The technology ISSue

Transcription

Volume 4 • Issue 3
www.threesixtyjournalism.org
September–October 2013
$1
Minnesota Teens Report Stories & Issues That Matter
The technology issue
From Twitter to Tumblr, smart phones to dumb choices, teens need
to think about the plugged-in world around them. n Pages 10-25
Creating heroes
Alan Page aims to inspire
through college scholarships.
n Page 6
Great expectations
Illustration by Kimberly Martinez
Attention is nothing new
to Seimone Augustus.
n Page 8
Volume 4 • Issue 3
Frequently asked questions
What is ThreeSixty Journalism? ThreeSixty
Journalism is a youth journalism program of the College
of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas.
The non-profit program is committed to helping
Minnesota teens tell the stories that matter in their lives
and communities.
What is ThreeSixty’s mission? ThreeSixty’s mission
is to bring diverse voices into journalism and related
professions and to using intense, personal instruction
in the craft and principles of journalism to strengthen
the literacy, writing skills and college-readiness of
Minnesota teens.
Whom do you serve? ThreeSixty Journalism directly
serves more than 100 Minnesota high school students
each year via after-school classes, weekend workshops,
school partnerships, individual coaching and summer
journalism camps. About half the students served come
from low-income homes and more than 60 percent come
from communities of color. We serve thousands more
via our writing contests, print publications and website –
www.threesixtyjournalism.org.
How did ThreeSixty Journalism start? The
program began as the Urban Journalism Workshop
in 1971. UJW provided basic journalism training to
Minnesota high school students, particularly low-
income and minority teens, at summer camps at the
University of Minnesota. In 2001, the program moved to
the University of St. Thomas and became a year-round
program with a full-time staff.
What’s the name ThreeSixty Journalism mean?
In 2006, the program’s name changed to ThreeSixty
Journalism to reflect the program’s growth and the
range of backgrounds among the students we serve.
We are interested in telling stories from all parts of our
community, using a variety of media tools, including
words, photos, illustrations and video.
How can I get involved? ThreeSixty Journalism
is still accepting applications for our after-school
NewsTeam, an 8-to-10 week journalism primer that
begins Oct. 3 at the Minneapolis Central Library. For
applications and details, go to our website: http://www.
threesixtyjournalism.org/newsteam.
To submit ideas, essays, photos or artwork, email
them to [email protected] or contact
Editor Thomas Rozwadowski at thomas.rozwadowski@
stthomas.edu.
To arrange classroom visits, contact Community
Outreach Editor Katie Johnson at katie.johnson@
stthomas.edu or Executive Director Lynda McDonnell
at [email protected].
for minnesota teachers
✁
If you would like to receive ThreeSixty free of charge four times a year, send the following information to
[email protected].
Name
School
School phone and extension (
)
Number of copies (60 maximum)
Email
Address
City, State, Zip
To get an individual subscription through the mail, send a $25 check for one year (four issues) to:
Marketing coordinator, ThreeSixty Journalism, 2115 Summit Ave., Mail 5057, St. Paul, MN 55105
Please include your name, address and email address.
2 threesixtyjournalism.org
Writers in this issue Simone Cazares, St. Paul Conservatory For
Performing Artists • Dillan DeGross, FAIR School Downtown • Dami
Gilbert, Robbinsdale Cooper HS • Aidan Haarman, Perpich Center
Arts HS • Nichelle Heu, Harding HS • Aamino Hirmoge, Harding HS •
Deborah Honore, John F. Kennedy HS • Kimberly Martinez, Harding HS
• Frederick McConnell, St. Paul Conservatory For Performing Artists •
Shay Radhakrishnan, Math and Science Academy • Alexis Reaves, Blake
Upper School • Elena Renken, St. Paul Central HS • Lana Rubinstein,
River Falls HS • Amolak Singh, Nova Classical Academy • Jessica
Violette, Osseo Senior HS • Amira Warren-Yearby, St. Louis Park HS •
Ricki Williams, Robbinsdale Cooper HS • Danielle Wong, Eastview HS •
Thomas Wrede, Cretin-Derham Hall • Gabie Yang, Forest Lake Area HS •
Mina Yuan, Wayzata HS
Illustrators in this issue Kimberly Martinez, Harding HS •
Mina Yuan, Wayzata HS
Publisher: Lynda McDonnell
Editor: Thomas Rozwadowski
Design Consultant: Diana Boger
Community Outreach Editor: Katie Johnson
Communications Marketing Coordinator: Briana Gruenewald
Administrative Assistant: Tyanna Dickerson
Editorial offices
Mail 5057, 2115 Summit Ave.
St. Paul MN 55105
651-962-5282
[email protected]
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved.
ThreeSixty is grateful to the following individuals who donate their time
and expertise to the success of the program:
ThreeSixty Journalism Board of Advisors Brian Bellmont,
Bellmont Partners Public Relations • Sue Campbell, MSP Publications
• David Cazares, Minnesota Public Radio • Dennis McGrath, McGrath
Buckley Communications Counseling • Dr. Dina Gavrilos, University
of St. Thomas • Dr. Kristie Bunton, University of St. Thomas • Mike
Burbach, St. Paul Pioneer Press • Doug Hennes, University of St. Thomas
• Duchesne Drew, Star Tribune • Lida Poletz, Weber Shandwick • Scott
Libin, Internet Broadcasting • Sara Pelissero, WCCO-TV
Ex officio member Dr. Terence Langan, Dean, College of Arts &
Sciences, University of St Thomas
Major supporters include our advertisers, donors and the
following organizations Carl & Eloise Pohlad Family Fdn. • Bremer
Foundation • Best Buy Children’s Foundation • University of St. Thomas •
Gannett Foundation • Dow Jones Newspaper Fund • Youthprise • Carlson
Companies • Comcast • KSTP-TV • Google
THE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE
If you’re going to spend several weeks of summer batting
around story ideas inside a classroom, it better be about something
teenagers know. And teenagers definitely know about technology.
Whether features topics dissecting the culture of music piracy
and viral empowerment or heady discussions about reputation
management, online permanence and the digital divide in schools,
ThreeSixty’s June and July journalism campers deliver details about a
plugged-in world that’s becoming less private—yet more connected—
with every new Tweet or text. n Pages 10-25
Send comments to
ThreeSixty Journalism
Send your letters to ThreeSixty
Journalism at 2115 Summit Ave.,
Mail 5057, St. Paul, MN. 55105,
or comment online at www.
threesixtyjournalism.org
You can also join ThreeSixty
Journalism’s Facebook fan
page or follow us on Twitter@
ThreeSixtyMN
contents september/october
16
Helping hand On the hunt for scholarships? Wallin Education Partners and Page
Education Foundation aim to help local teens with college costs. n 6
@16 with Seimone Augustus WNBA Finals MVP. Olympic Gold Medalist. What does
the Minnesota Lynx star have left to accomplish? Talking with us, of course! n 8
Someone’s always watching Bragging and boasting on social media could gain you
some new followers, namely, the Minneapolis Police Department. n 10
Connect with us online
Thank you Finance
& Commerce
The print version of ThreeSixty
Journalism magazine will be
published four times during the
2013-2014 school year. Finance
& Commerce in Minneapolis
has donated printing of the
publication. We are grateful for
this generous gift.
You’ve been friend zoned She likes him. He likes her. But when one of them wants to
take it to the next level, out comes the dreaded “friend card.” n 5
18
Artistic empowerment Thanks to YouTube and Kickstarter, anyone can put their
creative passions on display for mass consumption. n 16
Digital dilemma Music is just a mouse click away, which can lead to a fiery debate about
art versus commerce in the post-Napster age. n 18
Technology “time suck” Put your phone away while hanging out with friends? Absurd!
Not to some who are advocating a break from technology. n 20
Keys for comfort Danielle Wong’s relationship with her piano hasn’t always been
harmonious. Then she started playing for herself. n 28
Getting technical While some teens spent summer sleeping in or tanning at the lake,
200 students got ready for the real world thanks to Genesys Works. n 31
september/october 2013
3
Summer camp
View more snapshots of summer camp life at www.
facebook.com/threesixtyjournalism. To read more
of our student work, including journalist profiles
from camp, visit www.threesixtyjournalism.org.
Letter from the editor
Summer. It turns
me upside down.
I’ll leave it to you techsavvy teenagers to Google which
‘80s song those lyrics come from.
But beyond exposing you to a pretty
cool tune from my childhood, it
offers an appropriate summation of
how ThreeSixty Journalism spent an
intensely fun summer.
A whirlwind for the three
newbies (Briana Gruenewald, Katie
Johnson and myself ) on staff, our
June Intermediate Camp and July
Intro to Journalism Camp produced
the majority of content you see in
this issue. But some of the stories
actually “premiered” a few months
ago in the StarTribune and Pioneer
Press—you know, those two major
metro newspapers that win fancy
awards like Pulitzers.
These stories didn’t come together
by accident. It required hard work
By Thomas
Rozwadowski
Editor
(and possible sleep deprivation)
from dedicated high school students—many meeting for the first
time and giving up a sizable chunk of
summer to sit in a classroom, talk to
strangers, sleep in cockroach-filled
dorm rooms (OK, it was one rogue
roach, allegedly) and practice the
fine art of journalism for the first
time. Congratulations to all of them
for meeting the challenge issued by
ThreeSixty staff and earning, in many
cases, their first professional bylines.
The journalism lesson extends
into the school year, with many
of our summer campers joining
after-school NewsTeam graduates
and savvy ThreeSixty veterans as part
of our 30-member editorial board.
It’s an awesome place to be heading into a new school year, and our
staff couldn’t be more excited about
what’s to come from our teen brain
trust this fall.
But before we get too ahead of
ourselves, it’s important for me to
acknowledge all the amazing volunteers who made my first summer
camp experience memorable. To
expose our student writers to such
richness, depth and personal affinity for the craft wouldn’t have been
possible without the local faces filing
important stories every day.
Huge thanks to the Minnesota
Daily, Minnesota Public Radio,
Pioneer Press, StarTribune, KARE,
KSTP and WCCO for allowing staff
members to act as on-site mentors or
tour guides. Also, a special tip of the
cap to the following individuals for
their exceptional time and support of
ThreeSixty during our camps:
David Brauer
Jason DeRusha, WCCO
Duchesne Drew, StarTribune
Bob Franklin
Lisa Grimm, space150
Kyndell Harkness, StarTribune
Beth Hawkins, MinnPost
Rick Hendrickson,
University of St. Thomas
David Hlavac, Bellmont Partners
Online curriculum
Stories with this icon have curriculum online tied to the
Minnesota Common Core Standards. Visit
www.threesixtyjournalism.org/teachers for more information.
Three stories in this issue with curriculum are “Digital
Dilemma” on page 18, “Technology ‘Time Suck’ ” on page 20, and “Keys
for Comfort” on page 28.
Mark Holland, StarTribune
Jerry Holt, StarTribune
Katie Humphrey, StarTribune
Neal Justin, StarTribune
Colleen Kelly, StarTribune
Amanda Lenhart,
Pew Research Center
Myron Medcalf, ESPN
Fred Melo, Pioneer Press
Talia Nadir, University of St. Thomas
Becky Nahm, KSTP
Michael Olson, Minnesota
Public Radio
Walt Parker, Weber Shandwick
Joe Pastoor
Sara Pelissero, WCCO
Lida Poletz, Weber Shandwick
Toni Randolph, Minnesota
Public Radio
Lindsey Seavert, KARE 11
Jana Shortal, KARE 11
Amanda Theisen, KSTP
Bryan Treichel
Anthony Wagner, Minnesota Daily
Terry Wolkerstorfer
Wendy Wyatt, University of
St. Thomas
Andy Ybarra, Weber Shandwick
Uh-oh, you’ve
been friend zoned
Entering the zone
He likes her. She likes him. But when the
friend card gets pulled, all bets are off
WHAT’S THE
“FRIEND ZONE?”
In February, the Oxford English
Dictionary added the term “friend
zone” to its myriad definitions. OED
defines it as “denoting a friendship
between two people in which one
person has an unreciprocated romantic or sexual interest in the other.”
As with any other word in the
OED, if it’s been added recently,
it’s been used often enough to
require space.
Stephanie Carlson, a marriage
and family therapist at Creative
Solutions Therapy, has worked
with teenagers for 19 years in the
Minneapolis Public School district.
Dillan
DeGross
FAIR School
Downtown
Illustration by Mina Yuan
Coretta Bieter hung out
with a close guy friend every day
for three months. After picking
up signs that suggested he was
into her romantically, she finally
worked up the courage to say, “I
like you more than a friend.” With
the assumption that he would
reciprocate her feelings, Bieter was
surprised when his reply was, “No.
Let’s just stay friends.”
Sound familiar? According to the
14-year-old St. Paul resident, this
is an all-too-common occurrence
among teens.
“All of my friends have been
friend zoned,” Bieter said.
Shay
Radhakrishnan
Math and
Science
Academy
Gabie Yang
Forest Lake
Area High
School
Based on experiences with young
people and in her own life, she said
“relationships don’t have the same
powers as friendships. So, that’s a
plus for the friend zone.”
The main reason: expectations.
“You have higher expectations for
relationships, that the other person
should be a certain way or you hope
they’re going to be this amount of
romantic or have the same interests
as you,” Carlson said. She further
suggested that with your friends, you
understand who they are and like
them simply for that reason. When
you attempt to define someone
romantically, that’s when complications arise.
It’s also why being friend zoned
can come as a complete plot twist
to the best of us. Sometimes you
like someone, they like you back,
but ultimately, one side decides to
remain “just friends.” Ironically, that
may signal the end of the friendship,
anyway. Being honest can lead to
vulnerability, hurt feelings, resentment or confusion.
Sometimes you infer that a friend
has romantic interest because of how
they act. They touch you, talk to you
often, offer to help with anything you
might need at the time.
Carlson’s outgoing nature put her
in that trap often as a teenager.
“People might have misinterpreted that I was being flirtatious
with somebody … I touch, I have that
outgoing kind of nature. You know,
think
spot
laughing with people, look you in the
eyes and talk to you directly. Some
people don’t grow up that way. They
think, ‘Oh, that’s attention being
paid to me.’”
END OF A FRIENDSHIP
That friendships and romantic
relationships offer different stakes
is something Jack Thompson, 21, of
St. Louis Park, learned the hard way
while in high school.
“A lot of the time when you
friend zone someone, it’s for a very
good reason. Because you think
things won’t work out between you
two. Because you’re worried about
the relationship you already have,”
he said.
