April 2022 U-Times

U-TIMES

Orchestra students learn from the pros

by Xavier Thomas | Staff Writer

From Tennessee Williams to Nelly, there is no shortage of talent amongst U. City alumni in the areas of arts and literature, science and technology. And with a strong and active alumni association, U. City has its share of graduates who come back to give back.

Once a month, alumni musicians and musicians from the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, who also play for the St. Louis Symphony, have shared their skills and talents with the U. City orchestra class. Grace Fitter, orchestra teacher, and Diane Daven port, U. City community member, have been planning this since the sum mer of 2021.

“We discussed the idea in the be

ginning of the school year and I guess that was probably August,” Fitter said. “It’s very much a pilot project right now. We’re kind of testing the water and seeing how it unfolds. It’s been kind of a creative experimental project. It’s definitely been a bit busier and more communicative second se mester since we got things rolling.”

Fitter and Davenport invited alumni musician Christopher Thomas, professional bassist, along with pro fessional musicians Bjorn Ranheim, cellist, Chris Tantillo, viola player, and Kyle Lombard, violinist, from the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis.

“We have such a rich history of the arts in U.City,” Fitter said. “We have a lot of big powerhouse alumni that have gone on to do really awesome

things and there is also a rich tradition of giving back. We have been really blessed by our alumni for wanting to come back, give back and continue the legacy.”

Thomas has been consistently meeting with the orchestra students since spring. Playing with the orches tra students and musicians from the Chamber Music Society was an op portunity he wasn’t going to miss.

“They’re very talented, very driven and I hope that they continue to like music after this in some capacity,” Thomas said. “They’re wonderful; their hearts and their minds are in the right place.”

The musicians performed in front of the students before playing along with them. The musicians then took

time to provide direction and advice, allowing opportunities for students to ask questions.

“We’ve had really good participa tion so far this year and as we con tinue through the semester into years to come, hopefully Covid things continue to help support that but this is just the beginning,” Fitter said.

The exposure to professional musicians allows students to imagine pathways to success in the music field.

“The outcome that we hope for is just for a greater love for music and hopefully we can give some of our expertise to the students and help them to become better players and better musicians and that’s really the end game to help everybody get better than where they are,” Ranheim said.

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Cailey Shanks, sophomore, plays a solo in front of classmates and professional musicians from the Chamber Music Society. This was a tense moment as the spotlight was on her but that didn’t stop her from performing.

Kyle Lombard, professional violinist from the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, spreads his knowledge and talent to students in orchestra to inspire them as he plays with musicians Chris topher Thomas, bassist, and Bjorn Ranheim, cellist. “We had a generous community member, Diane Davenport, who had a vision for a project involving our high school orchestra students and musicians from the St. Louis Chamber Music Society, Grace Fitter, orchestra teacher, said. “And our collaboration was part of her vision for this project.”

Students in orchestra class are directed by Grace Fitter, teacher, as they prepare to play with the professional musicians. “It was pretty nerve racking because their so good and they’re professionals but once we just started playing and they started playing with us we definitely felt more confident and did much better,” Isabella Wright,sophomore bass player, said. PHOTOS BY XAVIER THOMAS

Reinstate class rankings; keep Latin honors

Achieving valedictorian status in one’s class is a high honor and an achievement many students strive towards throughout high school. The privilege of delivering a speech reflecting on your high school experi ence is an opportunity that plenty of students would cherish. Unfortunate ly, U. City has removed class rankings and titles, such as valedictorian and salutatorian, so those students won’t be fully recognized for their achieve ments.

Instead, U. City has adopted the use of Latin honors, including summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude, which are most frequently seen in college settings. This was announced in an email to the U. City community at the start of the 20212022 school year. Michael Peoples, principal, stated, “Ultimately, it was decided the laude system better reflects the goals of the district’s hu manizing pillar by placing less stress on an actual class rank and more affirmation on our students’ overall academic exploration and excellence.”

It was explained that the removal of class rankings was to prevent “un due stress,” as well as to recognize the academic growth of all students, instead of just a select few. While this was a valiant effort from the adminis

tration, it may not have been the right decision.

The reality of life is that not ev eryone wins all the time. And that’s perfectly fine. But those who spare no effort in their work should be reward ed. Ignoring excellence and instead handing out participation trophies benefits no one. Rewarding everyone regardless of their work ethic only minimizes the work of those who have actually aimed for success, and gives a false sense of accomplishment to those who haven’t earned it. If you don’t do what’s expected of you, why should you be rewarded for not doing it? In the real world, you won’t be congratulated for doing the bare minimum. While students are allowed the luxury of playing it easy in school, our future bosses won’t be so lenient.

