Issue 3, 2012 by the Epic

BY EESHA KHARE & SHOUVIK MANI

espite being too young to vote, many Lynbrook students participated in the 2012 presidential elections on Nov. 6 by organizing and preparing events to increase political awareness, voicing their opinions and encouraging others to vote. Newly re-elected President Barack Obama won a second term with over 270 electoral votes. Government classes were actively involved in teaching students about the election process and each candidate. Students in the AP U.S. Government and Politics classes recently completed projects in which they had to organize a campaign for the two candidates. Each student was assigned to Mitt Romney or Obama and worked to plan out the details of the campaigns in Ohio and Florida, two key battleground states, by developing media advertisements targeted at specific areas. Senior Louise Zhou, for instance, was in charge of researching the political and social conditions in Ohio. She became appreciative of the many factors that election campaigns must focus on to influence a voter’s decision. With this enhanced understanding, Zhou was able to evaluate the elections through a completely different perspective. Senior Soumya Kandukuri and Media

Teacher Angela Estrella also organized a potluck to watch the presidential debate on Oct. 22 to raise political awareness among students. The event included a live Twitter feed, text-to-poll system and presentations to inform students about major issues before the debate. “It is so important for us to share our opinion and not take that right for granted,” said Kandukuri. “There are so many people around the world fighting for that right.” Inspired by the concept of grassroots campaigning, Kandukuri volunteered for the Obama campaign over the summer. She attributed Obama’s victory to his ability to mobilize his supporters and bring them out to the polls and was glad that she was able to contribute to his success. “The reason why Obama’s campaign was so successful was because it was a local effort,” she said. “It was so homegrown that it made you feel like you were part of the process. The Obama campaign was so much more personal.” Junior Sid Malladi is another example of a student who actively worked to encourage others to vote. As a part of the My Vote Our Future voter outreach program, he worked

with local community and educational organizations to register voters from underrepresented groups, such as youth and minorities. Malladi said he had noticed that Lynbrook students were more apathetic toward casting the vote. “Lynbrook students are aware but not active in the elections,” he said. “When I look at other schools outside of our district, I see that people are more concerned about education policy and minimum wage.” Because of this indifference, Malladi had to work hard to convince potential voters of the benefits of voting such as civic duty and the ability to have a say in the government. On a more personal scale, senior Nikitha Adira personally encouraged her 18-year-old friends to vote in the elections. “It’s important to know the government that surrounds you and the policies that are being implemented,” she said. “If you choose not to know about your president then you’re doing an injustice to yourself.” Although Adira is 18-years-old, she does not hold U.S. citizenship but is looking forward to vote when she is granted citizenship. “I want to be an influence toward who will be the next president,” she said. “I want to be able to know that I put my vote in for the per-

son who will be taking decisions for the society.” While each candidate might have had a different vision for the country’s future, students such as junior Anirudh Velamuri d i d not consider either of the candidates as an ideal choice. Classifying Obama as “the better of two compromises,” Velamuri felt that nothing changed with this election. Velamuri viewed the greatest obstacle to United States politics as partisanship and said that people should ensure the nation’s leader has “a vested interest in our nation,” and not just in individual party interests. He believes that continued bipartisanship will prevent progress for the next four years. “The American people should not expect much to be honest,” Velamuri said. “Hoping for cooperation between the parties is too idealistic.” The elections prompted many students to voice their opinions and learn about American politics. Many such as Kandukuri and Malladi even benefited from being directly involved with the election process. “The whole election process has been really refreshing,” explained Kandukuri. “It has given me even more faith in what I believe in.”

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NEWS SECTION

Potential dance policy to combat inappropriate dancing BY KATHY JANG & LAUREN TAI

UHSD has been discussing new methods over the past few weeks of preventing inappropriate behavior to combat provocative dancing during schoolheld functions. Although types of dancing commonly known to students as freaking or grinding are considered common among high school students today, the Lynbrook administration became more invested in this specific manner of dancing after hearing the term “freshman rape dance” among students and teacher complaints. The term “freshman rape dance” has long been used to describe the Welcome Back Dance, in which freshmen are submerged into their first high school dance, which has a very different dance culture from those of middle school dances. “I think that title of the tradition is just

a dumb name that students use as a joke,” junior Selin Toprak said. “Most students find it funny, and if it really is offensive to some, then they just shouldn’t go to the dance.” Although the student-made title does not have any literal meaning, Davidson said, “The word rape—that’s frightening. There’s a concern expressed by a lot of parents wondering what ‘freshman rape dance’ is.” Past dances have garnered very negative feedback from chaperoning teachers, and very few are willing to chaperone anymore due to the styles of dancing. “As teachers, we tend to think of our students as our children and seeing them dance in this very inappropriate manner makes me feel morally uncomfortable,” said English teacher Connie Willson. “If parents saw what their children were doing, they would probably be upset at us for not stopping it.” The school is not so much concerned

about profits earned from hosting dances in this discussion. “We host dances because we want [the students] to have fun,” Davidson said. “It’s supposed to be an event that every student wants to get involved in and where they can feel healthy and safe.” Even though the potential changes are directed to make school dances more fun, many students feel that such a policy would do the opposite. Toprak said, “I think it’s really unfair that admin are stepping in because I really don’t think the way kids dance, especially at Lynbrook, is that extreme. I think as students we should be able to have a good time and dance how we’d like.” There will be a series of meetings held in November in order to determine the best decision to make at this point. The administration also plans on discussing this topic with the ASB officers.

Field Hockey • pg. 13