Friend zone continued on page 11
Can a friendship be repaired once someone reveals they have
Joey: “You waited too long
to make your move and now
you’re in the friend zone.”
Ross: “No, no, no. I’m not in
the zone.”
Joey: “Ross, you’re the
mayor of the zone.”
Poor Ross Geller. The
phrase “friend zone” was
popularized on Nov. 3, 1994
when Joey Tribbiani used it to
describe Ross’ relationship with
Rachel Green on the hit NBC
show “Friends.”
Rachel likes Ross, however, not quite enough to
have a romantic relationship,
leading to the uncomfortable
limbo between “just friends”
and something more. So, if
you were wondering how the
“friend zone” started to gain
momentum in popular culture,
thank “Friends” creators David
Crane and Marta Kauffman.
MTV also capitalized on
the phenomenon in 2011 by
creating a show (appropriately)
called “Friendzone.” A trailer
previewing the fourth season
came with the tagline, “Are
they just friends or something
more? These lovestruck people
will do anything to get out of
the friend zone.”
The topic has garnered
so much interest, YouTubers
are also voicing their opinions. Popular science channel
VSauce devoted an entire nineminute video—with upwards of
three million hits—to explain
the science behind the “friend
zone.”
romantic feelings—and is then rejected? Is it better to hide
those feelings and stay friends?
5
Support system
Most colleges offer a
Dami Gilbert
plethora of resources to ensure stuRobbinsdale
dent success. But there’s no individuCooper High
ally tailored road map pointing each
School
student in the direction of ultimate
personal success.
Zaragoza taught Moua critical
In college, you’re on your own.
things like the importance of spendNavigating the way is hard for
anyone, but can be especially difficult ing more time on campus instead of
going home, talking to and getting to
for first-generation students. Yer
know professors and asking quesMoua faced this harsh reality during
her first semester at Carleton College tions in class.
“First step would be: First day of
in Northfield.
class go to your professor’s office and
Her parents, who immigrated to
introduce yourself. (Zaragoza) said if
the United States from Thailand in
you do that then your professor will
1991, never went to college. While
be like, ‘Oh, this student made the
one of her five older brothers helped
effort to come and I know who she
to fill out the application paperwork,
is,’” Moua said. “Second step would
once she got to college, Moua was
be: Asking questions in class—quesleft to her own devices.
tions easy as, ‘Professor, can you
Initially a math major, the
repeat that?’”
20-year-old struggled in her classes
Wallin Education Partners awards
and her GPA began to slip.
120-150 renewable $4,000 scholar“I took math classes. No fun at
ships to high-performing, lowall. I didn’t do so well … I got put on
income students each year. But that’s
probation for a while,” she said.
just the start of support students get.
Probation is a horrifying experi“In many other organizations, the
ence for any student—especially one
money is the end of the relationship,
who is going to college with the help
which isn’t necessarof a $4,000 scholarship
ily bad. But here, it is
from Wallin Education
the beginning of our
Partners. With her scholarrelationship,” executive
ship on the line, Moua was
director Susan King said.
fortunate to get support
Each scholar is
from Aloida Zaragoza—a
assigned an advisor that
Wallin advisor who turned
works to help students
Moua’s college experience
utilize on-campus
around during her second
resources and build
semester.
Yer Moua
Dami Gilbert
Wallin Education Partners provides
big boost to low-income students
n Wallin Education Partners executive director Susan King said the goal of the program’s advising support is to prepare
students for real life challenges and promote greater independence.
autonomy in a college setting. The
students come from different experiences and backgrounds, but according
to Zaragoza, one thing they all have in
common is the ability to learn.
She has an intentional approach
to teaching the basic, yet crucial, skill
of asking great questions.
“We believe we’re shy, we believe
we’re not confident—those are
learned behaviors. Anyone can
learn them,” Zaragoza said. “I want
students to get over the fear of asking
a question and being told they are
wrong. I want them to be like, ‘OK,
so that’s what you mean.’ Become OK
with being wrong. In life, whether
you want to call them setbacks or
failures, that’s what life is about.”
The ultimate goal of the advising
support is to increase graduation
rates and subsequently gain “a return
on our investment,” King said.
Since Winston Wallin, the former
CEO of Pillsbury and Medtronic,
started his namesake organization
22 years ago at Minneapolis South
High School, it has expanded to
serve graduates of 27 Twin Cities
high schools. Wallin, a World War II
veteran, received a debt-free education because of the G.I. Bill.
“The G.I. Bill allowed him to get
a college education, and he wanted
that to happen for others,” King said.
She is pleased with the 89 percent
six-year graduation rate of Wallin
alumni, nearly 30 percent higher
than the rate of all Minnesotans.
Moua, who struggled during
her first semester partly due to her
original Wallin advisor being absent
on maternity leave, has made great
progress academically and socially
since being paired with Zaragoza.
Realizing math is not the right
path for her, Moua is off academic
probation and successfully working
toward her degree as a psychology
major. She hopes to one day earn her
master’s degree.
“There are a lot of resources on
campus, but the Wallin advisors
are there to push you forward,”
she said. “(Zaragoza) pushed me
towards things that I wouldn’t have
done by myself.”
Wallin scholarship eligibility
WHO CAN APPLY? Seniors at one
of 27 partner high schools with an
unweighted GPA of 3.0 or higher
and a composite ACT score of 19
or higher. Student’s family must
have a family taxable income of
$75,000 or less. Applicants must
apply to an eligible college or
university.
HOW MUCH WILL I GET? $4,000
each year for four years
WHEN CAN I APPLY? Application
for the 2014-2015 school year
opens in December
HOW DO I APPLY? Complete the
online application at www.wallinpartners.org/apply and submit all
required academic and financial
documents
QUESTIONS? Call (952) 345-1920
Creating
new heroes
Alan Page finds focus beyond football
Dami Gilbert
Robbinsdale
Cooper High
School
shared experience, who can come
back to their community and talk
about the importance of education,”
Page said. “And not just talk about
it, but show by example. That’s what
we’re trying to create.”
Page, who spent 15 years in the
NFL, became the first defensive
player in the league’s history to
be named Most Valuable Player.
While playing football, he studied
law and earned his Juries Doctor
in 1978. He believes that societal
troubles—such as poverty, crime
and racism—result from the failure to understand the importance
of education.
Page scholarship eligibility
WHO CAN APPLY? Students of
color who are enrolled full-time
in a post-secondary institution
in Minnesota, graduated from a
Minnesota high school, and are
willing to complete a minimum
of 50 hours for a Service-toChildren project.
HOW MUCH WILL I GET?
Annual grants range from $1,000
to $2,500
WHEN CAN I APPLY? Application
for the 2014-2015 school year
is available for download in
January 2014
HOW DO I APPLY? Download an
application packet, which includes
a form and a checklist of other
materials at www.page-ed.org/
for-scholars/grant-application
QUESTIONS? Call (612) 332-0406
Submitted
When a former Minnesota
Vikings star says he’s in the business of “creating heroes,” the mind
easily wanders to strength training,
drill running and other avenues of
physical betterment. But Alan Page
isn’t cultivating the next generation
of athletes for young people to look
up to.
Following his induction into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988,
Page and his wife, Diane, founded
the Page Education Foundation.
Wanting to capitalize on his “15
minutes of fame” and alarmed at
the rate by which young people
were idolizing athletes and celebrities, Page set out to create the
accessible heroes down the street.
“Everybody has somebody in their
neighborhood who’s going off to
college and has somebody who looks
like them, who maybe has some
n Former NFL player turned judge Alan Page (right) believes that societal troubles—such as poverty, crime and racism—
result from a failure to understand the importance of education.
“Education is what everyone can
“Everybody has somebody in their neighborhood
benefit from,” Page said. “It’s a tool
who’s going off to college and has somebody who looks like
that can help overcome race, ability
or disability. It is a tool that anyone
them, who maybe has some shared experience, who can
can use to make their future better
and brighter.”
come back to their community and talk about the
The Page Education Foundation
provides financial and mentoring
importance of education.” —Alan Page
assistance to 500 students of color
each year. Renewable grants—which
kindergarten and 8th grade. This
without the grant, she would have
are different from loans, in that
central part of the program is where
taken a much different route.
students do not have to pay them
Page sees the most impact—both
“The Page scholarship helped me
back—are awarded between $1,000
with the scholar and the mentees.
reach a higher education,” she said.
and $2,500.
“Each person has the ability
“Without it, I probably wouldn’t have
According to non-profit orgato reach through to others,” Page
(come) to a four year college. I probnization College Board, the cost
said. “And why wouldn’t we take
ably would have (gone) to
of attending an in-state
advantage of that ability on the
a community college, an
public college for 2012-13
easier way, without loans.” part of our scholars to reach, at a
without any financial
minimum, one child—and quite
Unique to the
aid rose 3.8 percent to a
possibly up to 20 children? Why
scholarship program is
record $22,261.
wouldn’t we take advantage of
the Service-to-Children
Current Page scholar
that? It seems to me it would be a
aspect—a required 50
Elizabeth Kong is a senior
wasted opportunity. It just makes
hours of service for grant
kinesiology major at the
sense that we would have (our
recipients to mentor
University of Minnesota.
students of color between Page continued on page 13
She is confident that
Elizabeth Kong
7
16
@
w/Seimone Augustus
Number 33 kept working hard: Zipping across the court, crisply
passing the ball to teammates and shooting it with calm confidence.
Sweat was streaming from her forehead, but as practice ended and she
began to stretch on the floor, a small smile lit up her face as she joked
with a teammate.
This is Seimone Augustus, the versatile guard/forward for the 2011
WNBA champions, the Minnesota Lynx.
Augustus did not rise to a high level of basketball easily. With hard
work, dedication and family support, she excelled at the high school and
collegiate levels while in Louisiana, finally making it to the professional
ranks as the No. 1 pick in the 2006 WNBA draft.
She’s never looked back.
Personal and team success has followed in the form of two Olympic
gold medals, four All-Star game appearances and a WNBA Finals
MVP honor.
Considered one of the most recognizable faces in the WNBA, Augustus
took time after a two-hour Lynx practice to talk with Amolak Singh about
the pressure of being a high-profile basketball player in high school, her
sexuality as an open lesbian, and why she enjoys living in the Twin Cities.
What were your high school
years like?
My high school years were fun. I
made many friends in high school,
mainly in athletics and I think I was
probably one of the more popular
kids at school. Overall it was fun.
You were on the cover of Sports
Illustrated For Women (“Is she the
next Michael Jordan?”) before your
freshman year of high school. How
did you handle the pressure of being
so good at basketball at such a
By Amolak
Singh
Nova Classical
Academy
Sports Illustrated, and I always had
to prove to myself and to others
that I was worthy of being on the
cover. I think it has made me a
better player, and a better person in
a sense, because that’s when I first
started to sign autographs, gain fans
and meet new people.
young age?
It was tough. From that point on,
I kinda had a target on my back in
the sense that everybody wanted
to meet the girl on the cover of
Did you have any backup career
plans when you were in high school if
you didn’t become such a successful
basketball player?
About this series
This marks the fourth installment of ThreeSixty’s “@16” series, where
our teen writers interview Minnesota newsmakers and difference
makers about life as a 16-year-old high school student. Who should
we talk to next? E-mail [email protected] with
your suggestions.
With hard work, dedication and family support,
Seimone Augustus excelled at the high school and collegiate
levels while in Louisiana, finally making it to the professional
ranks as the No. 1 pick in the 2006 WNBA draft.
of bland, without the spices and all
that. Even portion sizes here are
much smaller. In Baton Rouge, a portion size is two or three plates, but
here it’s much smaller, like a little bit
of mashed potatoes.
What do you like best about the
I probably would have done law
enforcement or something like that.
A job where I could still be active,
and do some good and help the
community
college graduate in my family, so I
just wanted to do that. And I also
wanted to take it easy on my parents
financially and get the scholarship.
Submitted
Do you have anything in mind that
n As one of the WNBA’s highest profile players, Seimone Augustus understands
her responsibility as a role model while excelling for the Minnesota Lynx.
The Augustus file
Profession: Minnesota Lynx bas-
ketball player in the WNBA
Age: 29
High school: Capitol High School,
Baton Rouge
College: Louisiana State
University (LSU)
Find ‘em: On Twitter @
seimoneaugustus
Personal hero: “My parents. They
sacrificed a lot for me to be
here. My dad worked a lot, and
so my mom was able to travel
with me a lot to basketball
camps. He missed out on a
lot of experiences, basketball
related, with me. In the same
way, my mom had to take work
off for me, and I have to tip my
hat off to them.”
Best advice for teenagers: “If
you have a dream or goal,
stay focused on it. Don’t let
anybody distract you from it.
Whether it be athletics, your
personal careers or paths, just
stay focused on it.”
How did your high school years
you want to accomplish after retir-
prepare you for your current years
ing? Any goals?
as a pro?
Hopefully, I want to be able to help
the younger girls understand how
basketball works. You see, a lot of
kids focus on the “AND1” (streetball)
stuff and want to do the crossover
and such. Maybe I can be that
mentor that helps kids get to the
fundamentals of the game.
It prepared me well. I feel like every
person and every competitor and
teammate that I had helped prepare
me. And all the coaches helped me
by focusing me on what I really
needed to do. I’m from Baton Rouge,
and the New Orleans area is high on
crime and they wanted to do the best
to keep me away from that.
were 16?
I don’t know. I’m still the same
height, and people say I look the
same. But just maturity-wise, I wish I
knew then what I know now as far as
being patient and things like that.
Well, I never denied who I was. I
mean, I never went on ESPN and let
it out to the whole world, but everyone that knew me well knew about
that and who I was.
What advice do you have for teens
that struggle with their sexuality?
In terms of your sexuality, as an open
lesbian, how does it feel to be a role
model?
It feels great, especially at this point
of time. There’s a lot of debate on
accepting, and I feel like I can be a
positive role model for kids having
trouble accepting who they are. The
people who accept you, love them
dearly. And the people who don’t,
keep them away.
What were your goals in high school?
Make it to college. I’m the first
The fact that it’s one big melting
pot. You see many different races,
ethnicities and people here, and
they are very accepting of the gay
and lesbian community. I love the
parade and the week of festivities
we have specifically for the gays.
Just looking around, everybody’s
more laid back here and people are
much more healthy. Down south,
we tend to see a lot of obesity, but
I like how up here there’s much
more healthiness.
Do you do a lot of work in
the community?
You’re openly lesbian now. Were you
as a teenager?