Achieving a high class rank opens many doors for some students who previously might’ve had more trouble finding quality opportunities in life. A student in a lower socioeconomic class might have difficulty being able to pay for college, but with the title of valedictorian on their transcript, they are much more likely to to gain scholarships and other aid. Even if a student does not plan on pursuing further education after high school, the title is an admirable addition to

one’s resume.

In sports, exceptional athletes are recognized with All Conference, All District and All State honors. One doesn’t have to be the most popular or most in-shape to be valedictorian; one just has to take her studies seriously.

U. City prides itself on its many opportunities that help to further academic success, such as the Early College program, the TAGD program and dual credit/AP classes. If U. City offers so many chances for exemplar ity, why not reward the students who take advantage of those opportunities and use them to succeed?

One of the main arguments against having class rankings is the fact that they tend to cause competition. But what’s so bad about a little competi tion? The competition simply encour ages students to excel in their aca demics. Students will not be shielded from competition in the real world, as it is simply something that comes with life. If our time in high school is supposed to prepare us for our future, then why not prepare us for the ob stacles we will inevitably have to face along the way?

However, if the factor of competi tion is that pressing, a simple solution to the issue is to have multiple vale dictorians. Many schools have opted

for this, as it ensures that the handful of students who have worked for it and really care about the position are awarded it. This way, the students still get their title, and there’s not as much bad blood and hurt for those who did not get it. Obviously, not everyone can be valedictorian, but there is no rule saying it must be limited to just one person.

At the end of the day, no one is forcing students to strive for valedic torian. It’s an option, not a require ment, and it does require a lot of hard work. But as more and more schools rid themselves of class rankings, there is less incentive for excel lence. Schools can still recognize the achievements of everyone without taking away the special positions of valedictorian and salutatorian. If someone doesn’t care about having the title awarded to them, they don’t have to dedicate themselves to the work it takes to earn it.

However, taking away the title altogether for the sake of preserv ing students’ feelings is robbing the esteemed position from those who deserve it and have spent years work ing for it. For all these reasons, we implore the administration to recon sider their decision and reinstate the valedictorian and salutatorian along

It’s time to start taking Black mental health seriously

by Albert Smith Staff Writer

After releasing one of the most critically ac claimed underground rap albums of the last decade, “AmeriKKKan Korruption,” Jamal Dewar Jr. (bet ter known as Capital Steez) tweeted “The End.” on his Twitter account. While many viewed the mes sage as nothing more than a cryptic tweet, the real ity was something much darker. On Christmas Eve, a day after his final tweet, Capital Steez jumped off of a New York skyscraper to take his own life. He was 19 years old.

Mental health within the Black community tends to be overlooked both outside the community and within the community. From the long-lasting results of slavery, African Americans have had to deal with the harsh reality of being in a country that wasn’t constructed with the intent of their inclusion. The dehumanization, oppression and violence against African Americans has been disguised to further push the narrative of progression in our society.

Amid this awkward transition, we see racial bias, hypocrisy and racism displayed through the public’s reactions to Black trauma and hardships.

For example, whenever a black celebrity has a mental break or speaks out about their concerns, the internet tends to disregard their words. Take the situation involving, for instance, arguably the

U-Times Staff Philosophy

greatest basketball player of all time: Lebron James. During the 2020 NBA season, James expressed the need for changes in the legal system as the killing of George Floyd plagued the nation. James claimed that Derrick Chauvin (the officer who killed Floyd) needed to be held accountable and that these trag edies happen far too often. James was met with heavy backlash, with many claiming it isn’t his job to speak out about these occurrences, even going as far as spreading a popular Twitter meme in his com ment section saying “shut up and dribble.”

While on Instagram Live, popular “Fast and Furious” actor Tyrese Gibson was coping with not being able to see his daughters while spend ing thousands per month on child support. Gibson began crying. Instead of people sympathizing with a distraught father, they instead made a viral meme of him, disrupting his entire message of Black men needing to be in Black households.

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles battled mental health issues prompted by the death of a family member and her testimony in the FBI’s case against USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. Struggling with this caused Biles to withdraw from the all-around Olympics gymnastics competition. Her departure sparked a debate around the impor tance of mental health within sports. While Biles

Policies

had many rooting for her and praising her decision, many also had issues with her decision. Biles’ with drawal caused outrage as many believed her to be the key to USA’s gymnastics success and that leav ing due to mental health was not a good enough rea son. Popular broadcaster Piers Morgan even went as far as to call Biles’s actions “a joke” and that “kids need strong role models, not this nonsense.”

As a Black person, talking about mental health seems almost illegal. It’s almost as if speaking about your mental position somehow makes you ungrateful or weak. Within the Black community, there are tendencies to disregard mental health as a means of survival. We look at life’s hardships as a part of life and as long as you have the bare necessi ties you should be perfectly fine.

