The
Doherty Spectrum
What’s Inside?
Blurred Lines: To
Remove or Not?
pg. 1
Confessions
of an
Exchange Student
Football’s Victories pg. 2 pg. 3
4515 Barnes Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80917
Opinion
1
Disclaimer:
Parents, Staff, and Students:
The views and opinions of The Spectrum’s writers do not
necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the staff as
a whole or Doherty High School. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the content of The Spectrum,
please contact the Editor, Olivia Stinett, or the Advisor,
Mrs. Bonville.
-The Spectrum Staff
Blurred Lines: To
Remove or Not?
Editorial by Jessica Carmona
I
t would be assumed that
plenty of the students
here at Doherty would have
already seen the music video
to artist, Robin Thicke’s, newest hit “Blurred Lines.” Many
would have watched it simply
because when a catchy song
is heard there is the temptation to see the artist’s take on
the video. Others who have
seen it, however, may have
been of a very cheeky attitude
and heard that there were
women in the nude. For the
reason of nudity, a red light
went off in the mind of Reba
Hayes, a citizen of San Fran-
cisco, California, who immediately jumped to the conclusion
of anti-feminism playing a role
in the video. Hayes decided to
take it upon herself to create a
petition to have the music video removed with a set number
of 50,000 people required to
sign the petition for a goal of
removal to be reached.
“It is important to support artistic vision and integrity, but I think we can all agree
that ‘Blurred Lines’ is far
from ‘artistic’ with its blatant
objectification and exploitation
of the female body,” petition
organizer Reba Hayes said.
Now, it is also stated
that she had taken a wrong
turn by using childish and
rude names to get her point
across. With or without childish behavior, the video is still
objectifying to women. Yes,
it’s quite a catchy song, but
the video itself is quite wrong.
Women didn’t fight as they did
for their rights to have their
standards lowered by this
video.
This video alone is
not the complete cause of
women feeling demoralized,
but it adds fuel to the mighty
fire of feminism rising.
Guns vs. Government
Editorial by Leah Mazzilo
I
magine you are in your
home and an intruder walks
in, at that point you understand that you will need to
protect yourself. Your first
thought after this realization would be that you would
need a gun, but imagine if
our second amendment was
taken away from us. The
second amendment, the
right to bear arms, is a very
important amendment because it protects the option
for Americans to possess a
firearm. In 2010 there were
about 300 million Americans
that owned firearms and were
outraged when they found out
that President Obama held a
conference to announce his
plan for changing the law of
gun control.
In an interview with a British
magazine, Actor Brad Pitt
said. “America is a country
founded on guns. It’s in our
DNA. It’s very strange but I
feel better having a gun. I really do.”
Several other celebrities have
very strong views on the
new gun control rights being
presented. Others state that
it’s not gun control we need
to worry about, it’s people
control.
There are pros to the new
laws being put in place;
such a person must have a
background check to look at
their eligibility to purchase a
firearm which will prevent the
mentally ill or ex criminals
from obtaining a weapon. Currently the background checking system isn’t foolproof so
there’s been a debate on
using it because few states
submit the names of prohibited mentally ill individuals to
the national database.
You may wonder what Obama
has to say about all of this in
a press release he stated he
would:
“Vow to continue doing
everything in his power to
combat gun violence through
executive action and to press
Congress to pass commonsense reforms like expanding
the background check system
and cracking down on gun
trafficking.”
Some democrats are questioning Obama’s decisions,
while others are standing
behind him. Republicans
say that Obama is taking our
rights away as Americans.
“I think people are overreact
Constitution
vs.
Common Core
Editorial by Olivia Stinett
I
magine a classroom full
of students with all different learning levels, learning
the exact same curriculum,
regardless of their learning
abilities. Common core, a
standardized curriculum with
tragically low awareness, is
pushing towards this kind of
classroom setting. Focusing
mainly on English and Math,
the curriculum emphasizes a
learning environment where
every student is on a one
track road to “success.” One
of the most disturbing realities
of Common Core is the lack of
information shared about the
actual curriculum.
Although a straight
forward curriculum has not yet
been openly discussed, there
are some suggested learning
materials and activities. On
the released Common Core
State Standard’s reading list
for high school students is
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison. The book, although rich
in racial and emotional issues,
contains graphic and violent
scenes to describe a troubled
young girl’s background. If
parents and students are
already challenging the
teaching of The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn for racial
discrimination, they are going
to have a field day with this
particular book. In the Math
curriculum, teachers will also
be encouraged to focus more
on the process, than on the
final product. Schools are no
longer teaching Math as an
analytical skill, but more as an
investigative skill.