How have you changed since you
Twin Cities?
It’s tough, because some people’s
parents aren’t as open. My parents
were great. They were warm and welcoming. But, for the kids who have
parents who are a little more against
it, stay true to who you are but be
respectful.
You grew up in Baton Rouge. How is
that different than the Twin Cities?
It’s hotter, most definitely. The
humidity. The food was one thing I
struggled with when I got here. The
seasoning part is weird here. It’s kind
Yeah, we volunteer with whatever
the Lynx set up, mostly in the inner
city. This year, we went up to a
school in Minneapolis, and talked
to at-risk kids who were struggling
with peer pressure. (Fellow Lynx
player) Monica Wright and I went
over and talked to them, and then
we had a little Q&A and they had an
awesome time.
What does being allowed to legally
marry in Minnesota as a lesbian
mean to you?
It means a lot. I (took) a picture with
three or four couples that married on
the Target Center floor (in August)
… actually (was) able to go to one of
the first weddings.
But, it means a lot to me. I was
a part of this movement, part of the
fight and everybody thanks me for it,
but many other people really stood
up and made this possible.
9
the technoology issue
Someone is
always watching
ONLINE CHATTER
Neely’s experience shows how social
media can make bad things worse,
and how young mistakes can last
in cyberspace forever. It’s not just
friends who see what you post. It
could be your high school counselor,
the admissions office at the college
you want to attend, or the company
you want to work for.
Deborah
Honore
John F. Kennedy
High School
It could even be the police.
In the Minneapolis Police
Department’s strategic information
center, one wall of a large, dimly
lit room is lined with screens from
ceiling to floor, along with computers spaced throughout. Sevendays-a-week, 24-hours-a-day,
police watch feeds from security
cameras and monitor “chatter” on
social media, especially among
local gang members.
“When there’s a high profile
event … kids talk about it. They
talk about it not just face-to-face,
but they talk about it online,” said
Minneapolis police lieutenant Jeff
Rugel. “Particularly in gang shootings when they start talking back and
forth … and dropping hints that I
want to retaliate.”
How do police infiltrate social
media networks? Sometimes
they create online personas and
pretend to be someone else, Rugel
said. Sometimes people who know
gang members share information
with police.
“None of the social media sites
give us any special access,” he said,
n The Minneapolis Police Department’s strategic information center was built after the collapse of the I-35 bridge
downtown made clear that officials needed a place to direct crisis operations.
citing that special programs or hackers also aren’t used.
Instead, police assemble information based on a user’s history and
threats being made, particularly
about retaliation or people accused
of being snitches. When his staff
members see threats of retaliation,
invitations to big house parties or
other concerns, they pass that information onto patrol officers.
Police also see a lot they can’t use,
he said.
“It’s double-edged ... We have
more access to some types of information,” Rugel said. “But there’s a
ton of useless information, a whole
bunch of bragging.”
A common trend on Facebook
involves “prolific shoplifters holding up brand new designer purses,
designer jeans,” he said. Sometimes,
shoplifters even post prices and
invite people to send orders.
But police can’t use Facebook
photos to arrest and charge the shoplifter if they don’t know where the
clothes came from or where the thief
is keeping them, Rugel said. Instead,
the information merely allows police
to keep a closer eye on the shoplifter.
Staff
When T.J. Neely came home
to Minneapolis from prison recently,
he shut down his Facebook page.
All of his friends and connections
deactivated.
To many, this may have seemed
like social suicide, but Neely
described it as simply a way to build
a new life. Neely, 25, was a former gang
leader who got caught up in a lot of
online drama. Fights would often
start on social media, which led to
more tension building up in real life.
“I used to post random things,
like, ‘I’m here, looking for some
friends.’ But really, all I did was open
my door for the wrong kind of attention,” he said.
After deactivating his old page,
Neely is building a new one and only
admitting the friends he trusts.
“I doubt that I have even 100
friends now,” he said. “I don’t think
I’ve even broken 50 yet.”
Staff
Yep, even police officers are
monitoring social media
n T.J. Neely deactivated his old
Facebook page when he left prison.
He admits far fewer friends to his new
page and only posts inspiring quotes
and positive information.
ALL KINDS OF TROUBLE
Postings on social media can
also be used for more than crime
prevention.
When two high school football players raped an intoxicated
16-year-old girl in Steubenville, Ohio
last August, one of the assailants
videotaped the crime and shared it
on social media. That video, along
with the players’ comments on social
media afterward, became crucial as
evidence in their trial.
The two young men were found
delinquent of rape in March and sent
to juvenile detention—a minimum
of two years for the one who posted
the video, a minimum of one year for
the other.
For Neely, the days of finding
trouble and potentially incriminating
himself on social media are over.
Instead, he uses his new Facebook
page to communicate with people
like his mother and his sister—“my
rock,” he calls her. He also posts
inspirational quotes like “The bird
sings before the light of the dawn”—
a recent one that “is basically saying
the bird has belief that the sun is
going to rise. The sun isn’t going to
let me down.”
His advice for young social media
users: “It’s all about the things that
you say. If you say something that
can get the wrong kind of replies,
that’s not a good thing for you …
But if you’re a person who uses your
posts to influence others or maybe to
influence your way of thinking so that
people can see the kind of person you
are, then posting can be good.”
“If the other person feels the same way about you, then you have a
relationship. But if the person feels the same way about you but you never
mention it, you never know.” —Stephanie Carlson
Friend zone from page 5
Five years ago, Thompson, a thensophomore at Southwest High School, was
in the uncomfortable position of being the
friendzoner.
“As hard as it is to actually be in that friend
zone and as much as you might resent the
other person, I guarantee (the friendzoner) is
having just as hard of a time,” he said.
Thompson was part of a tight-knit foursome
with three other girls in high school. People
found it strange when any of them were by
themselves. Thompson had a particularly special bond with one of the four, whom he talked
about “absolutely everything” with.
“Literally nothing was off limits,” he said.
“She used to tell me about all manner of (personal) things.”
A week after Thompson broke things off
with his girlfriend, the dynamic of the friendship changed when his friend professed her
romantic feelings for him in a note. Taken
aback and, because he didn’t feel the same way,
he told her he wanted to remain “just friends.”
The girl moved to a small town just outside
Princeton and the two didn’t talk for more
than two years. While they reconnected over
Facebook and he apologized for his high school
self, their conversations no longer have that
spark. They’re cold, distant and short. “We message each other once in awhile,
saying, ‘How’s life? Cool. See you in six months.’”
TAKING A RISK
Yes, admitting your romantic feelings to
someone who may not feel the same way can
alter friendships in undesirable ways. But
multiple-times friend-zoned Katy Snyder, 18,
of Mankato, thinks that honesty is important
when feelings are involved.
“Once you both move on, I’m not hurt by it,”
she said. “I don’t wanna be with somebody who
doesn’t wanna be with me.”
Even Thompson, whose friendship fizzled
following his friend’s revelations of romantic
feelings—and who sometimes second-guesses
whether he made the right decision to not
pursue a relationship with her—wouldn’t
change things if given the chance.
“If you go back and change it, you become a
different person than you are,” he said.
Carlson, a self-professed risk taker who
evaluates relationships with multiple age
groups, agrees. However, she recognizes that
everyone has a different way of processing
feelings.
“I think it depends on your nature really,
because some people are really shy and really
afraid and much more vulnerable to depression
or sadness if they’re rejected. You never know
unless you try ... There’s no possibility without
making an effort,” she said.
“So much of adult life is people living out
regrets. They live quiet lives of desperation
because they never … take that risk or say
anything they wanted to say to that person. If
the other person feels the same way about you,
then you have a relationship. But if the person
feels the same way about you but you never
mention it, you never know.”
11
Image is
everything
Most teens know the main
rule for protecting themselves on the
Internet: “Don’t post anything your
parents wouldn’t like.”
But is that really reality?
No. If every teen actually followed
that rule, everyone would have a
perfect online reputation.
For most teenagers, a bad representation means posting inappropriately with cursing, videos of fighting,
half-naked photos and anything
incriminating that involves drugs and
violence. Some teens post things they
shouldn’t on purpose, simply because
they want someone to look at it.
T.J. Neely, a former gang member
in Minneapolis, said he used to post
damaging information because he
wanted the image of “a big dog who
was down with anything.” Now 25,
he limits the number of friends in
his network and only posts positive
thoughts.
Phil Trout, a college counselor at
Minnetonka High School, advises
students beginning in grade 11 that
they should have a professionalsounding e-mail address and a
“Facebook page that’s a good public
relations statement about you.”
However, many students don’t
follow his advice.
“In an emotional moment, they
post something they’d like to have
back,” Trout said.
Amira Warren-Yearby
What’s realistic for teenagers when it
comes to online postings?
Amira
Warren-Yearby
St. Louis Park
High School
n Lesson learned: North High student Mattayo Goodman said a cousin was expelled from school for posting a photo of
DAMAGE DONE
There are numerous cases of teens
who’ve faced repercussions for what
they’ve posted online. Mattayo
Goodman, a freshman at North
High School in Minneapolis, said his
cousin posted a picture of himself
pointing a gun, which resulted in
expulsion from school for a year.
On the beach at Lake Calhoun in
Minneapolis, 15-year-old Hugh
Cashman from Edina described a
teen from his school who posted
a picture of himself smoking with
Rastas in Jamaica. The teen was suspended and kicked off a sports team.
While that might seem a little
extreme to teenagers, it’s not to a
school or sports team. After all,
you’re representing them, not just
yourself.
How you represent yourself
online reflects on your parents, your
school, your team, even the company
you work for.
Dave Eisenmann, director of
instructional technology and media
services for Minnetonka Public
Schools, said some employers ask
job candidates to show them their
himself holding a gun on Facebook.
Facebook pages at job interviews.
Colleges also check out online
reputations. Eisenmann’s sister-in-law
works in a college admissions office in
Pittsburgh, Pa. When they have more
candidates than they can take, all with
similar credentials, the admissions
officers will sometimes check out their
online reputations using a Google
search and decide whom to admit
based on what they find.
FINDING A BALANCE
So why go online if you can’t really
be true to yourself? There are ways to
strike a balance.
For one, simply don’t post anything that can adversely affect your
future. Cashman protects himself by
keeping his Facebook page private
and letting his dad see what he’s
posting.
If you don’t want to friend your
parent, Amanda Lenhart, a senior
researcher for Pew Research Center’s
Internet & American Life Project in
Washington, D.C., suggests having an
older person you trust, like an aunt or
older brother, monitor what you post.
In a national survey of teens published this spring, Lenhart found that
teens are getting smarter about online
privacy. Six of 10 teens in the survey
said they have set their Facebook
profiles to private so that only friends
can see it. Girls are more likely than
guys—70 percent compared to 50—to
keep their profiles private.
Seventy-four percent of teen
social media users have also deleted
people from their network or friends’
list. Three in 10 have deleted or deactivated an entire profile or account.
In extreme cases, professional
reputation help is also available.
Eisenmann cited a service—reputationdefender.com—that will work
to clean up online reputations by
creating more positive content and
linking to it from various websites.
However, the service is expensive:
It starts at $3,000 for one year.
That’s a lot of money to make
sure that embarrassing photos of
you don’t show up at the top of a
Google search.
Protect your rep
Twin Cities’ teens: Be part of
the launch of ProtectMyRep,
a new online tool that will
help you learn how to repair
a damaged online reputation,
get personal feedback on what
your Facebook profile really
says, and offer advice on how
employers and colleges are
using social media to judge
applicants.
The event is free and open
to any teen! Join us from 4 to
5:30 p.m. September 26 at the
Minneapolis Central Library,
300 Nicollet Mall. The first 50
participants will receive a free
drawstring bag.
For more information, visit
www.threesixtyjournalism.org/
protectmyrep or contact Lynda
McDonnell at lmmcdonnell@
stthomas.edu.
Page from page 7
scholars) engage in the process of working
with children … That’s where the change is
going to happen.”
During her first semester, Kong fulfilled the service requirement at Hmong
American Partnership—a program that
provides Hmong refugees with resources
and support for an easier transition to life
in America. She was already familiar with
the program, as she volunteered there in
high school.
“As the president of my volunteer program … I took the (refugee) youth group
out to places … I wanted to expose them to
American lifestyles. Being able to meet those
goals felt good,” she said.
Kong plans to apply her Page Scholarship
to a graduate school program once she finishes
her undergraduate degree—something the
foundation is able to accommodate. Once a
scholar is enrolled full-time in post secondary courses, they can re-apply for the grant to
cover costs incurred for undergraduate, graduate or Ph.D. programs.
The foundation receives around 900 applications each year, and is only able to accept
500 to the program. A total of three people
look over each application, Page himself being
one of the reviewers.
“I look for somebody who has financial
need, somebody who looks like they will—if
given the opportunity—fulfill their service
obligations, and who has the potential to
contribute,” he said.
Page is incessantly impressed by the
work, time and energy that the scholars put
in each year.
“Our motto is creating heroes through
education and service,’ he said. “Our scholars
really do that, they are heroes to the kids (they
serve) and also to me.”
ESSAY CONTEST
More resources
Searching for scholarships this year? Here
are some helpful websites that can get you
on the fast track to finding financial aid for
college.
n Cappex.com: Besides a convenient college search database, this website includes
student reviews and narrows scholarship
choices to those that match the student’s
skills and strengths.
n Collegeboard.org: Provides a wide variety
of scholarships with a database worth
more than $6 billion. A great place to start
your scholarship search, but doesn’t have
as many search criteria as some other
websites.
n Fastweb.com: Allows you to create an
account, which then filters out scholarships
that are best for you based on your profile.
Also provides budget calculators, loan
information and free financial aid material.
n HSF.net: The Hispanic Scholarship Fund
provides scholarship opportunities for
graduating Hispanic seniors and current
Hispanic college students. The requirements and deadlines are conveniently
located in one place.
n Questbridge.org: Offers two programs:
The College Prep Scholarship (for lowincome juniors), which grants finalists
awards that may include paid visits to
college campuses, invitations to college
admission conferences and individualized
college admission counseling; and The
National College Match (for low-income
seniors), which grants finalists full four year
loan-free scholarships to their prestigious
partner colleges. Students must fill out a
lengthy application, which includes essays
to be considered for the scholarships.
n Scholarships.com: Matches you to a variety of scholarships based on your account
profile and sorts by amount of money and/
or deadline. Also allows you to rank scholarships and is a convenient way to organize
scholarship choices.
n Scholarshipamerica.org: Offers multiple
programs that give scholarships of varying
financial value to students in need. Can also
be used to apply for scholarships, including
their “Dollars for Scholars” program.
n Zinch.com: A huge database with a
wide variety of scholarships that can
sort matches by various criteria, including whether or not it requires an essay or
whether there’s an online application. Can
also “like” scholarships to get deadline
reminders.