The culture we’ve created doesn’t endorse men tal health awareness. With high depression rates and a suicide rate twice as high as white people’s, as a community we must shift the narrative of mental health within the Black community. You aren’t self ish for putting yourself first or ungrateful for feeling the way that you do. Although we are Black and have to work twice as hard to sometimes only get half as far, we are still people and need to recognize that. You are not a machine. You are a human, and that’s okay.

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Coleman envisions space for creativity

by Xavier Thomas Staff Writer

Every school needs a place for students to escape to and express their creative ideas. For that reason, Shawn Coleman, sophomore, is in the pro cess of creating a makerspace in the library, complete with machines and materials to let students’s imagina tions and artistic minds run free.

“When I was in 8th grade I par ticipated in the makerspace that was located at Brittany Woods Middle School,” Coleman said. “When I ar rived at the school this year, I saw the room and immediately had a vision for what it could be. I want a space that students can go to to express themselves creatively. Basically a STEAM room.”

This process to create a maker space was not so easy for Coleman since he had to wait for the admin istration to approve the project, but with the support of Christina Sneed, English Language Arts curriculum and instruction coordinator, it was possible.

“It will have a heat press for making t-shirts, a 3D printer, and the circut that is able to cut many differ ent materials to be used in projects,’’

Coleman said. “On the way we currently have a lot of art materi als, which includes basic crayons, markers and colored pencils, but we also have paint canvases, paint kits, brushes and things of that sort.”

Sneed sees a bright future in Cole

man and his ideas and helped him convince the administration to fund him with $15,000 to put the space together.

“Shawn is an impressive young man,” Sneed said. I appreciate his passion and interest in leading and creating something for the entire school community to enjoy that also connects with all of our learning objectives.”

Coleman was motivated to make the space to provide students with more options to apply creativity to their learning.

“It is really important for me to give students a place to express them selves because sometimes I feel that they don’t have a place to do so, and

I want to give that to them,” Coleman said. “This room will unlock skills in people that they were not aware they had before. A lot of the skills that will be absorbed while in the room can also be used outside of it as well.”

Creating the makerspace has been a fun process for Coleman as he had to put his creative mind into the room to make it enjoyable for students.

“Sketching out the room and trying to create a layout for it was really cool, having an idea, putting it on paper,” Coleman said. “Talking and communicating with the admin istration has also been a surprisingly favorite part of mine. And now I’m fi nally starting to see it come together.”

Rotational blocks allow time to support student

by Eliana Wade | Staff Writer

It’s a B-2 day, and it’s time to go back to second period. Again.

B days are considered “rotational” days, meaning that on every B day, the last period of the day is a repeat of one of the other seven periods. So, on a B-1 day, students go to first period at the end of the day. On a B-2 day, students go to second period at the end of the day. Periods 2, 4 and 6 meet on B days, so on these rotational days, students go to those classes twice in one day. That’s180 minutes of one subject.

“The rotational intervention block is a time for students to receive sup

port from their teachers for that spe cific class and is not a time intended for ‘travel’ to other classes,” Michael Peoples, principal, said. “Over time, the period has evolved to become a time for students who are not in need of additional support to have a mental break, study or work on material from another class. This structure supports SEL (social emotional learning) for students.”

Peoples stressed that the rotational period is designed for students to fo cus on the specific class scheduled.

“I feel that rotational periods can be beneficial to have extra time in a particular class.” Amirah Douglas,

freshman, said.

Some students, however, needed some time to adjust to the rotating nature of the schedule.

“It’s slightly confusing at times, but I think it works well, and allows you to go to different classes to get help,” Emily Blackwell, freshman, said.

Teachers are also affected by this aspect of the schedule. Many believe it to be very beneficial, but Andrea Berin, social studies teacher, believes the time spent could be slightly tweaked to better enhance the stu dents’ overall productivity.

“It is really good to catch up stu

dents who are behind, sometimes it doesn’t come often enough, so maybe splitting it into a 45/45 for first and second hour, third and fourth hour, etc., so we can get them all within one week,” Berin said.

Brian Ashley, social studies teach er, also believes rotational periods to be helpful for students, but has some concerns within this extra given time.

“There is plenty of time to work with kids who need extra help or sup port,“ Ashley said. “A negative aspect is that they can be extra long, espe cially if kids are already caught up. They may not necessarily have any thing to do in class, unless the teach

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#StandWithUkraine

Putin’s nostalgia for the heydey of Russia motivated invasion of Ukraine

by Dani Wasserman Staff Writer

Russia’s claim to Ukraine is a direct result of continuous years of conflict and Russia’s attempt to expand their influence by claiming Ukraine as their own. It began during the Russian Revolu tion in 1917 and has ramped up in recent years with the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO.

