials Editor internet has become a one-click process. KONY 2012. As it stands, Invis- be turned into outrage over third world school and teach. She still to this day gather to take part in this global spec- ible Children spent more of their 28 issues said first-worlders are largely There is hardly a difference between Cancer has touched the lives of is one of the best math teachers I have tacle and raise much-needed funds minute running time on Jason Rus- ignorant of. making a donation and “liking” a status many, whether it was someone you ever had.” and awareness to save lives from sell and his son than on documenting Social media campaigns are fan- on Facebook in terms of physical exer- knew had it, survived it, or is still Junior Greta Zilyte also says that, cancer. suffering overseas. Add to this quite a tastic for promoting awareness, but tion. fighting the battle. Someone that I few ignorant statements on the part of awareness is completely different from “Liking” or some other equally in- knew lost her battle with cancer, and “Ms. Vantholen was a very supportive In order to stay the entire night the founders and an alarming lack of change. consequential action on a social media I honor her memory every year at an person, and I felt like I could talk to and to get a t-shirt, you have to raise financial transparency and an avenue Throwing money at something one outlet does nothing outside of providing amazing event called Relay for Life. her freely about any of my problems. $100. We all hope that these funds can for the apathetic to feel good about doesn’t understand does more harm one with a feeling of moral superiority No matter how tough things got for help create a world with more cancer themselves opens. than good. Inundating a society with because the individual’s friends have yet Why I Relay her, she never complained and faced survivors.