—Amolak Singh
How important is
marriage to you?
Do you see yourself getting married in the future?
Why or why not?
Tell us in 500 words or less.
$100
for the winning essay
Cash prizes for
2nd and 3rd, too!
Submit your essay at:
www.threesixtyjournalism.org/
YourTurnMarriage
DEADLINE:
NOVEMBER 15
Winning entries will be published online at www.threesixtyjournalism.org
and in the December 2013 magazine issue
13
Tag, you’re (not) it
You wouldn’t display your
best friend’s picture on a billboard
if it were embarrassing, would you?
Yet every day, social media users
post photos on the Internet that are
unflattering to friends.
A professional employee who
decides to have a night out at the pub
is captured in a photo while intoxicated. A teenager who has changed
his or her outlook on life to a more
religious view is “tagged,” or identified, in compromising pictures from
the past that aren’t so spiritual.
Angela Holliday, 14, of Richfield,
had a more straightforward reason
for asking a classmate to remove
a photo that had been posted to
Facebook. Like many teens who look
at pictures of themselves, Holliday
felt self-conscious.
“I asked the other person to take
it down, and they did without any
conflict,” said Holliday, who spent
part of the summer studying media
production at Macalester College in
St. Paul. “It’s just that I felt I didn’t
like my face in the photo.”
Holliday has company. Some polls
show that a majority of social media
users would prefer a courtesy call
before being tagged in online photos.
Sophos, a worldwide technology
company, polled 830 Facebook users
and asked if they felt permission
should be necessary before tagging or identifying friends in online
videos and pictures. Eighty-three
percent of those polled said that it’s
Frederick
McConnell
St. Paul
Conservatory
for Performing
Artists
common courtesy to ask before
tagging, while eight percent took it
more to heart by saying that it should
be against the law to tag others
without their authorization. Seven
percent of users think that it isn’t a
big deal.
Shayla Thiel-Stern, an assistant
professor in mass communication
at the University of Minnesota, has
researched privacy issues related to
social media. She believes Facebook
users should always ask permission
before sharing photos or video of
someone else.
“You would never just take something of someone else’s and share it
with others without their permission.
That would be ridiculous. A photo or
video should work in the same way—
that’s just basic respect,” Thiel-Stern
said.
On the other hand, tagged photos
can serve as an illustrated timeline
of memories, pointing to positive
shared experiences between friends.
“Most people who are heavy
users of Facebook or Twitter share
personal information. That is the
wonder of social media. It provides a
network of shared personal connections, and it can be very gratifying,”
Thiel-Stern said.
Submitted
Basic etiquette often an afterthought
for Facebook photos, posts
n University of Minnesota professor
Shayla Thiel-Stern believes exercising
“basic respect” is a no-brainer when
tagging photos on Facebook.
Nevertheless, some social media
users feel that tagging is invasive.
Larry Burrell, 19, of St. Paul, has
experienced unauthorized tags on
social media, including a picture that
an acquaintance posted and refused
to take down despite his protests.
Burrell, who recently became
involved in a church community,
explained that he is focused on his
priorities—religion and having a
healthy relationship with his fiancé.
Tagging is something he tries to
avoid and doesn’t want to see done
to him when logging onto Facebook.
Make that logged, past tense. Fed up
with gossip and conflict online, he
recently deactivated his account.
“Tags enable others to connect
to your profile,” he said. “It’s my
personal business, not theirs. If
someone were to tag me in a photo,
it would be because I told him or her
to do so.”
Taneisha Dyer, 31, has had the
negative experience of receiving
multiple “dings” from Facebook
think
spot
during a professional meeting, with
each embarrassing noise on her
smart phone alerting her she’d been
tagged in a photo. Though that can
be remedied by changing Facebook
notification settings, Dyer was still
left baffled.
“I hadn’t seen or heard from this
friend in years,” said Dyer, who was
surprised by the sudden intimacy,
“but when I checked my notifications, it said that I had been tagged
in a photo.”
Thiel-Stern explained that when
teens update, tag and post on
Facebook, they’re going through a
process to find their identity. For
example, when a teen is posting
about how they feel toward society
and they receive a number of “likes,”
it can be a confidence boost.
“It becomes kind of a compulsion
to check to see how others react to
what you posted all the time,” she
said.
However, getting people to see
you on Facebook can affect others
around you if friends are also tagged
in the same post. Thiel-Stern thinks
that it’s a matter of respect and
empathy to ask permission first.
Or put it this way: Would you
want a photo or video that made you
upset posted for everyone to see?
“Even if you might not be bothered by an image like the one you’re
about to post, and even if you think
that posting it will get you a lot of
laughs from your other friends, put
that aside for a moment,” Thiel-Stern
said. “Your friend might have very
legitimate reasons for not wanting it
posted.”
Have you ever experienced conflict because of a Facebook tag?
Should the same courtesy in real life extend to social media?
This issue’s artists
n Kimberly Martinez
is a senior at Harding
High School in St.
Paul. A graduate of
ThreeSixty’s June
Intermediate camp,
Martinez enjoys spending time on Tumblr,
sketching in her journal
and going to art museums. She has several
career paths in mind,
including journalism
and graphic design.
n Mina Yuan is a freshman at Wayzata High
School. A graduate of
ThreeSixty’s July Intro
camp, she plays classical
piano and cello, speaks
Chinese, enjoys drawing
and is “far too addicted”
to J.R.R. Tolkien for her
own good.
Virtual identity,
real problems
Vague tweets and status update overload
can be draining, create conflict
Facebook, it says I’ve got
Teens are waking
Lana
like, 700 friends. But I do
up to the fact that their
Rubinstein
not have 700 friends.”
Facebook friends aren’t
River Falls
Here are some of the
necessarily their real
High School
common pitfalls for young
friends. In fact, those
people who use Facebook
online acquaintances can
and other social media:
be bullies, braggarts and worth tuning out.
A new report from Pew Research Center, a
TOO MUCH DRAMA
non-partisan research center in Washington
Heavy social media use creates two very difD.C., finds interest in Facebook waning among
ferent worlds: virtual and real. Yet they often
adolescents. A national survey of teens found
collide in a way that creates actual chaos.
that they’re less excited about Facebook than a
There’s the typical story: The one about
few years back.
that girl who posts on social media and how
In small focus groups, teens also said they
mad she is at someone, leaving her friends and
disliked the increasing number of adults on
followers to scratch their heads, wondering
the site, got annoyed when their Facebook
what could have possibly upset her. She goes
friends shared inane details, and are drained
to school the next day and gets in a fight with a
by the “drama” they described as happening
classmate who stole her boyfriend.
frequently online.
Shayla Thiel-Stern, an assistant profesAccording to Amanda Lenhart, a senior
sor at the University of Minnesota who has
researcher at Pew, “many teens, almost nine in
researched youth and digital media, said teens
ten teens, witness people being mean to each
other, or cruel to each other, in these social media “might say something online that they would
not say in a face-to-face situation, and I think
spaces. Overall, the most popular response is
that is where drama can ensue.”
that they ignore people in these spaces.”
Calvin Leitch Lodge isn’t surprised by focus
VAGUE POSTERS
group results showing a waning interest in
Maddie Bodell, 15, of Plymouth, is tired of
Facebook among teens. He’s over it, too.
“I just felt like I was wasting my time … I felt vague Tweets and Facebook updates that are
seemingly aimed at the world, but could be
like real friends aren’t in a computer; they’re in
real life,” said Lodge, 19, of Minneapolis. “So on
social media continued on page 26
think
spot
Have you ever started drama by posting something vague or indirect on social
“ It makes me proud
to
to be
be in
in college
college
and have my
nieces and
nephews
look up to me.
They want to
follow in my
footsteps.”
— Jasmine Darden
Ausgburg College ‘13
mnprivatecolleges.org/ possible
Augsburg College
Hamline University
Bethany Lutheran College
Macalester College
Bethel University
Minneapolis College
of Art and Design
Carleton College
College of Saint Benedict
Saint John’s University
The College of St. Scholastica
Saint Mary’s University
of Minnesota
Concordia College (Moorhead)
St. Catherine University
Concordia University, St. Paul
St. Olaf College
Gustavus Adolphus College
University of St. Thomas
An excellent and affordable education
media? What kind of attention were you hoping for?
15
Artistic
empowerment
Creativity, discovery find a home on
YouTube and Kickstarter
Aamino
Hirmoge
Harding High
School
“So facing that, I wanted to think
outside the box a little bit.”
POETRY FROM THE SKY
Started in 2009 by Perry Chen,
reach an incredibly wide network,”
Haaheim said.
After putting her project on
Kickstarter for 15 days, she raised
$1,475, raising 23 percent more
than her goal. Donations from
$1 to $250 came in from both
acquaintances and strangers, with
bonuses coming in the form of a
signed chapbook or an invite to
attend launch day.
Last June, Haaheim and
about 20 friends launched her
poems into the sky at the Walker
Art Center’s Sculpture Garden
in Minneapolis.
“My project started out with
me sending e-mails to family and
friends, but eventually it was picked
as a staff pick on Kickstarter. It was
featured on their blog. So those
independent sources singling out
my project expanded my audience,”
she said.
Aamino Hirmoge
Ka Lia Yang has never
played an official concert, yet you
can find her songs on YouTube.
Katie Haaheim doesn’t have a
publisher, yet you can find her poems
online and scattered throughout the
Midwest.
And thanks to the power of
viral video, the world sung along to
“Clouds” by Zach Sobiech, a 17-yearold from Lakeland whose recent
death from cancer moved millions
worldwide.
The Internet has provided a
powerful platform for artists to
release their work without having
to panhandle outside with a guitar
case or fear rejection by a big record
or publishing company. Better yet, it
can all be done from the comfort of
an artist’s home.
With the click of a few buttons,
singers, writers and performers can
directly connect with the general
public. Bottom line, the Internet
has tipped the scales for artistic
empowerment.
“As a poet, I can never, ever hope
to have a steady income with it. Like,
even famous poets are also professors and do not make money from
their poetry,” said Haaheim, a poet
from Chaska living in Walla Walla,
Washington, who used Kickstarter
to fund her project, Drifting
Thoughts.
Yancey Strickler and Charles Adler,
Kickstarter is a popular website
where anyone with an idea can
fundraise through “crowdsourcing,” or the ability to raise money
incrementally through a large pool
of Internet users. Music and film
are the two biggest Kickstarter
categories, and in fact, account for
half of the site’s projects.
Haaheim’s Drifting Thoughts
project enabled her to attach original
poems to balloons and send them
into the sky, all with the goal of
landing in random Twin Cities locations. She was inspired by a science
project her father used to do for
her 3rd grade class, and turned to
Kickstarter after seeing a friend raise
money for a book.
“(It) was a really inspiring thing
to watch, how it is still possible
for an artist to go out and find an
audience for themselves and to
n Ka Lia Yang, a high school student in St. Paul, hopes that posting original songs and music videos on YouTube will help
her break into the music business.
CHANCE FOR DISCOVERY
Capturing that same sense of discovery applies to another major outlet
for artistic empowerment on the
Internet—YouTube.
For two years, Yang, a 16-year-old
from St. Paul, has posted original
songs and covers on YouTube to spur
her artistic career. Yang can sit at her
cramped bedroom’s computer desk,
plug in her microphone, pick up one
of her two guitars, and sing her heart
out while facing a webcam.
That Justin Bieber, Karmin and
Greyson Chance were all discovered
on YouTube gives the Harding High
School student hope.
“I just started singing for fun,
started making songs on my brother’s piano. And I said, ‘You know,
this is something.’ I never knew I had
this, so I just continued on, playing
piano, bought the guitar and kept
playing,” Yang said.
The most views on Yang’s
YouTube channel are for her song
“Sunset,” which boasts 345,895
views. Her channel consists of
roughly 50 videos, with her YouTube
fame allowing her to reach fans from
California to Paris.
“There’s a lot of young people,
middle school kids especially, who
will message me and ask me questions like, ‘How do you write music?’
‘How do you come up with chords?’
‘How do you find what’s meaningful?’ And they’ll say I’m a big inspiration to them, or because of you, we
started writing or playing guitar. It
makes me feel good,” she said.
For Yang, it’s now about topping
“Sunset’s” numbers, which is the
part of YouTube she wasn’t prepared for. She’s wary of “dying” on
the visual platform since she can’t
capitalize on long distance connections and tour or record an album
without help.
Staff
“There’s a lot of young people, middle school kids especially,
who will message me and ask me questions.... And they’ll say I’m a big
inspiration to them, or because of you, we started writing or playing guitar.
It makes me feel good.” —Ka Lia Yang
“YouTube is a really, really hard place
because you really, really have to push yourself,” Yang said. “But if it wasn’t for YouTube,
people wouldn’t share my stuff. Because it’s
all about connections. It goes from one to
the other to the other to the other.”
GETTING ‘OUT THERE’
As Sobiech’s well-traveled story shows, the
act of putting yourself “out there” is what’s
most important for aspiring artists. Without
taking that first step on YouTube, Sobiech
never would have reached seven million
views, or upon his death, hit number one
on iTunes.
Though Yang and Haaheim don’t know
what the future holds for their art, that
they have the opportunity to find a larger
audience, all thanks to simple technology,
feels empowering.
Haaheim is finishing up her chapbook,
which she promised her Kickstarter backers.
As for future Kickstarter projects, she’d like
to stencil moss on a wall and write more
poems, or possibly start a Drifting Thoughts,
Part Two.
Yang plans to maintain her presence on
YouTube. In addition to crafting two professional-looking music videos for “Sunset”
and “Empty Soul,” she has also auditioned for
popular reality-singing shows, “The Voice” and
“The X-Factor.”
Though she hasn’t received her big break
yet, knowing that her songs can reach the
masses on YouTube has kept her dream of
“being discovered” alive.
“I (have been) been waiting so long for a
miracle to happen,” Yang said. “But you can’t
just sit there.”
17
Digital dilemma
Owning music is easier than ever, but
shouldn’t we always be paying for it?
Editor’s note: To protect privacy,
ThreeSixty Journalism has changed
the name of Abigail in this story.