In 2008, Ukraine applied for a Member ship Action Plan with NATO; however, NATO plans were halted in 2010 when newly elected President Yanukovych wanted to remain neutral. However, the movement to join NATO gained traction in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and again in 2019 when Ukraine amended their constitution.

“To Putin, the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO was the exact opposite of what he thought Ukraine should be in,” Micheal Daly, social stud ies teacher, said. “He thought that Ukraine should be aligned with the countries that were in the Warsaw Pact.”

Putin does not want Ukraine to be aligned with democratic nations as he fears that will weaken his political influence. If Ukraine were to be an official member of NATO, it would make it much more difficult for Russia to invade and

claim Ukraine due to NATO’s militaristic back ing.

“The possibility of Ukraine joining NATO was a huge signal to Putin’s people that he was losing power and influence,” Daly said. Not only was the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO a trigger for Russia to invade, but Ukraine is also situated with access to many natural re soures which could bring profit to Russia.

“Ukraine is situated on the Odesa Sea Port which is a strategic place that Russia wants,” Nwannediya Ibe, social studies teacher, said. “Russia wants to make sure they get their land back and benefit from it economically and politi cally.”

By gaining access to the Odesa Sea Port, Russia will have greater control of trade and shipping. Ukraine also has key nuclear plants, including Chernobyl.

“Ukraine also has some nuclear power plants which might be a reason that Russia wants Ukraine so they can build up their nuclear arse nal.”

Ukraine is rich with resources and politically vulnerable at the moment without NATO, leav ing Putin eager to stake his claim after all these

Ukraine declared modern independence as Ukrainian People’s Republic during the Rus sian Revolution at the end of World War and fought for independence.

Imperialism proves its hypocrisy

by Alara Stewart Co-Editor

Ukrainians defeated by Soviets and declared part of the U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Social ist Republics).

Ukraine attempts to align themselves with Nazis during World War II hoping the Germans would save them from oppression.

New Ukrainian parliament formed from previous Soviet legislature votes to declare independence from U.S.S.R. and to shut down Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

• Following failed coup in Moscow, Ukraine declares independence a sec ond time by landslide vote of 92%.

• Soviet Union dissolves

with NATO

Atlantic

not

The act of expanding a coun try’s territory and power is how a dictionary defines imperialism, but imperialism is truly defined by one word: entitlement. Powermongering leaders that have no remorse for the harm they create across the globe are the responsi ble party. Just within the past few weeks, the tragedies of war across Ukraine have escalated, with bombings killing more civilians everyday. As Russia’s president Vlademir Putin intensifies the at tacks, his goal becomes less clear. It leaves one to wonder what he is thinking.

over the past few decades.

After declaring independence from Rus sia in 1991, Georgia is invaded by Russia. Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of South Ossettia and Abkhazia in Georgia sided with Russia and, currently, 20 percent of Georgia is under Russian military occupa tion.

There’s no moral answer. Most leaders justify their terror ism with the power and wealth they gain from it. Putin’s goal to take over Ukraine and claim the country as Russian territory stems from his fear of democracy and human rights. By combining the two countries, he believes he can make Russia stronger and redefine Russia’s allyship with Western countries. By using militaristic tactics, he has monop olized and killed close to 2,000 Ukrainians.

The superpower countries tend to insert themselves into politics when it is unnecessary. Their disruptive behavior destroys countries in return for their own economic and power growth. The U.S. has participated in imperial ism since its founding The slave trade allowed them to become wealthy off of the exploitation and slave labor of Africans. Impe rialism is also seen more recently in the waging wars in Afghani stan, Iraq, Vietnam- to name a few. According to The Guardian, from 1945 to 2019 the U.S. has deployed military 211 times in 67 different countries. Is the pursuit of profit so great that it is worth the devastation of a country’s citizens?

Every aspect of imperialism is planned out to ensure that a profit will be made whether it be through war or exploitation. When the goal of profit goes above anything else, foreign policy becomes hypocritical.

highest literacy rates in the world. It is democratic-ish but it is not supported by the United States; in fact they don’t even have diplo matic relations. The Middle East is just an example but you can see what’s important to the United States: the economic connection more than the expression of valu ing democracy.”

Although combat war is still very common, the modern ver sion is economic imperialism, the domination of trade, resources, and franchises that benefit the hands of those outside of the country. This form is much more discrete and is executed globally.

“It’s no accident that you see McDonalds all over the world. Those profits are ultimately fun neled back to the U.S.,” Nathan Pipes said.

imperialism around the world has been experienced too frequently.