“With the new math
standard in the Common
Core, there are no longer
absolute truths. So 3 times
4 can now equal 11 so long
as a student can effectively
explain how they reached that
answer,” executive director
of Eagle Forum Glyn Wright
said.
Another one of Common Core’s drawbacks is the
lack of teacher-student communication. With the focus on
standards and testing, there
leaves little time for teachers
to develop relationships with
their students. School will no
longer be about helping every
individual student reach their
full potential, it will become
a place to level the playing
field and teach students what
is mandatory to learn while
moving creativity and critical
thinking to the way side.
On the political side
of it, Common Core is, bluntly,
unconstitutional. The US
constitution states that education is not a power given to
congress. As said in the 10th
amendment “the powers
not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.
The federal government does
not have the right to institute a
nationwide education system
because it is not specified
in the constitution. In the
Supreme Court case of San
Antonio Independent School
District v. Rodriguez, the court
ruled that the establishment
of an education is not a right
given to the Federal Government nor is there evidence
stating otherwise.
Colorado itself
fully implemented Common Core’s standards for
the 2013-14 school year.
Although Doherty itself
hasn’t adopted the complete
curriculum, soon, we will
see a slow transition into a
monotonous form of learning,
focusing mainly on standardized testing. The alarming
number of stakeholders who
are not aware of the changes
that are happening right here
in Colorado, confirms that it
is crucial for parents and students to become aware of the
curriculum changes and arm
themselves with knowledge
for the future.
-ing to Obama’s ideas on gun
control. He is protective of our
second amendment rights but
wants to work to get illegal
guns off the street. What is
wrong with that?”
citizen Helen Musgrave said.
“Anti-Gun is Anti-American,
simple as that. Every RESPONSIBLE person should
have the right to bare arms
if he/she wishes too. If they
don’t like guns or don’t want
one then fine, don’t have one.
But do not force your views on
us (the gun owners) and do
not try and force us to give up
what is ours. That is a fascist
way of thinking and to be that
way and say you’re proud to
be an American? You should
be ashamed of yourselves.
Guns built this country, and
without them the country shall
be broken!”
citizen Thomas Aschiero said.
Is President Obama making a
mistake or keeping America a
safer place? What will happen
if these laws become final, will
it change our history forever.
Student
Life
2
Wasson Closing
E
veryone knows about
Wasson closing. It has
affected a lot of people lives,
not only the students from
Wasson, but the students
from Doherty High School as
well. Many students have
different views, but there a lot
that feel the same way.
Although Doherty
students and staff are very
excited for many new faces
here at Doherty, there is a big
concern about the school be-
Story by Taylor Green
ing too crowded.
“The hallways are
too crowded, so I won’t get to
class on time,” Doherty junior
Hannah Oberbroeckling said.
Although the school is quite
crowded, the new students
from Wasson still love it here.
Students can still say it is a
good school and great place
to be at.
“I really love it here
at Doherty,” former Wasson
junior Penny Ross said.
Football Victories
Story by Laci Durham
T
hey are at school an hour
early, every morning;
they practice every day after
school; they practiced through
the heat and the rain almost
every day this summer, and
do not forget those awful twoa-days. All of this to change
the results they have gotten
over the past few years and,
finally, silence those who have
doubted them. The Doherty
Spartan football team has put
in the hard work and hours, to
finally have a winning season, and it sure would seem
they are on the right path with
their first four games being
victories against Liberty, 49-7,
Eagle Crest, 49-27, Castle
View, 42-2, and Heritage,
42- 2.
Over the last few
seasons, Doherty football has
seen its share of disappointments and losses that have
all added up to a desire to
change their path this season.
They underwent some changes since last season in order
to come together as a team,
and prepare themselves for
this season. This included
practicing, lifting weights, and
studying film, starting right
after the last game of the
season last year. They also
worked to become more close
knit and work as a team.
“We have come
together more, put in more
work, and ignored all of the
negativity,” junior Marcus
Fotenos said.
Their biggest goal
of the season is taking the
games week by week.
“We just take it week
by week, win by win, we keep
chipping away until we reach
our full potential,” Fotenos
said.