Abigail have been getting their music
online, both legally and illegally. Now
the 15-year-old Twin Cities resident
has moved onto Spotify, a free and
legal music streaming software that,
some musicians argue, still doesn’t
compensate artists fairly.
The ability to access free music
EASY ACCESS
Music pirates don’t always consider
the consequences of illegal music
downloads. According to Thomas
Staff
Two years ago, Abigail
started using Real Player, an online
software to download music illegally
from the Internet.
Like other teenagers, she was
strapped for cash. Although Abigail
would rather respect her favorite
artists and pay for their music, she
didn’t have the money.
In recent years, more teens like
Simone Cazares
St. Paul
Conservatory
For Performing
Artists
digitally is taking a toll on brick-andmortar record stores, not to mention
artists—especially those on the local
scene—who aren’t benefitting financially from their art. Abigail wants to
support musicians, but it’s also hard
to beat “free.”
“(I think music is) something
worth owning, because then you can
always bring it with you anywhere,
and share the joy that music brings
you. I mean, the artist worked on
it super hard to make a living,” said
Abigail, a fan of Broadway showtunes, who figures 30 percent of her
music library is from illegal downloads. “I’d rather honor and respect
that, but (I wish) it was less of a
hassle for money.”
n Martin Devaney, manager at Eclipse Records in St. Paul, hopes that customer appreciation for having an album or CD
rather than digital media will help stores like his survive.
“I feel like sharing that music for free, and people
just sharing with each other, is a very key, important part in
spreading the music. If I don’t make the 99 cents off of each
song that each person has, that`s way less important
to me then that people are listening to it
and sharing it.” —Dan Rodriguez
Cotter, a professor of law at the
University Of Minnesota, the consequences for music pirating can be
fines anywhere from $750 to $30,000
per song, and up to $150,000 for
every album.
In one of the country’s highest
profile digital piracy cases, Jammie
Thomas-Rasset of Brainerd was
sued by the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) for
downloading 24 copyrighted songs
illegally and sharing them with millions of people on Kazaa, a peer-topeer (P2P) software. After spending
eight years and three federal trials
fighting the lawsuit, she ended up
with a fine of $220,000.
Cotter said he believes the RIAA
stopped going after individuals in
2008, but still doesn`t think it`s a
good idea to download music illegally, as there still may be risks. “People probably don’t get caught
in a very high percentage of cases,”
Cotter said. “But yes, the more you
download, the greater the risk, and
the penalties can be substantial.”
The digital music debate first
generated headlines in 1999 when
Napster, a P2P software where
copyrighted songs were shared for
free, exploded in popularity among
computer users. With the click of
a mouse, music fans could access
entire albums without paying, some
before they were even released in
stores.
Though Napster eventually
experienced legal difficulties, P2P
software opened the door to a wave
of similar platforms like Real Player,
LimeWire, The Pirate Bay, Kazaa
and others. One of the most popular
formats today is Spotify, which is
legal but only pays artists $0.004
per play, leading musicians like The
Black Keys and Coldplay to boycott
the streaming service.
PROS AND CONS
Dan Rodriguez, a Minneapolis-based
musician, is more forgiving about
piracy than other artists. Although
Rodriguez is an advocate for fans
coming out to live shows and buying
CDs, he recognizes the benefits of
digital music, both legal and illegal.
“Digital music has changed the
playing field completely, and the act
of music pirating has completely
changed the game for myself and the
independent artists who are trying to
build a fan base,” he said.
“I feel like sharing that music for
free, and people just sharing with
each other, is a very key, important
part in spreading the music. If I don`t
make the 99 cents off of each song
that each person has, that`s way less
important to me then that people are
listening to it and sharing it.”
The artist versus access debate
reached a fever pitch on the Internet
in June 2012 when Emily White, an
music piracy continued on page 26
Breaking into
the boys club
Jessica Violette
Osseo Senior
High School
n Kate Agnew, a business analyst for Target, is also managing director for Girls in Tech. The organization encourages young
girls to follow their technology passions.
“The fact that I’m a female is totally besides the point
magazine, said that since she’s playing for fun, it’s pointless to volunteer
her gender.
“The fact that I’m a female is
totally besides the point of why I’m
playing video games. I try to keep
it on the down low because I’m not
there to get attention and I don’t
want to be treated any differently,”
Andrews said.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Looking back at early video games,
there’s a common pattern that’s hard
to miss. Often, there was a male protagonist, a female in distress, and it
was the man’s job to save the helpless
woman. You didn’t always have the
choice to change your character like
you often have now, so it’s easy to
see who the target audience for video
games used to be.
As time has passed, more gaming
companies have begun including
female protagonists. One of the more
popular video games with a female
is “Tomb Raider,” which saw heroine
Lara Croft raid her first tomb in
1996. “Tomb Raider” games continue
to be released; the latest came out in
of why I’m playing video games. I try to keep it on the down
low because I’m not there to get attention and I don’t want
to be treated any differently.” —Margaret Andrews
Aidan Haarman
When Warwick the Blood
Hunter is dominating you in
an intense match of “League of
Legends,” you may never consider
that the person behind the computer
screen is wearing a skirt.
More women are holding their
head up high and proudly claiming
the title “gamer.” According to the
Entertainment Software Association,
45 percent of all game players are
women. In fact, women over the age
of 18 represent a higher percentage
of the gaming community than males
under the age of 17.
Still, females who play videogames are subjected to assumptions on a daily basis. When playing
online, most girls are thought to be
male, so they’re often called “dude”
or “bro.” Upon being recognized as
females, they’re treated differently—
whether in the form of sexist comments or name-calling that’s meant
to discourage women who are open
with their gender.
“Boys often tell me to get back in
the kitchen or other comments like
that, but it doesn’t bother me much,”
said Jasmine Dixon, a 20-year-old
gamer from the United Kingdom.
“They’re usually just frustrated that
I’m winning.”
Some women prefer to keep their
gender private. Margaret Andrews, a
digital designer for Game Informer
Staff
Women encouraged to pursue gaming,
tech careers despite stereotypes
n Margaret Andrews started playing
computer games when she was
three years old, and at 35, remains
an avid gamer.
March of this year.
The connection is important
because it shows that playing games
can pave the way for women to
pursue their passions, even if they’re
technology based.
“My earliest memory was when
I was like, three years old, playing
simple computer games and I’ve
always loved it,” said Andrews, who
owned her first computer in 1980.
Even now at 35, Andrews is still an
avid gamer and loves working with
a magazine that highlights the video
game industry.
EARLY EMBRACE
For Kate Agnew, a business analyst
at Target in Minneapolis, embracing
technology meant creating her first
website as a young girl and developing an appreciation for the popular
computer game “The Sims.”
The early exposure to technology prompted her to enroll in the
15-month Technology Leadership
Program at Target. She also is
managing director for the Twin
Cities chapter of Girls in Tech, a
social group for women interested
in technology careers. The program
encourages young girls to explore
technology fields and ignore the
“boys club” mentality.
“For a woman, it can be a bit
more difficult to feel welcomed and
comfortable in a male dominated
industry, especially when often you
find yourself being the only woman
in a conference room,” Agnew said.
Girls in Tech hosts several events
for women interested in technology
careers to connect and talk about
what they love. They’re also planning
to find mentorship connections for
young girls and women already in
tech careers.
Whether as gamers, coders,
designers or all-around tech wizards,
Andrews has advice for girls interested in technology.
“Over the years I have learned
that being assertive and confident in
what you do helps earn respect,” she
said. “When you show your confidence, people learn to respect what
you do.”
19
Technology
‘time suck’
Ricki Williams
Robbinsdale
Cooper High
School
n Washburn High School sophomore Rosa Johnson believes that technology use, especially the addictive nature of cell
phones, is having a negative impact on teen social abilities.
Rosa Johnson, 15, said she
believes that technology takes away
from teenagers’ social abilities.
“Meeting on the Internet is easier
than meeting in person,” she said.
Johnson also said cell phones and
social media are becoming addictive
and people often don’t realize all of
the effects.
SHUTTING DOWN
Trent Mitchell, a video production
teacher at Shorecrest High School
in Shoreline, Wash., conducted what
he called “The Social Experiment” in
winter 2010. He assigned students in
his class to go a week without using
electronic devices.
When he told the students about
his idea, he said about half of them
wanted no part of it, while the other
half embraced the challenge.
After two or three days, Mitchell
said about half of the students quit
the experiment. Some said they
didn’t want to do it; others simply
couldn’t handle being without
technology.
Once the week ended, Mitchell
said that most of the students who
Aidan Haarman
With a cell phone, you
hold your life in your hand. Phone
numbers, passwords, to-do lists and
the picture from the time you posed
with the cutest guy in school.
But phones can also be a huge
distraction. You’re sitting across from
your friend having a heart-to-heart.
Instead of looking into your eyes,
she’s looking at her phone, laughing
at the text her boyfriend sent.
“Hello,” you say. “You getting this?”
“I am, I am. Proceed,” she says,
typing an answer to his text.
Three friends from Washburn
High School in Minneapolis decided
to do something to counter such
irritation. On certain occasions,
they store their phones in one room
and move to another to focus on the
face-to-face.
Hannah Gordon, 16, said the idea
originated at a sleepover, when the
girls realized they were staring at
their phones, “doing our own thing.”
Because they’d been so connected to
their phones, they hadn’t even talked
to each other while sitting in the
same room.
Emma Stotts, 16, doesn’t blame
technology, but instead focuses on
the self-control aspect of it.
“I used to be really distracted by
my phone,” she said. “I’ve learned
to use it for things that are really
helpful.”
Aidan Haarman
Putting down the phone can be tough
in today’s plugged-in society
made it through the first three days
also made it through the week.
“They needed to get over that
hump at the beginning,” he said. “The
thing we were looking for wasn’t
that they would change, but so that
they would understand how much
they rely on technology. There were
a few students that said, ‘Maybe I
don’t need to be on Facebook 24/7’
or ‘Maybe I don’t need to have my
phone on me all the time.’ It’s OK to
unplug for a little bit. That wasn’t the
common reaction.”
Mitchell also said he and other
staff realized how much they, too,
relied on technology.
n Hannah Gordon, a junior at Washburn High School in Minneapolis, chooses to
leave her phone in a separate room when hanging out with friends.
“The average home has about 24 different
consumer media and communication devices.
So, it’s not unusual for every member of the family
to be on their own device even if they’re in the same
house or the same room, kind of ignoring
the face-to-face.” — Teresa Pavlin
ESTABLISHING PRIORITIES
Sending that message to teens and
adults is the goal of Tech Time Out,
a North American program implemented by Foresters Life Insurance
Company in Canada.
Tech Time Out encourages families to go technology-free for an hour
a day by signing an online pledge,
then printing it out to be posted in
the house as a “constant reminder of
time suck continued on page 26
Media madness
With so much to choose from, which
buzzworthy brands are worth using?
Kimberly
Martinez
Harding High
School
Humphrey said. “Facebook is still
an online gathering place, but a
lot of sharing and self-expression,
especially among teens, is happening
elsewhere through photos and video.
In addition to Instagram and Vine,
think Snapchat and Tumblr.”
Released by Twitter in January,
Vine boasts a maximum size of six
seconds for its video. It essentially
acts as an animated Twitter, with
users able to post videos and add
comments or captions “in the
moment” as if it were real play-byplay of what’s happening in front
of them.
“When Twitter launched Vine,
such simple video sharing was a
novelty,” Humphrey said. Except
just a few months in, Vine now has
a competitor in Video on Instagram,
launched in June by Facebook, which
extends video capabilities to 15
seconds.
The original Instagram, with
its popular photo filters, remains
a major factor because of its social
media novelty coupled with privacy
features, which prohibit any photos
you post to be saved or copied for
anything else.
Snapchat ups the ante by allowing
users to send a photo to a contact,
Illustration by Kimberly Martinez
Vine. Tumblr. Snapchat.
Nope, those buzzed about terms
aren’t referring to the vines of a tree,
tumbling in gymnastics or a quick
conversation with an acquaintance.
They’re a few of the social media
platforms vying for attention in a
Facebook and Twitter dominated
world, adding to an already long list
of sites that allows teens and adults
to communicate in mere seconds.
With more than 200 social
networking sites on the Internet, the
variety available has made it easier
for people to craft an identity and
feel a sense of connectedness.
“Kids are gravitating to these
other type of safe havens, wanting
privacy and wanting a community,”
said Lisa Grimm, director of public
relations and emerging media at
space150, a Minneapolis-based ad
agency. “Being a teenager is about
discovering yourself and discovering
life, discovering relationships and
growing and evolving and trying to
figure it all out.”
Katie Humphrey, a StarTribune
technology reporter, needs to be
plugged in with new social networks
so she can inform readers. It can be
overwhelming for her to stay on top
of evolving platforms, she said, but
one trend that could be here to stay
is short video sharing through Vine
and Instagram.
“People I’ve spoken to say they
like the creative outlet that some
of the newer social networks offer,”
“People I’ve spoken to say they like the creative outlet
that some of the newer social networks offer. Facebook
is still an online gathering place, but a lot of sharing and
self-expression, especially among teens, is happening
elsewhere through photos and video. In addition
to Instagram and Vine, think Snapchat
and Tumblr.” —Katie Humphrey
only for it to disappear in a matter
of seconds. It will also notify your
phone when someone screenshots
one of your photos in an attempt
to keep it. The quality of Snapchat
photos is meant to be grainy so that,
according to iTunes descriptions,
users can “share the moment” and
move on.
Then there’s Tumblr, which
features roughly 118 million shortform blogs where users can post
think
spot
text, photos, quotes, links, music
and videos from a browser, phone,
desktop or e-mail.
Trent Anderson, 15, from St.
Paul, said he uses the multi-purpose
site as an archive to remember all the
things he admires and is amused by.
In 2013, Yahoo! bought the rights to
Tumblr for $1.1 billion.
According to the Pew
Research Center’s recently
released “Teens, Social Media and
Do you think you’ll be using Twitter and Facebook in 10 years?
What would you like to see replace it?
Privacy” study, though Facebook
and Twitter still dominate the
social media landscape, there’s
room for these other platforms to
make a bigger mark.
In Pew focus groups, teens on
Instagram and Twitter reported
“feeling like they could better express
themselves on these platforms,
where they felt freed from the social
expectations and constraints of
Facebook.” It’s also predicted that
“some teens may migrate their activity and attention to other sites to
escape the drama and pressures they
find on Facebook.”