Every year there has been a dif ferent war broadcasted on the news. Last year America pulled troops out of Afghanistan, which caused a tremendous amount of rage, and this year Russia has dropped bombs in almost every city of Ukraine.

After the Russian Federation hosted the Winter Olympics in 2014 and in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation took place.

Comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy elected president.

Russia renews its troop presence near Ukraine-Russian border.

the 2022 Winter Olympics in Bejing, China, Russia officially invaded Ukraine.

Putin is far from the only lead er who uses these tactics. “Su perpower” countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, United States (U.S.), Germany, China and Russia, have dominated foreign policy by relying on war and sneaky alliances to increase wealth, power and land. Their intentions are corrupt, inhumane and disturbing, resulting in wars, poverty, environmental destruc tion and westernization. These practices have only increased

“The United States tends to talk out both sides of its mouth, as it does with its own ideals domestically,” Nathan Pipes, social studies teacher, said. “The Middle East is a good example.

The United States supports Saudi Arabia because they have a lot of investments in the American financial sector. However the Saudi royal family is probably one of the most conservative and draconian of all the Middle East; it’s the least progressive nation of all of them. Some of the more progressive nations that the United States has not sup ported is Iran. Iran has one of the

Help for Ukraine

ILLUSTRATION BY BECKETT WILKE

Global economy suffers as sanctions increase against Russia

by Dani Wasserman Staff Writer

To prevent further invasion, Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions against Russia, Russian oligarchs and Putin.

While they have greatly impacted the Rus sian economy, they have yet to change the prospect of the war. However, the Russian currency, the ruble, decreased by over 30% since the invasion, affecting Russia’s general population the most.

“It depends on how long we stick with the sanctions as to whether they will work,” Michael Daly, social studies teacher, said. “As of now, it seems as if the United States is the only country not buying Russian gas, whereas a lot of the other sanctions, which initially came in the first round of sanctions in February, were pretty strong but in other sectors.”

While Russian oil only comprises 2% of U.S. oil, over 20% of European oil is export ed from Russia, according to NBC News. This makes it much harder for Europe to maintain long-term sanctions on Russian oil, while simultaneously preventing inflation.

Other economic sanctions against Russia include freezing overseas assets of oligarchs, including their yachts and homes, suspend ing the railway between the EU and Russia, banning steel imports and much more.

“We’ve never seen anything this compre hensive, this powerful and this sudden im posed on an economy this size and important to the global economy,” Christopher Smart, former special assistant to President Obama, said in a Wall Street Journal article.

While the economic sanctions have had a large effect on the Russian economy, includ

ing the month-long closure of the Moscow Stock Exchange, they have yet to prevent the full-scale invasion by the Russians. Many believe that this is fully Putin’s fault as he has no care or respect for both Ukrainian and Russian civilians’ economic conditions.

“I don’t feel as if the sanctions will make any difference,” Nwannediya Ibe, social studies teacher, said. “Already, Putin is at tacking civilians both in Ukraine and locally through censorship and propaganda. I don’t think sanctions will make any difference be cause Putin doesn’t care about the economic status or lives of the people in his country.”

The numerous sanctions imposed on Rus sia by the West have made countries search for new political relationships to rely on for resources.

“A lot of European countries are scram

bling to find ways to trade without Russia and get all the resources they need,” Ibe said. “Europe is much more reliant on Russia for necessities such as grain. They will have to find ways to grow them on their own or meet with different countries to form partnerships with.”

While the U.S. does not support Ven ezuela, they have been considering easing sanctions on them to use their oil. This is a drastic change in political relationships as it is not a democratic nation. According to CNN, the U.S .is also considering relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to offset oil prices.

“Talking to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia as opposed to Russia about gas is a major demonstration of changing priorities and political relationships throughout the world,”

The clearest example is U.S. fast food and fast fashion brands that have been implemented or stationed in Eastern countries. They force impoverished people in the East to work in factories, only making a few cents an hour to make clothing and toys for kids back in the U.S. This form of imperialism is just as exploitative and dangerous as combat war be cause it ensures countries are in a constant state of impoverishment, always to remain on the bottom of the hierarchy. Essentially coun tries must exploit their citizens and other country’s citizens to remain economically stable and feed into the superpower coun tries’ capitalistic mouths. The ideology that leaders have the right to suppress other countries needs to be scrutinized because the culture of war and

Ukraine has fallen victim to economic imperialism as Pu tin not only wants to reclaim Ukraine a territory of Russia but to also access the Black Soil region, which is extremely fertile farmland. The entire country of Ukraine simply looks like a bil lion bucks to Putin and he’s try ing to do whatever it takes to get it. The monopolization of Eastern and Southern countries is inhu mane and proves how intention ally immoral humans can be.