The team hopes to continue
on their winning streak, and
the fans hope they continue to
do well as well.
“Going to the games
when we are winning is just
so awesome. I thought we
had school spirit even when
we were not doing so hot, but
now the spirit is tremendous
and just being in the crowd
is so exciting,” junior Brittnee
Brooks said.
The overall hype,
with the 2-0 record and the
potential that this year’s team
seems to posses, grows with
every passing moment. After
all of the hard work and hours
the team has put in, it seems
that they deserve success.
“We just really want
to reinstall the schools faith in
football,” junior Sergio Rivera
said.
Another big concern here at
Doherty High School is class
size. Classes here tend to
have 40 or more students.
The average class size per
class room is 23.1. Talk about
an oversized class. At the beginning of the year there was
a problem with the number
of desks. There just weren’t
enough desks for everyone in
the class. Doherty is suffering
from this.
“There are not
enough teachers for the
amount of students,” Doherty
sophomore Veronica Aldapa
said.
Teachers have more
papers to grade and bigger
classes to handle. But for as
much as it is suffering, it is
gaining. Doherty high school
has gained many new wonderful faces and if anything
it will make Doherty High
School a better place to be.
Ent.
3
I
magine you are packing your luggage, saying
goodbye to your parents
and friends and flying 6,000
miles away from your old life
to a different country where
people speak a different language, have different traditions and lifestyles…
What does it feel
like?
Usually a lot of questions appear in exchange
students head: How will I
understand them? How will I
adjust? Will I miss home?...
Sometimes it
seems it could become a
real problem and a very
difficult challenge. But the
excitement and desire to try
something new are always
more intense. However, each
year approximately 30,000
exchange students from
different countries cross the
Atlantic Ocean, and come to
US high schools all around
the country.
Doherty High School
is not an exception. This
year, ten exchange students
from Sweden, Russia, China,
Venezuela, Thailand, Norway, Brazil, and Finland can
see themselves as ordinary
American High School students and experience what it
Confessions
of an
Exchange Student
Story by Anna Kusakina
feels like to choose a dress
for Homecoming or Prom,
go to a football game or be a
part of a club.
However, being an
exchange student is not very
easy. Making a decision
about spending the whole
year in the USA is just the
beginning of adventures, fun
and…problems! The first difficulty exchange students face
is an adjustment process.
How long does it take? It depends on the person, habitat,
school, and family; in short,
on many factors. Everyone
has their own adjustment
process.
“I’m here for 4 weeks
and it took me about 2 weeks
to adjust,” senior exchange
student from Venezuela Cecilia Rondon said.
“I’m still getting adjusted to
the new life, but some things
have began to be civilized
now,” senior exchange
student from Norway Amalie
Kjellemo said.
No matter how much
it takes, one week or one
month, it’s equally difficult.
Why? First of all the US has
its own features that could be
weird for people from other
countries. A common difficulty
that almost every interviewed
person mentioned was food.
“I miss Norwegian
food because everything here
is oily and greasy and people
eat a lot of fastfood,” Kjellemo said.
“Food’s different. It’s
heavier,” Rondon said.
Another thing is
language. It’s very difficult.
Especially during the first
weeks. You always have to
ask to repeat and even when
people say it slowly it’s not always possible to understand
them.
“Sometimes I don’t
understand what the teacher
is telling us to do in class
especially in math because
they use other terms than I’m
used to,” Kjellemo said.
Yana Vdovenko
moved to Colorado Springs
with her family 2 years ago
from Saratov, Russia. And
she is still adjusting to the life
in the USA and to the language.
“ – Do you have difficulties
with the language?
−
Yes, I did. And I still
have,” Vdovenko said.
It’s awful when you
can’t understand what people
want from you and can’t
explain what you think. One
may feel like a dummy. It’s
the most difficult part in the
adjustment process.
And of course,
school. High school. For the
most part, exchange students
have only seen it in movies
and TV series. So when an
exchange student first comes
to Doherty, he feels like he’s
in a movie. It’s very different
from what exchange students
got used to. First of all, it’s
bigger, much bigger than an
average Russian (Norwegian,
Finnish, etc.) school. In the
second place, rules.
“There are more rules than
in a Finnish school,” senior
Krista Pirinen said.
“In Norway people at my age
are treated as almost grownups but here we’re still kids.
It’s stricter here,” Kjellemo
said.