That’s true of Minnesota
resident Camille Ramos, 15, who
uses Twitter as a way to update
her thoughts without “annoying
people on Facebook.” Or as Samuel
Dustin, 16, from St. Paul said,
it’s a chance to “spew your every
thought into the ether.”
“I think people haven’t left
Facebook because there’s so much
information there, but I also think
there’s so much complexity about
the platform, that it can be exhausting,” said Amanda Lenhart, senior
Internet & American Life Project,
in Washington, D.C. “Now you have
these different platforms that have
different utility, so maybe you’ll find
something smaller where you don’t
have to share as much, and that
becomes more attractive.”
As social media continues to
evolve at an unprecedented rate,
Grimm said it’s important for teens
to do their homework and make this
form of communication their own.
“Think about how these digital
tools influence communication
today,” Grimm said. “And study what
has come before so you can really
apply what comes after well in order
to make a bigger impact.”
21
Read the fine print
Sweating the small stuff can alleviate
online headaches, annoying ads
Aidan Haarman
Perpich Center
Arts High School
The “Terms and Conditions” of
websites and software are written to
allow them access to your personal
information in order to personalize
the ads you are shown.
“It all seems fine, and it looks
great, but the thing is, the terms of
service agreement is a barrier. It is
standing between you and what you
want,” said Thomas Oscanyan, a software asset manager at the University
of St. Thomas in St. Paul. “The
challenge is to not only read, but
understand and decline the terms if
you find something within that you
disagree with.”
Facebook, in particular, has a
fairly confusing contradiction in
its Data Use Policy. In one section,
Facebook says, “We do not share
any of your information with
advertisers, (unless, of course, you
give us permission).” What this
should mean to the user is that
unless they directly allow Facebook
to share their information with
advertisers, Facebook will be
legally unable to pass it along.
However, Facebook has written a
loophole for itself in a different section. Facebook says, “We don’t share
information we receive about you
with others unless we have “... given
Ricki Williams
Advertisers on the
Internet aren’t telepathic, but they
still know what you’re thinking.
“When you post, ‘I’m gonna buy
flowers for my mother,’ you’ll see
an advertisement for a flower shop
either instantly, or in the next few
days,” said Amanda Lenhart, senior
Internet & American Life Project, in
Washington, D.C.
According to Bao Nguyen, that’s
not a coincidence. As the vice president of tech research and development with AOL in Palo Alto, Calif.,
Nguyen works to place advertisements on personal computers that
are best suited for an online user at a
specific moment.
Nguyen uses software to track
websites people visit on the Internet.
Think of it as a GPS system that follows where you go on the web.
Nguyen simply gathers data
from users’ online activity, which he
then sells to advertisers. While this
information includes an individual’s
interests, Nguyen said he doesn’t
collect anything that will specifically
identify them.
Companies like Facebook make
their money by selling your information and ‘likes’ to advertisers. This
information is worth a lot because
the advertisers can show you the
right advertisement at the right time,
or when they think you’re more likely
to purchase that specific item or
service.
n Thomas Oscanyan, software asset manager for the University of St. Thomas, recommends that computer and social
media users read terms and conditions carefully and decline if they find something they disagree with.
“It all seems fine, and it looks great, but the thing is,
the terms of service agreement is a barrier. It is standing
between you and what you want. The challenge is to
not only read, but understand and decline the
terms if you find something within that
you disagree with.” —Thomas Oscanyan
you notice, such as by telling you
about it in this policy.”
Three seniors at the Perpich
Center Arts High School in Golden
Valley acknowledged that they never
read the terms and conditions on
websites.
“The language used is too complicated,” Kayleigh Hartland said.
Whereas Bailey Zander simply
doesn’t have time to read the small
print, Zai Rutter said she doesn’t
“post (stuff ) I’m embarrassed about.” Since Oscanyan gets paid to
read what teens and adults often
don’t want to, he’s more attentive
to what’s hidden in those “difficult”
to navigate agreements. Oscanyan
cited the Adobe Terms of Use as
one users might want to pay closer
attention to.
For example, the agreement
says, “You may not use the Services
if you do not agree to the Terms.”
Adobe then goes on to state, “You
may accept the Terms … by merely
browsing the Services.”
This is a red flag for Oscanyan
because it means that by simply
going to the website and looking at
products or services Adobe offers,
you automatically agree to its terms.
It’s a concern for a larger entity,
such as the University of St. Thomas,
but Oscanyan is also concerned
about what it could mean for the
everyday Internet user. It’s part of
the trade-off that Internet users don’t
always think about. What might be
free and easy to scan in terms of content could cost you in other ways.
“When you log onto the AOL
page, you see all the content that is
free for you. It costs the company
money to put the content online, so
in return, what you give up is the
information AOL is allowed to track
and sell to advertisers,” Nguyen said.
Lenhart puts the dilemma back
on the technology user.
“You have to answer a couple
questions: ‘Are you concerned about
having ads be specifically targeted
to you, or do you kind of like it?’
You have to ask yourself that when
you start an account, when you
open a Gmail account, that you’ll be
searched for keywords. That’s part of
the exchange,” she said.
“You get Gmail for free in
exchange for having keywords
searched so ads are delivered to
you. Maybe you should think about
a different kind of e-mail system.
Maybe for pay, or choose more carefully what you share in your e-mail.
Ultimately, that will help decide what
advertising gets delivered to you.”
Permanent
footprint
Heed the warning: What goes on the
Internet, stays on the Internet
Nichelle Heu
Harding High
School
Staff
When you’re 16, you feel
invincible, maybe even confident
you’ll live forever. As mortal humans,
we know that’s not true.
However, what you post online
today will be forever. Even when
you’re dead, your photos, videos and
blogs can still be visible to others.
Everything is permanent.
Ladonna Edwards, 17, of
Sacramento, Calif., has experienced
the surprise of seeing photos she’d
long forgotten about continue to
exist on the Internet.
“I looked up my name on Google,
and I saw all these pictures of me
in elementary school through
MySpace,” Edwards said.
While Edwards knows not to
put her Social Security number or
anything scandalous on social media
pages, she can’t possibly keep track
of everything she’s posted on the
Internet.
The fact that all of that information will never go away, even after
you’ve forgotten it was posted,
should be a scary notion, said Isaac
Wolkerstorfer, a Berlin-based software developer for Asana.com.
“If you post something to a blog
or Facebook or Twitter or anywhere
else on the ‘Net, you can never be
sure someone hasn’t made a copy of
it,” Wolkerstorfer said.
Wolkerstorfer advises that
Internet users make peace with the
idea that once you post information, it’s out there and you can no
longer control who sees or takes it.
As a basic rule, anything that you
feel uncomfortable about a stranger
seeing, simply don’t share it.
More succinctly, Eric Tornoe,
a computer security expert at the
University of St. Thomas in St. Paul,
uses a co-worker’s poster slogan
as a guide for how to approach the
Internet.
“Stop. Think. Click.”
After all, when it comes to the
way computers work, “permanent
pretty much means permanent.”
“Most of the stuff on the web is
living on a hard drive somewhere,
and it doesn’t cost a whole lot to
store. It’s nearly impossible to get
rid of and it stays there forever,”
Tornoe said.
“When you erase a disk drive, that
data is still almost as easy to get back
think
spot
n Eric Tornoe, a computer security expert at the University of St. Thomas, warns that “permanent pretty much means
permanent” on the web. His advice: Stop, think, click.
as it is if you haven’t erased the drive.
(Experts) don’t consider anything
truly secure unless you physically
destroy the drive.”
Think of your path on the
Internet as leaving a permanent
footprint. No matter where you go
or what you delete, no matter how
often you clear your search history,
“Most of the stuff
on the web is living on
a hard drive somewhere,
and it doesn’t cost a whole lot
to store. It’s nearly impossible
to get rid of and it stays there
forever.” —Eric Tornoe
If you were to create a digital will for your online presence,
what would you want protected—and who would you put in
charge of protecting it?
someone with computer expertise
can track that footprint through a log
of activity, Tornoe said.
So, if a company complains that
someone at the university is illegally
downloading music or movies, St.
Thomas technicians will check the
user ID on the computer at the time
of the download, Tornoe said.
“Once the complaint is verified,
we send a letter to the user explaining that this is a copyright violation
and advise them to stop sharing the
file or risk further legal action from
the copyright owner,” he said. “We
also offer help to the user to stop
sharing these files, as many times
users are not even aware they are
doing so.”
What remains “living” on the
Internet is just as important as what
you choose to keep for yourself,
said Jim Lamm, an attorney with
Minneapolis law firm Gray Plant
Mooty.
Lamm specializes in a field
he calls “digital passing.” Since
everything on the Internet is permanent, it’s become more essential than
ever to think about how to protect
your footprint in the event that you
or a loved one dies.
Lamm advises clients to keep
track of all their usernames and
passwords, and much like a digital
will, authorize representatives
to take legal action for disposing them or passing them on
based on your last requests. If
you don’t leave your password for
your family members or friends,
they won’t be able to access your
information.
“Be aware of your digital property
and its value,” Lamm said. “Make a
list, develop a plan and make sure
somebody has the legal authority to
execute the plan.”
After all, everything you’ve
posted or that has been posted of
you—whether it’s a newborn baby
photo or life inside a senior citizen
home—will be around long after
you’re gone.
23
iPad infusion
Cretin-Derham Hall joins an exciting
classroom technology wave
ROLLING OUT A PLAN
Cretin-Derham Hall, a high school
in the Highland Park neighborhood
Thomas Wrede
Cretin-Derham
Hall
of St. Paul, is in the second year of its
1:1 (one-to-one) iPad program. The
1:1 system allows each student to use
the device during the school year for
academic purposes.
Similar ideas had been floated by
the school’s Technology Committee
for a number of years, and “the iPad
presented itself to be a good entry,”
said Sharon O’Connor, the tech integration coordinator at CDH.
New technology was in their
midst and they wanted to do what
was best for their students moving
into the future, she said. The primary
questions left to answer: “How would
it be paid for?” and “How would
it work with the faculty’s teaching
methods?”
At CDH, the fee for a schoolissued iPad is $150. This covers the
use of the gadget, a device cover
and required apps, along with
Elena Renken
Virtually accessing the
world at one’s fingertips has been
feasible for high schoolers since the
dawn of the Internet.
But how about watching food
author Michael Pollen’s YouTube
videos for AP Environmental Science
homework on an iPad while sitting
in the comfort of your school’s band
room?
It was a bold possibility for
Cretin-Derham Hall senior Adam
Klein thanks to his lightweight,
energy efficient, crystal clear iPad.
For Klein, easily switching over from
the YouTube app to Safari so he
could look at questions posted online
for reflection—and then to Pages to
respond and upload his answers—
was not only doable, but far more
convenient.
He’s not alone in his enthusiasm.
“I can no longer imagine high
school without the iPad. Teachers
have changed their teaching style to
incorporate the iPads. We can work
on presentations, do our homework and study on (them),” said
fellow Cretin-Derham senior Alisha
Engelbrekt.
“It changed my high school
experience with the ability for me
to do everything for school on a
small device that I can carry with me
almost everywhere.”
n Cretin-Derham Hall, a Catholic high school in St. Paul, is in the second year of its 1:1 iPad program. Students have even
been educating staff on best ways to use the tablet.
troubleshooting and minimal repairs.
A student that brings his or her own
iPad is charged $50 for apps and
other program expenses.
“iPads were chosen because of
cost. They were much more affordable and easy to use for teachers and
students,” said CDH principal Mona
Passman Schmitz.
As for implementation, CDH did
not jump into the program without a
safety net in mind. During the 201112 school year, a third of the ninth
graders and a third of the teachers
got iPads for a trimester at a time. It
was an experiment to gain perspective, O’Connor said.
“We tweaked the program
as we went along,” she said, “but
most of the feedback (during those
early stages) was positive from the
nine teachers involved and (their)
students.”
CDH received iPad support
and advice from numerous places,
including DeLaSalle High School
in Minneapolis, which had the 1:1
program a year prior to the fellow
private high school. TIES, a joint
powers cooperative owned by 48
Minnesota school districts, also
provides schools with training and
resources in the world of technology. They assist school partners
“I can no longer imagine high school without the iPad. Teachers
have changed their teaching style to incorporate the iPads. We can work
on presentations, do our homework and study on (them). It changed my high school
experience with the ability for me to do everything for school on a small device
that I can carry with me almost everywhere.” — Alisha Engelbrekt
during big transitions by offering a
variety of workshops and expertise
on everything from word processing
and multimedia production to, of
course, iPads.
Training is broken down into
specific lessons on how to operate
an iPad and how to use various programs that are available. Cara Hagen,
an education technology consultant
at TIES, was amazed at the schoolrelated “buzz” that surrounded the
iPad when it first was introduced on
the market.
“I’ve never seen anything implemented this fast,” Hagen said. The
excitement was particularly off the
charts because the iPad could be
used as not just an educational tool,
she said, but an interactive one.
CHANGING MODELS
Although there is no “correct way” to
introduce an iPad into the classroom,
a major part of Hagen’s job is to educate teachers on how to approach the
ipad infusion continued on page 27
Bridging the
digital divide
When technology doesn’t present itself
in school or at home, external resources
are needed to help teens
Elena Renken
St. Paul Central
Thomas Wrede
Amidst shelves of books at
Rondo Community Outreach Library
in St. Paul, a group of patrons has its
eyes fastened to glowing computer
screens. It is a scene set in neutrals,
with white tables and beige pillars,
but the surroundings are not the
focus. The snapping of keys and
clicking of mice fills the open space
as people work and play in this oasis
of technology, absorbed in the pixels
on their screens.
Colorful elastics adorn the wrist of
15-year-old Donquala Patterson, who
rests her hand next to a keyboard as
she clicks calmly across her screen. A
resident of the Rondo neighborhood,
she doesn’t have a computer at home
and uses one at the library once a
week “to look for jobs.”
Plenty of young people come in
simply to use the public computers, but the library also offers other
opportunities just for teens. The
Createch Program makes technology
available to teens from 4 to 6 p.m. on
Tuesdays. Often, the library puts out
iPads for teens to use.
“I think that’s the big draw—the
iPads,” said Tayo Adefuye, a library
customer service assistant at Rondo.
But Createch also offers other
activities. Once, he said, Minnesotabred sound artists Beatrix*JAR
helped teens take apart circuits to
n Maddie Tate, manager at PC’s for People, said computer access is a multi-faceted process, and isn’t solved simply by
Alexis Reaves
Blake Upper
School
experiment with sound. Another
Tuesday, the lab focused on aerial
photography.