“I always like to fall back on Howard Zinn,” Pipes said. “He has a quote in the last chapter of A People’s History of the United States. I’m paraphrasing but, the United States is one of the richest countries in the world so instead of dropping bombs how about we drop humanitarian aid. Who could hate you then? What kind of argument would you have against such things?”

Leaders need to stop engag ing in toxic power dynamics that put money and power over the health and safety of citizens. By eliminating these dynamics and obsessions countries can redirect their focus onto humanitarian aid and the destruction of Western involvement around the world.

U.S. awaits influx of Ukrainian refugees

by Eliana Wade | Staff Writer

Imagine having to completely

start over your entire life in a new country where you don’t speak the language, have no connections and are constantly unsure of what is go ing to happen next. That is what it is like for refugees.

“These are people who are leav ing their country due to war, trauma, persecution and fear,” Melissa Elliot, volunteer at the Bilingual Interna tional Assistant Services in St. Louis, said. “America is a land of opportuni ties and we are extremely wealthy with resources and jobs; we need diversity and can learn much from other cultures.”

With the recent Russian invasion

in Ukraine, the world is experiencing many repercussions of the conflict, including almost 5 million refugees that must resettle in order to remain safe. In the U.S., those who are look ing to come are processed through the USRAP, (United States Refugee Admissions Program), and are as signed a resettlement agency con tracted with the government.

St. Louis is actually an example of a city where many refugees have been resettled, with one of the largest per capita refugee populations in the nation. Once they are approved, it is unknown to them what country will accept them or how long it will take.

“I know some refugees who have waited in refugee camps for decades

before being admitted to another country,” Elliot said.

Refugees are often well-educated individuals, but sometimes the language barrier can impact the op portunities they have once they reach their destination. Refugee agencies try very hard to provide some kind of normalcy. These agencies provide an array of basic services, including housing, utilities, clothing, health insurance, as well as English and cultural training classes.

“The refugees I have worked with have been the most hard working and grateful people I know,” Elliot said.

“They sacrifice a lot for the well-be ing of their families and save all they can to help. Many come with high

skill sets but have to take a lower position due to language or education barriers.”

President Joseph Biden has said that the U.S. will admit 100,000 Ukrainians into the country. Some will come as refugees, but others will come seeking asylum at our borders or on special immigrant visas. A con troversial topic in terms of taking in Ukrainians is that they would receive priority over other refugee groups, such as Afghanis and Syrians.

“I think if they come at the border, they should be treated as equals with all others at the border,” Elliot said.

“I think we should take in refugees because it is the humane thing to do.”

The International Institute of St. Louis has partnered with Project Hope to send medical sup plies, medicine and mental health support to hospitals in Ukraine. They have already collected and sent 22 pallets of medicine, 7 Interagency Emergency Health Kits and 45 Essential Health Kits. For reference, one Emergency Health Kit carries about 800 courses of treatment. You can donate money by visiting the International Institute of St. Louis website.

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‘The Batman’ ranks high in franchise offerings

by Albert Smith Staff Writer

“The Batman” is a three-hour breath of fresh air. Set in Gotham City, the story begins through the narration of Robert Pattinson, the newest actor to dawn the Batman mantle. The mov ie explores a second-year Batman try ing to fight crime while under public scrutiny of the citizens of Gotham and law enforcement, but also navigating his way through its criminal under belly to find and apprehend a mysteri ous Zodiac-like killer. Batman must find this killer fast, however, not only is the killer both brutal and menacing, but he is incredibly intelligent, stump ing both Batman and law enforcement in their quest to find him.

“The Batman” is a top-two Batman film for many reasons. What makes this movie great is its ability to cap ture the true essence of Batman. Un like many other superheroes, Batman is just a normal human taking up the role of a vigilante, and this movie cap tures the man behind the mask better than any other Batman film. Batman movies such as “The Dark Knight” and “Batman Begins” tend to portray Batman as aggressive and dominant to the point of overwhelment. Bat

man doesn’t seem like a person in those movies, he seems like a soldier.

“The Batman” version of Batman is very dark and menacing, using his anonymity to his advantage and still inexperienced and angry at the death of his parents. The characterization of this Batman reels in the viewer as he’s not only mysterious and brooding, but also surprisingly charming.

Originally, when I heard that Robert Pat tinson was to portray my favorite caped crusader I had little to no expectations, see ing as how I had only known him from the cinematic abomina tion that is “Twilight.” Pattinson, however, plays Batman ex tremely well, giving this emo type of energy to the character. Zoe Kravitz is undoubtedly the best Catwoman to date, and supporting actors such as Jeffery Wright (Jim Gordon) and Colin Farrell (Oswald Cobblepot) are stars in their roles. When talking about the casting, we cannot forget about

Paul Dano who plays The Riddler.