However these rules
have an opposite side, a
positive one.
“People here know their
rights and they use it a lot,”
Vdovenko said.
No matter who they are, a
school student, a college student or an adult here in the
United States they know that
they have rights and personal
rights that will be respected.
And the last thing that could
be difficult for exchange stu-
dents is missing their family
and friends. Every exchange
student uses Facebook,
Skype and other social networks to communicate with
their families and friends. But
this staff would never replace
live contact with a person. It’s
hard to realize that you will
see the people you love only
in a year.
However, being an exchange
student is cool in spite of all
difficulties. Exchange students meet a lot of people,
make new friends, get to
know a brand new culture.
They compare the whole
school system and lifestyle;
and of course live in a family
who they become very close
to. It seems like exchange
students get a chance to
have two different childhoods, two different lives.
Every day brings a lot of
new and interesting things. A
variety of everything around
makes them happy like a kid.
Ordinary things here they find
interesting and wonder at
everything around. Exchange
students know, that the feeling is worth all the difficulties
they are faced with!
Are You a
Writer?
The Spectrum Staff
Editor
Olivia Stinett
Copy Editor
Laci Durham
Staff
Anna Kusakina
Taylor Green
Noelle Coultrip
Leah Mazzillo
Jessica Carmona
Did you miss your
chance to join
newspaper, or do
you just want to be
a published writer?
Send stories and
contact info. to dohertyspectrum@
gmail.com for a
chance to be publish in next month’s
issue!
Ent.
4
Win a Gift Card from
Autumn: The Best Time
of the Year
Story by Noelle Coultrip
With the start of
school comes the anticipated
and long-awaited season of
autumn. Autumn stands out
as one of the most enjoyable
times of the year for many
reasons: fun activities that
only take place during the fall
months, fashion trends that
appeal to a wide range of
people, football games, and
the events and celebratory
occasions that always occur
around the time of Halloween.
In addition to all of the excitement that centers around this
amazing time of year, the
leaves start to change colors
and the air begins to cool,
creating the ideal atmosphere.
Although the season of autumn may not be for some,
many do enjoy it. The season
of autumn is for any and all.
“I like to watch
football games,” junior Sara
Chavez said.
Other students
seemed to also plan on attending future football games.
“Yes, because I’m in
marching band so I have to
go,” junior Alexis Morgan said.
Football games are
clearly a very important part
of fall, bringing together the
students of Doherty High
School, filled to the brim with
excitement and school spirit.
Another aspect of autumn
that attracts and catches the
attention of many people is
the popular fall fashion trends.
This year, a few of the main
trends are riding boots, plaid
shirts, knit beanies, and kneehigh socks.
“Boots,” junior Samantha Teutonico said.
“I love scarves,” Sara Chavez
said.
Fall fashion is a detail
that adds just a little more
excitement to one’s everyday
wardrobe. What is one of the
most memorable days within
the season of autumn? The
answer is Halloween. Whether it is carving pumpkins,
trick-or-treating, or attending
loads of Halloween parties,
most people make Halloween
a memorable time of year.
Quite a few people celebrate
Halloween.
“Yeah, I like Halloween, and to celebrate I
usually watch scary movies
with my family and look at all
the decorations,” senior Kayla
Ward said.
“Dressing up the most
scary I can dress up. Sometimes trick-or-treating with my
little cousins,” senior Chelsea
Emerson said.
As we get older, some
people believe that Halloween
can no longer be celebrated.
In reality, Halloween can be
celebrated as long as you
maintain that child-like spirit.
Even if Halloween is not your
thing, everyone has at least
one fall festivity they like to
partake in. Maybe just the
feeling in the air is enough
to appreciate this beautiful
season.
“I love the leaves and
the colors and the way everyone acts,” Ward said.
Autumn is a season
filled with sweater weather,
beautiful scenery, and the
warm scents that come along
with baking and cooking. As
the temperature slowly starts
to drop, remember to appreciate this breathtaking time of
year and all it has to offer.
Email or text your name and
favorite story from this issue
to to dohertyspectrum@gmail.
com to enter for a chance to
win a gift card to Chick-fil-a.
Winners will be picked October
30th.
The Doherty Spectrum greatly appreciates the support from Mr. Vigil, Ms.
Flenniken, and Ms. Southard for their
generosity and participation in making this newspaper possible.
-The Spectrum Staff