Once or twice a month, public
libraries also offer workshops led by
the Teen Tech Crew, a group of nine
high schoolers organized through
the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Peter Kirschmann, the youth crew
manager for the Teen Tech Crew,
said teens interact with technology
in three ways: hanging out, messing
around and geeking out.
“As opposed to just using
Facebook, maybe they’re playing with
some things on the iPad that they
haven’t tried before, maybe producing some videos, maybe doing some
stop motion animation,” he said.
SCHOOL DISPARITIES
Such workshops and programs allow teens to access and
giving customers an older model for free.
experiment with technology, but
those in computerless homes still
face challenges.
For Jennifer Nelson, a partnerships coordinator specializing in
digital inclusion at Minnesota’s
Department of Education, the
classroom should be the “great
equalizer,” providing the opportunity to serve children, no matter
their background. However, “there
are disparities” between schools
and neighborhoods, making external resources necessary.
According to the Pew Research
Center, 84 percent of teachers
nationwide think that electronic
devices in education are driving
a gap between upper and lower
income school districts.
For those who live in poverty or
near it, digital education can take a
backseat to more pressing concerns.
“For lower income teens, the
older a student gets, the more pressure is on them to find a job and to
be engaged in the workforce. They
can’t come to a public library and
take a class on using a computer
because the family priority is getting
them a job. That’s a huge barrier,”
Nelson said.
With those challenges, education and technological skills are
“For lower income teens, the older a student gets,
the more pressure is on them to find a job and to be engaged
in the workforce. They can’t come to a public library and take
a class on using a computer because the family priority is
getting them a job. That’s a huge barrier.” —Jennifer Nelson.
pushed to the periphery—“the
family has a primary concern
of putting food on the table and
making sure there’s a safe place to
stay at night,” Nelson said.
While income is one of the factors why some schools can’t receive
technology, by no means is it the
only one. Cara Hagen is an education
technology consultant for TIES, a St.
Paul company that trains teachers for
effective electronic use.
“Digital equity isn’t just the haves
and the have-nots. That’s one piece,”
Hagen said.
She cites policy, budget,
management and the classroom
itself as factors. For instance, the
school in question may have procedures in place that would make
a major change such as digital
implementation extremely difficult. Getting community leaders
and school officials to agree on
effective and financially feasible
digital divide continued on page 27
25
social media from page 15
targeted to a specific person.
“(With) indirect tweet(s), people say things,
but they don’t say who they’re saying it to. ‘Oh,
I really wish you wouldn’t do that anymore’, and
not say who they’re talking about,” she said.
With the option of adding hashtags, anybody
can make a post about how upset they are, and
add the hashtag “wannacry” or “I’mSoSad,” etc.
These types of posts leave followers speculating
about the reason why this person is upset. Since
no names are mentioned, teens can become
defensive, thinking that the post is written about
them, Bodell said.
FRIENDSHIP REJECTION
Teens often find it stressful adding friends and
followers on social media sites. While at Lake
Calhoun in Minneapolis, Sara Carle, 15, said
about adding friends, “Well, I guess the most
awkward is when you feel like you actually know
them, and then they don’t accept (your request)
even though you have mutual friends and you
have talked to them before.”
According to Pew, girls tend to change their
friend groups around, and “are more likely than
boys to delete friends from their network and block
people.” Having a lot of friends is a key priority for
teens because it conveys that they’re “popular” and
“social,” Lenhart said.
“Likes specifically seem to be a strong proxy
for social status, such that teen Facebook users
will manipulate their profile and timeline content
in order to garner the maximum number of ‘likes’,
and remove photos with too few ‘likes,’” she said.
CYBERBULLYING
There’s a sense of security that comes along with
being behind a computer screen versus saying
mean words to someone’s face.
“Well, it’s like over the Internet, people feel
like they can say anything because they’re just
typing into a keyboard. They’re not really saying
it to somebody’s face,” Leitch Lodge said. “So
people can say a lot more negative things and
feel more comfortable with it because they’re not
actually face-to-face.”
Jason Davis, 14, of Minneapolis, was confused
when a teen he didn’t know tried to bully him
into a fight.
“It was a friend through a friend. I met him
maybe once,” Davis said. “But he was like, ‘I
wanna fight you.’”
Though nothing ever came of the incident, it
proved to Davis that social media can test you
in negative ways, and how you react in real life
matters.
time suck from page 20
your commitment to family time.”
“The average home has about 24 different
consumer media and communication devices,” said
Foresters spokeswoman Teresa Pavlin. “So, it’s not
unusual for every member of the family to be on
their own device even if they’re in the same house or
the same room, kind of ignoring the face-to-face.”
Perhaps no one knows the effects better than
Amanda Lenhart, who studies how teens use technology for Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.
Lenhart also has teenagers. It bothers her that
some families spend 13 hours a day using electronic
devices.
“We should be thinking about what we’re
exchanging in our lives for that screen time. I also
think it’s an issue of, ‘Who do you want to be?’ If
it’s really important to you and your family to have
great comfort with technology, maybe spending
that much time with screened media makes sense,”
Lenhart said.
“But if you’re the kind of person who wants to
do different things, maybe play a sport, maybe stay
outside in your garden, or give back to your community through service, or maybe work on art with
your hands, it’d be wise to think about balancing
those kinds of things with your time in front of
screened media.”
music piracy from page 18
intern at NPR, wrote that she has
only paid for 15 CDs in her life and
didn’t think her generation would
ever buy music. In an online rebuttal
that went viral, David Lowery, the
lead singer of ‘90s alternative band
Cracker, took up for musicians by
pointing out the moral and financial implications of White’s “free
culture” attitude.
WHO IS IT AFFECTING?
Those same artistic interests extend
to distributors of music, like local
records stores, which aren’t as
frequently found these days because
of digital piracy and iTunes sales.
If White’s generation continues to
value convenience over the physical
act of purchasing music, “that’s what
would put us out of business,” said
Martin Devaney, manager at Eclipse
Records in St. Paul.
“We cater to the customers who
do care about the physical media,
and we hope to win the other people
over,” Devaney said. “Having a physical artifact and artwork are part of
the listening experience. Coming
from an artistic side of things, they
put a lot of work into the presentation of their music and packaging, as
well as the songs on the record.”
A frequent customer at Eclipse,
Sophie Gleekel, 16, of Woodbury, is
an advocate for record stores, and
more than half her music comes
from them. She worries that won’t
always be the case.
“I feel really sad that there aren’t
as many record stores as there were
when my parents were going to college,” Gleekel said. “I hear a lot about
record stores that my parents loved
going to. I’d be really sad (if a record
store closed). I find a lot of joy going
to places like the Electric Fetus and
Eclipse Records.”
ipad infusion from page 24
game-changing piece of technology.
This requires flexibility, adaptability and open-mindedness on the
part of teachers, Hagen said. They
have to be willing to grant students
the opportunity to explore new ways
of learning—for example, a teenager
could opt to use iMovie for a project
instead of doing a more conventional
book report.
This helps “level the playing field,”
O’Connor said.
Furthermore, some teachers at
CDH have used the ShowMe app so
they can problem solve online with a
student who needs extra assistance.
ShowMe has greatly “improved
teacher-student communication,”
Passman Schmitz said. O’Connor
added that it is a “shared learning
experience” between students and
their educators.
“If a teacher does not understand
something, a student steps right in
and shows him or her,” she said.
A prime example, O’Connor said,
is the student tech help area that was
located in the CDH media center. It
was run by students to assist fellow
schoolmates who were experiencing
difficulties with the iPad.
“We wouldn’t have made it without it,” O’Connor said, “and by mid
year teachers were even going there.” MINIMIZING DISTRACTIONS
A majority of CDH students
asked about the program agreed
that having an iPad at school was
worthwhile. Turning in assignments
became more fluid. Applications
like Notability eliminated the use of
paper in certain classes because it
enabled the high schoolers to receive,
edit and turn in virtual worksheets.
Students were permitted to take
the iPad home for one primary
digital divide from page 25
practices can also be an impediment.
A NECESSARY TOOL
“I think we take for granted that when you have
a computer, you rely on it a lot,” said Maddie
Tate, manager of the St. Paul location of PC’s
for People, a non-profit organization that distributes free and cheap computers to local residents who qualify as low-income. “If you don’t
have that for school work, for job applications,
for everything like that, it definitely makes life
a lot harder.”
PC’s for People operates out of a nondescript building on Marshall Avenue. Often, a
line of customers forms soon after the store
opens at 10 a.m. on weekdays, snaking through
the main room.
The computers that are ready for sale go
to the day’s first customers. Some computers
are available for free, but many patrons choose
to pay extremely discounted rates for newer
models. A laptop sale also takes place on the
The biggest criticism from parents and faculty remains
a student’s ability to access almost any game or potentially
counterproductive app. While the school is looking for ways
to improve on that distraction in year two, Cretin-Derham
Hall will not be backing away from technological
advancements because of it.
reason: to complete homework.
Yet, they weren’t limited to only
that. Essentially any app could be
downloaded, ranging from disparate
gaming hotspots to various social
networking sites.
Klein used the device to listen
to music on his 35-minute drive to
school, as well as to study or play
games in the morning before classes
commenced. Engelbrekt pointed out
that the iPad was only a distraction if
you let it become one.
15th of every month, and these days are even
more chaotic.
“That is pretty much like Black Friday,”
Tate said.
Beyond the main room, the back of the
store is packed with stacks of computer parts.
A technician sits next to the small mountain of
computers waiting to be refurbished.
“It was just recently coming out into the
halls, but we managed to get it back,” Tate said,
sweeping her eyes across the room. Five or six
computers go out on the average day, she said,
many of them to families.
As the presence of technology
continues to increase in schools,
a computer is becoming more and
more of a necessity, and it is often the
minimum a student needs.
That proved true for some.
Eve Crabbe, a CDH senior,
said that she didn’t think the iPad
changed her ability to learn. Instead,
it made her procrastinate more
because of all the distractions that
came with it. Whether someone was
itching to level up on Candy Crush,
check a notification atop the screen
from Twitter, or send an hourly
Snapchat—it was a disturbance at
some level.
“I think it was really hard for
Helping young people gain access to computers is one of the goals of PC’s for People.
In 2010, the organization began a project
called PC’s for Kids. Through this program,
PC’s for People strives to make computers
available to families with a child in elementary school by coordinating with schools and
head start programs.
The business began with a kid who needed
a computer, Tate said, recounting the story
of a suspended student who was able to keep
up with his schoolwork when he was given
access to a computer. As the presence of
technology continues to increase in schools,
a computer is becoming more and more of
a necessity, and it is often the minimum a
student needs.
MORE TO BE DONE
Though providing computers to disadvantaged
people is a significant step in shrinking the
digital divide, these machines are limited in
their usefulness without a working Internet
people not to play games, me
included, and that led to me having
to learn self discipline,” Crabbe said.
“I think that for the most part people
used the iPads appropriately and it
allowed us to see what it would be
like in college with laptops or any
other distraction.”
The biggest criticism from parents and faculty remains a student’s
ability to access almost any game or
potentially counterproductive app.
While the school is looking for ways
to improve on that distraction in year
two, CDH will not be backing away
from technological advancements
because of it, O’Connor said.
For a first run in the ever-growing
race to adapt and stay competitive,
it was an overall success, Passman
Schmitz said. Moreover, what the
future holds could be just another
swipe of a finger away.
connection. To help resolve this problem in
the Twin Cities, PC’s for People began selling
discounted Internet in September of last year.
Three thousand customers have signed up
since, Tate said.
But organizations like Rondo Library
and PC’s for People still have plenty to do in
their efforts to increase teenagers’ access to
technology. A report by the Pew Research
Center found that in the United States, seven
percent of teens do not have a computer
available to them at home. For some teens,
school papers cannot be easily typed, and
communication through social media is not
always an option.
It’s why Patterson has to go to a library
to compete in the competitive job market.
Her friends with technology have an easier
time in school, and Patterson has noticed the
difference.
“Without computers, kids fall behind,”
Tate said.
27
Keys for comfort
The bright light beats
down on my face and I feel miniscule
beads of perspiration begin to form.
My hands shake. I struggle to keep
them still.
I feel hundreds of eyes on me,
every single one piercing through
my mind, judging. I feel the vibrations of my nervous leg jittering with
anticipation. My hands slip off the
keys from the layer of cold sweat on
my hands. I place them back on the
keys, breathe like it’s my last breath,
and begin playing.
It’s a beautiful piece, and I soon
lose myself in it. It’s warm, soft and
wrapped around my heart. But as
I finish, I’m struck by the thought,
“Did I mess up at all?” And at that
very moment my worst nightmare
comes true. One of my fingers slips
and I hit a wrong note.
Suddenly I feel like my whole
world is turning and spinning. A
voice from the past, the one inside
my head, continues to haunt me.
“Danielle, why’d you mess up?
Why don’t you ever prepare better?
You can’t blame anyone else but
yourself.”
I force myself to finish the piece,
but no longer is it a beautiful song.
It is now cold, hard and distant from
my heart.
§
This is usually what happens
when I perform piano.
Self-doubt always creeps in
and causes me to pull away from
Danielle Wong
Eastview High
School
the musical paradise that I almost
reached. Sometimes I think it’s
because my older sister, Katerina, is
such an amazing pianist and I feel
pressure to perform as well as she
does. Other times I think it’s because
I’m afraid to succeed at piano.
I always get scared when I make
those tiny mistakes during my piano
performances. Every minor mistake
is followed by a larger one. They
throw me off, making me terrified
of what could happen at my next
recital. I always feel some flash of
hurt, anger, disappointment and of
course, that torturous doubtful voice
inside my head saying, “What if I had
played it with more feeling? If only
I didn’t have a nervous breakdown
when I played the wrong note!”
I’m also terrified of disappointing my family. Sometimes I dream
about being an amazing pianist,
but then at one of my concerts I do
something terrible and my family
never speaks to me again. I understand that I’m so lucky to have a
supportive family, as not everyone
has a family that cares enough to
cancel all events for that day and
attend a piano competition.
Even when I want to quit piano—
which has happened too many times
Submitted
Plagued with doubt, a teen pianist begins
playing for the right reasons
to count—my parents refuse to let
me because they know I can succeed
and that it will make me a better
person. Their unconditional love and
support makes me feel like I need to
succeed so that the sacrifices they
make for me don’t go to waste.
However, fear of success, and the
fear of not living up to my older sister,
caused me to pull away from piano.