In this dark rendition of Batman, the main antagonist had to be just as gritty and The Riddler didn’t disappoint. The intelligence of The Riddler challenges this rookie Batman and is always steps ahead of him, making for a great hero and villain dynamic. This dynamic is so vital to the movie as I genuinely didn’t know if our hero would win.

Typically in superhero movies, the formula stays the same: the hero and the villain fight, and the hero begins to lose but some how miraculously wins to save the day. “The Bat man” fights this stereotype so much that by the end of the movie one doesn’t feel either party won. It was truly refreshing to see a hero movie where the hero doesn’t always win. In all honesty, I prefer this formula much more.

Much can also be said about the soundtrack. Most notably the use of “Something in the Way” by Nirvana and “Sonata in Darkness” by Mi chael Giacchino. Both evoke a very

suspenseful and uneasy feeling that complements the themes of the movie.

While overall an amazing movie, it does have its flaws. At the forefront has to be its length. With a runtime of three hours, the film can sometimes feel slow, so much so that I found my self dozing off during my first watch.

There were a few scenes where I felt some of the build-up could’ve been cut to increase viewer engagement. Although Paul Dano did an amazing job, it was hard to take him seriously sometimes, mostly after the film’s climax. I couldn’t tell if he was still in character or trying his best Joaquin Phoenix impression. He acted like an entirely different character during the second half that didn’t correlate with the character he built in the first; it seemed forced.

Overall, “The Batman” lived up to its hype. For too long, we have been spoiled with the dry and predictable patterns in superhero movies, espe cially Marvel ones. DC is turning around its reputation of making bad shows and movies. “The Batman” is so far one of the best movies of the year and I recommend it to anyone looking for a thrill.

The best and worst of 2021 Oscar-nominated movies

Marley Gardner Staff Writer

Every year millions of people tune in to watch the Oscars live, and even more go back and catch the highlights of what was good last year and what was not. This year was no exception.

At the end of last month, 16.6 million people watched live to see what the Academy thought deserved recogni tion. While the Academy is made up of largely respected professionals, an Oscar win doesn’t mean an amaz ing film so here are the top picks of what’s worth watching and what’s not.

This year Apple TV’s coming-ofage film “CODA’’ won Best Picture, which garnered an emotional accep tance and crowd reaction. It follows high schooler Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing person in her mostly deaf family, as she discovers her pas sion for singing. She grapples with balancing that and being around to stick up for her family. While there was some criticism for it making deaf people seem helpless, the film was still a feat for the deaf com munity with 40% of the dialogue being in American Sign Language (ASL). Director Sian Heder learned ASL for the film, and all three of the deaf characters were played by deaf actors. Not only did “CODA’’ win Best Picture, but it won Best Adapted Screenplay (from the 2014 French film La Famille Belier) and Troy Kotsur won Best Supporting Actorthe first deaf man to do so. With the Oscars getting a lot of criticism for their lack of diversity throughout the years, this win helped remedy that. It was a heartwarming feel-good film and, regardless of the quality, it was a decent choice for the award.

Of the nine other Best Picture

nominees there were a solid mix of must-see films and ones that could go without watching. Most notably of the must-sees, “Drive My Car’’ was the first Japanese film nominated for Best Picture and is nothing short of a masterpiece. Primarily based on a short story of the same name by Ha ruki Murkami, it is a Japanese drama about a theatre director Yusuke Ka fuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) who takes a residency directing Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima while recovering from his wife’s death. While there he meets Koji (Masaki Okada), a man his wife was cheating on him with, and Watari

The Best Picture category was not without its fair share of misses. While “Dune,” “King Richard” and “West Side Story’’ were mediocre, the Acad emy could have gone without nomi nating a few others. Whereas “Lico rice Pizza” and “Belfast” were snooze fests, perhaps the worst of the bunch was Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up,” a po litical satire about two Michigan State astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) who discover a giant asteroid heading towards Earth and must convince the world of its danger. The whole film fell flat and was a big A-list packed hot mess

visions of people being murdered by a strange figure and realizes that not only are the visions real, but the violent murders are connected to her childhood. The film drew inspiration from the Italian Giallo genre, classic 1980’s and 1990’s slashers and incor porated elements of body horror, all while creating a unique and absolutely off the walls paragon of horror.

Not completely void of recog nition, categories other than Best Picture had some excellent films that shouldn’t be ignored. Nominated in three categories (that it unfortunately lost all of), “Flee” was easily the biggest snub of the night. Unlike the other films in most of its categories (Best International Feature, Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature), “Flee” is a documentary. It’s the story of a gay man named Amin who fled Afghanistan for Denmark as a teenager as the Taliban rose to power, and has kept it a secret ever since. Not only was it an emotional and compelling story, but it proved animation to be an exciting documen tary medium.

DON’T DELAY YOUR

(Toko Miura), his chauffeur. The three hour run time is likely to scare some viewers off, but with the film’s steady pacing and compelling exploration of grief and human connection, it’s an excellent watch.

Netflix’s western/drama “The Power of the Dog” was another strong contender. It is about ranchers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Burbank (Jesse Plemons) who meet inn owner Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her teenage son. Not only was the film an overall achievement in its excellence, but the score and visuals were particularly outstanding.

that came out just before Christmas with enough time for the Academy to nominate it and absolve themselves of their social responsibility.

2021 was not short of impressive films the Academy could have chosen instead of some of the nominations, but just because they didn’t receive any recognition doesn’t mean they should go unwatched. Of the most skillful of these was James Wan’s “Malignant.”

“Malignant” (from the same direc tor as “The Conjuring” and “Saw”) is a horror film about a woman named Madison (Annabelle Wallis) who sees

The Best Actress category had a number of excellent films that were overlooked. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut “The Lost Daugh ter” starred Olivia Colman as Leda, a professor reflecting on her mother hood on a seaside vacation in Greece. It was incredibly raw and unflinching, and an impressive film, directorial debut or not.

Like every year, the Oscars could not please everyone. Of course there were some exciting moments like “CODA’s” groundbreaking Best Pic ture win for the disabled community.

However, every hidden gem gone overlooked or blockbuster snub just

Sadie Malks, junior, describes the meaning behind their painting that was showcased during the Arts Night on April 8. “The painting is about your inner self and having mixed emotions about expression and how you want to identify,” Malks said. “It’s like there’s a chunk of you there but a chunk that’s also missing, When you’re explor ing your gender identity you have to figure out so much more than everybody else in that aspect.”

8 sports Long-time coach leaves program

incoming coaches.

“The advice I would give a new coach is to get to know your players on and off the field,” Henson said. “Be visible in the UCHS building and in the University City soccer community, and finally, be yourself, have fun and enjoy the experience.”

Henson has not yet decided about retiring from the girls’ program; he is waiting until the end of the season. The prospect of him retiring has left the girls trying to imagine what it would be like without him.

“Knowing that the future U. City girls soccer team [might not] have Coach Henson as their coach is hard to believe,” Isabel Forster, senior captain of the girls team, said. “His wisdom of soccer has given our team more oppor tunities than University City could have imagined, such as winning conference in 2019.”

Success did not always come to Henson, but he also coached the boys to conference wins in 2019 and 2020.

His coaching went beyond teaching basic skills. “Coach Henson has taught me many soccer skills and how to play the game,”

Forster said. “He also taught me leader ship and sportsmanship. He has been the backbone of the soccer program and he will be missed by many. He has made my experience of soccer the best I could have imagined coming in as a freshman.

I am thankful that I had Coach Henson as my high school soc cer coach for all four years.”

Before the girls game against Ritenour, Thomas Henson, coach, directs the players in warm-ups. The Lions won the game 3-1.

off the field.

“Being around the players is the one thing I will miss the most,” Henson said.

“Watching student athletes grow, improve and mature from their fresh man to senior year was very rewarding. They always made me laugh, kept me on my toes, I learned to expect the un expected, and I used their energy and enthusiasm to motivate and push me to be a better coach, Teacher, mentor, leader, and hopefully a role model.”

As much as Henson will miss coach ing, many of the players will miss what he taught them.

“Coach Henson helped me as a soccer player by allowing me to reach my full potential on the field and assist ing me in developing my finer skills of the game,” Patrick Fuller, senior, said.

“He’s also helped me as a person by enforcing qualities of commitment and punctuality. The most valuable thing he’s taught me is resilience through the toughest obstacles and to stay dedi cated to what I wish to achieve.”

Henson has a few pointers for the

by Sasha Albright | Co-Editor

For eight years, Thomas Henson showed up every day after school dur ing soccer season to run practice or coach a game. As coach of the girls and boys soccer teams, he has committed to a stringent schedule. This year will be his last for the boys--and he is still deciding about the girls team.

“It is a little sad to be leaving the boys soccer program,” Henson said.

“When next August rolls around, I know I’ll miss the excitement of preparing for a new season and the different chal lenges each year brings, but I know I made the right decision to retire.”

As a head coach, Henson has made his mark. “He wasn’t one of those coaches that pushed you too far, but also wasn’t super lenient,” Eli Minor, junior, said. “He had a way to make you become better at something. He found the sweet spot for coaching student athletes.”

Henson has always had a close connection with the student athletes, making sure that he knew them on and

PHOTO BY ELLA CHISHOLM