When my piano teacher decided
to close her studio and work at
MacPhail Center For Music, I finally
had an excuse to “teach myself.” But
somehow the idea seemed a lot more
appealing in my head than when I
actually started practicing.
I took a break from piano last
year, and along with my parents,
decided to compose a plan to begin
teaching myself once school ended.
But once again, I got scared and used
the excuse of “being too busy” to
avoid practicing.
§
The recital has finished and I’m
on the couch watching TV. I’m wallowing in remorse and embarrassment at yet another recital gone sour.
My mom comes to sit next to
me. She doesn’t say anything at first.
Instead, she just sits there with her
arm wrapped around me, the sleeve
of her worn out red sweater rubbing
against my silky pink pajamas.
Then she asks quietly, just barely
over the noise of the commercial,
“What happened?” I reluctantly reply
with the only acceptable answer.
The one I know she probably won’t
understand or be happy with, but the
one that holds the truth.
“I don’t know.”
§
Then I had an epiphany. It struck
me that I had been sitting around,
as scared as a mouse of achieving
something that could only help me
grow—not only as a person, but also
in my future career. So I took it upon
myself to go downstairs and face
my mountain. I opened up a book
and began trying out new piano
songs until I found one that looked
particularly difficult. The page was
littered with all kinds of rhythms and
symbols foreign to me.
I was about to flip to the next
Sometimes I dream about being an amazing pianist,
but then at one of my concerts I do something terrible and
my family never speaks to me again. I understand that I’m so
lucky to have a supportive family, as not everyone has
a family that cares enough to cancel all events for
that day and attend a piano competition.
song when I remembered what I’d
just told myself about facing “the
mountain.” I flattened the book out
and winced throughout the first page
of difficult notes. Then I went online
to listen to a performance of the song
and melted from the beauty of it.
I remembered the last recital
when I had messed up a similarly
beautiful song, and I steeled myself
against the past and focused on the
present. Hope and the excitement
of starting something new coursed
through my veins.
I felt myself sit up straighter. I
was going to do this. I was going to
succeed.
And I did.
I’m more than halfway done
with the piece. It’s not just beautiful to listen to, but it’s beautiful for
my fingers to play. I began to play
more often for my mom, telling her,
“Listen to this!” or “Can you come
and listen to me?” We would discuss
my plans for a future career in piano
openly instead of shying away from
the topic.
Soon, I no longer took her feedback as negative, but as constructive.
Katerina even became less of a threat
to me, and instead serves as a source
of inspiration and wisdom. Even my
younger sister, Isabelle, is beginning
to excel at piano, and I hope to teach
her everything that my older sister
taught me.
Now I can perform piano in
front of large audiences without
being paralyzed by self-doubt and
fear. This experience also taught
me not to quit when I haven’t put
my best effort to the struggle, but
mainly that I should learn piano for
myself, not for someone else.
Before, I had to drag myself to the
piano. Now, my fingers can’t wait to
have some fun.
It’s only (gulp)
high school, right?
A struggle with anxiety, perfectionism
puts future plans into focus
Editor’s note: This essay was written as part of ThreeSixty’s July Intro to
Journalism Camp. We’re happy to report that Mina’s first day of high school
was a positive experience.
Colorful textbooks
are stacked neatly in a pile, each
book already labeled and colorcoded. A massive pencil pouch
containing exactly ten pencils sits
next to the pile. A month and a half
remains until I begin my first year
of high school.
Some may think I’m crazy for
already having my school supplies
ready in the middle of July, but I
take a lot of pride in the fact that
I stopped myself from reading all
of my textbooks in addition to my
preparations.
This year, I am determined to
loosen up a bit. This year, my first
day at Wayzata High School will not
be a repeat of that first awful day of
middle school. “Hey look, the sixlet is trying
to follow us,” the towering eighth
grader chortled, pointing me out
to his friend. I gulped and stared
nervously in the opposite direction.
I couldn’t believe this. The first day
of middle school and I was already
hopelessly lost.
“I swear my homeroom should
be right here,” I thought frantically,
staring down a whitewashed wall.
I spun around, a miniature midget
swept away in a sea of jeans-clad
Mina Yuan
Wayzata High
School
legs and furry Uggs, searching for
a single door. Standing four-feetnine inches tall, I was a shrimpy
sixth grader lost in a middle
school so huge it had once been
the high school.
My mind strained to retrace
steps, but to no avail. If anything, I
was even more confused. Just as I
began to think that there was no way
this situation could get any worse,
the speakers buzzed to life.
The first bell of the day rang out,
signaling for all students to get to
class. “I’m dead,” I told myself in
my hazy and dysfunctional brain,
“utterly and completely dead.”
Suddenly, a rough shove from
a seventh grader forced me out of
my daze. “Come on, sixlet! Get to
class. Didn’t you hear first bell?”
My eyes traveled fearfully up the
tall seventh grader and I nodded
hysterically, clutching my books
and sprinting off in a random
direction. I gasped for breath as
I kept running and yelped in my
head, “You have two minutes to get
to class, Mina! Run faster!”
Turning around to spot if the
gargantuan seventh grader was still
watching me, I dashed backwards as
a heavy blanket of terror descended.
My teetering brain could not handle
the additional weight of my fear. I
suddenly wobbled, my backpack tugging me towards the ground. Falling
onto my back, I skidded down the
hall and landed in a pitiful heap at
the foot of a door, looking like the
world’s worst turtle.
I laid there, the oxygen circulating
through my lungs as my head slowly
cleared. Clambering up, I glanced
inside the door I had landed by and
immediately recognized my homeroom teacher. Thanking my lucky
stars, I hurried in.
That frightening experience
occurred nearly three years ago, but
the lesson I learned still remains with
me today. At the time, I was almost
paranoid in my need to always know
where I was going, both physically
and spiritually. I had always been
an extremely competitive person,
constantly driving myself to achieve
higher test scores, to improve my
piano technique. I had been planning
a career for myself since kindergarten, and I was pushed to strive for
it by the one person who expected
more out of me than anyone else.
Myself.
Like infamous chess master
Bobby Fischer, I was determined to
calculate and consider every possible
move. Some people said that my
attitude would lead me to success,
and congratulated my family on the
fact that I didn’t need my parents to
pressure me. Yet also like Fischer, my
drive for perfection began to spoil
and fester in my brain.
Before even beginning a project,
I would read over the instructions
dozens of times, reciting them in my
head as I fearfully imagined every
way that I could possibly mess up. I
was extremely indecisive and often
required my family’s input before
deciding what to eat or what to wear.
My friends and family began to fret
that my attitude would end up harming me, but I never listened to them.
It took years for me to come to the
realization that overthinking things
is not healthy.
I still struggle with my anxiety,
and although it often manifests
itself in mild situations, it is actually
“I swear my homeroom should be right here,” I thought
frantically, staring down a whitewashed wall. I spun around,
a miniature midget swept away in a sea of jeans-clad legs
and furry Uggs, searching for a single door. Standing
four-feet-nine inches tall, I was a shrimpy sixth grader lost
in a middle school so huge it had once been the high school.
think
spot
Recall a time when you were so anxiety-ridden that it
ruined your ability to enjoy what should have been a positive
moment. What did you learn from the experience?
How would you change?
a serious problem for me. When I
was in 7th grade, my social studies
teacher had allotted an entire month
to an enormous research project.
By the end of the first week, I had
already finished and typed out all 16
pages required.
Imagine my horror when my
printer decided to suddenly begin
printing crooked the night before the
report was due. Refusing that any
of my pages look less than perfect,
I immediately began to handwrite
the entire paper, even measuring
out margins and line spacings with
a ruler.
By the time I had finished, it was
almost four in the morning and I
was nearing tears. That day, I was so
exhausted that I almost fell asleep
during an exam.
Unfortunately for me, this was
not the only time my anxiety decided
to rear its head at an inconvenient
time. Every weekend, I spent hours
locked in my room doing homework
or studying, only emerging for meals.
When friends called, I told them I
was busy. When the weather was
nice, I shut the blinds and returned
my attention to books. My strategy
for life was damaging my social life
and mental health, and although I
had realized the effect it was having
on me, it took a lot for me to change
my attitude.
In 7th grade, I joined UMTYMP
(University of Minnesota Talented
Youth Mathematics Program),
an extremely accelerated math
program. Students of UMTYMP
attend a lecture at the University
of Minnesota once a week. Each
lecture covers three weeks of
high school or college math, and
two-hour exams are held three to
four times a semester. UMTYMP’s
accelerated speed forced my
high school continued on page 31
29
Getting technical
Teens sharpen skills at Genesys Works’
summer training program
Summer brings sunny days,
warm weather and—for most high
school students—a break from the
hard work that’s demanded during
an academic year.
However, more than 200
Minnesota students didn’t sit idly
on the beach or blow through their
entire Netflix queue to pass the
time this summer. Instead, they
used the school-free months to
learn what it takes to be a successful professional through an intense
training program.
Originally founded 11 years
ago in Houston, Genesys Works
expanded to the Twin Cities in 2008.
Starting with just 11 students, it now
serves more than 200 students each
year. The goal of the program is to
“prepare students for college and
career success,” said executive director Jeff Tollefson.
After a selection process, which
includes an application and an
interview, upcoming seniors are
hired to engage in an eight-week
high school from page 29
Amolak Singh
Nova Classical
Academy
training workshop throughout the
summer. The intent is to teach them
professional and technical skills
required to succeed in the corporate
world—from dealing with customers
in a businesslike manner to shaking
hands properly to the specifics of
upgrading hardware.
Genesys offers two technical
tracks: Information Technology
(IT) and business operations.
Students select their preference
when they apply.
Habiib Hassan, 17, a senior at
Edina High School, underwent IT
training over the summer.
“I learned so many skills related
to IT and computers, but I also
learned a lot of professional skills,
like how to deal with people,” Hassan
said. He also attests to the intensity
of the training.
“It’s pretty rigorous because of all
the tests and it requires a lot of hard
work. If you’re not interested in IT
and working hard, then you won’t
like the program,” Hassan said.
The training is divided into several units, and after each unit, they
are tested on the material covered.
After they have successfully completed the courses and passed the
finals, the students are “drafted” by
one of 40 companies and corporations for work during the school year.
Some are Fortune 500 companies,
including 3M, Medtronic, Target and
Bremer Financial.
Hassan will be working at
Minneapolis-based Cargill this year
as a software analyst. This is Cargill’s
inaugural year with Genesys.
think
spot
Has your own job or internship influenced a potential career
path? What would you recommend to a fellow teen who hasn’t
been employed yet?
Tollefson said it used to be difficult
to convince companies about the
value of teen internships, but now it’s
becoming easier.
“It used to be harder because of
the misconceptions about what teens
are capable of and what a high school
internship means, but after seeing
the success of our first class, it has
been much easier,” he said.
Students undertake a variety
of jobs, from providing help desk
support to performing hardware
upgrades and PC trouble-shooting. They must dedicate either
their mornings or afternoons,
five days a week, to working at
the company, which means they
must miss some school. However,
students receive three credits for
their employment.
In addition, they earn around
$8 to $10 an hour, and since interns
accumulate an average of 1,000
“I learned so many skills related to IT and computers, but I also learned a lot
of professional skills, like how to deal with people. It’s pretty rigorous because of all the tests
homework load to skyrocket. I slowly came
to the realization that I could not spend an
hour painstakingly tracing a single diagram
onto my paper anymore.
After a month of staying up to complete
my homework, I set up a system for myself.
On the weekends, I would spend two hours
practicing instruments and only three to four
and it requires a lot of hard work. If you’re not interested in IT and working hard,
then you won’t like the program.” —Habiib Hassan
hours on UMTYMP a day. By setting limits on
my time, I learned to finish homework quickly
and efficiently, and found myself with more
leisure time.
I started to enjoy my weekends instead of
using them to perfect my homework. When
friends called, I agreed to go watch a movie
with them. When the sky was blue and there
wasn’t a cloud in sight, I happily stretched out
on the grass and soaked up the sunshine.
By no means was I over my anxiety, but I
was beginning to learn to manage it.
A month and a half away from starting high
school, I have high hopes for myself. Over the
last three years, I have started to loosen up
and stop fretting about every little detail, and
I want to continue this process in high school.
While I still aspire to attend an Ivy League
hours, students can earn upwards of
$9,000 in their senior year. According
to Tollefson, the cash and experience
is invaluable to students, especially
ones from low-income families.
“We target anyone that’s really
motivated since this is a huge commitment of time, anyone willing to
put the effort in to be successful at a
professional and technical level. But
we especially target students who
come from financially challenged
families,” he said.
Ninety-six percent of Genesys
Works’ interns are students of color,
and Tollefson thinks that the program is succeeding at bridging the
significant achievement gap.
While Tollefson hopes to grow
and expand to ensure more students
are on track for successful college
and professional careers, the success
of Genesys Works has been staggering. Their website is loaded with success stories of students who are now
taking advantage of excellent career
opportunities post-college.
Since the first summer training
five years ago, 97 percent of Genesys
students have gone to college, and
more than 80 percent have either
graduated or are still in college.
college and graduate at the top of my class, I
would also like to broaden my horizons and
enjoy being a teenager.
I want the whole high school experience: SAT’s, ACT’s, Homecoming, Prom. I
am going to take high school one challenge
at a time, and in four years, perhaps that
first day of sixth grade will be nothing but a
distant memory.
31
"Ê79-Ê-
“Don’t play
with your
food.”
TWIN CITIES’
TEENS
Be part of the launch of ProtectMyRep, a
new online tool that will help you:
See what your Facebook says about you.
Learn who’s watching you online.
Test your social media knowledge.
Use social media to build your image.
Ê-Ê "7
You could get
paid for it?
Become Part of Our Team
,-*
/ÊUÊ/7",ÊUÊ
"6/"
UÊiÝLiÊ-Vi`ÕiÃ
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i}i
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Go to LundsandByerlys.com and click “ABOUT US.”
Select “Careers”and click “View positions and apply.”
Lund Food Holdings, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer
and a Drug-Free Workplace.
FREE
Thursday, Sept. 26
drawstring bag
4-5:30 p.m.
Minneapolis Central Library for the first 50
participants
300 Nicollet Mall
At the event, you will:
Learn how
employers and
colleges use
social media to
judge applicants.
Learn how to
repair a
damaged online
reputation.
Get personal
feedback on
your Facebook
profile.
Free and open to any teen,
but let us know if you plan on coming at
www.threesixtyjournalism.org/ProtectMyRep
or contact Lynda McDonnell at
[email protected]

The technology ISSue

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