FASHION REFORM 12 GETTING INKED 38

DRINKING GAMES 43

+SENIOR PULL-OUT SECTION 13

NEW BEGINNINGs

the communicator

CommuNIty HIGHoCtoBER 26, 2011

VolumE 27 • EdItIoN 1

CHS CLUBS 6TANTRE FARMS 13

MARk’S CARTS 16

C

02 the communicator table of contents

jord

an s

iden

pho

to

TOCCoNtENts

funding woes 06Tantré farms grows and sells fresh, organic produce every week at the Farmers Market.

Community’s Ultimate Frisbee team faces a year of rebuild-ing and reteaching.

A look at Mark’s Carts, which offers a unique downtown dining experience.Junior Sarah Zimmerman spent a semester in Panama last year.

After focusing on her musical career for eight years, Teng decided to pursue a dual degree at the U-M.

Jetty rae 10

mock trial nationals 06 link 10

Vienna teng 23

Panama exchange14

Editors-In Chief Mari CohenKerry FingerleJulia KortbergJordan Siden

Art DirectorColleen O’Brien

Photo DirectorCooper DePriest

Constants EditorEli Sugerman

A&E EditorErez Levin

Sports EditorZach Shaw

Production CoordinatorJulia DeVarti

StaffMatt BuscheStephen ChangRuthie GraffHannah KingAbby KleinhekselClare LaurerCasey MacDonaldJames MackinAdam MannheimNick MargolisSacha Moravy-PenchanskyBrienne O’DonnellLeon PescadorNate Porter

Gabriela RosalesRyan SheaJeremy SimonCharlotte SteeleEliza SteinKatie TaubGabby ThompsonLukas TrierweilerMargaret Whittier-Ferguson

AdvisorTracy Rosewarne

Cover PhotosColleen O’Brien

Back Cover IllustrationJames Mackin

the communicator staff

Dear Community, “It’s kind of incredible, really.” Those few words, spoken by Quinn Strassel, are words that seem to emanate through the hallways of Community High School. They bounce off the shiny waxed floors of the first day of classes, before the waves of students enter confidently through the double doors into their beloved school after the Opening Day Cer-emony. It’s kind of incredible, really, that even in the dreariest of outlooks last year, the whole school saw teachers Strassel, Chloe Root and Laurel Landrum become full-time teachers in our school. We too, welcome the newest addition to our staff, Sarah Roldan. It’s kind of incredible that in our four years at this school we have seen so many of our teachers pink slipped, our class sizes increased, our electives lost, our janitors laid off, and yet, we still have so many reasons to be proud as Rainbow Zebras. We can be proud of the achievements our fellow students accomplish each and every day in the floors of this building. We can be proud of the hard work and passion our staff brings to the school; they deserve the same from us in return. The theme of this years Opening Day was inspiration, and here on the Communicator staff we hope that no matter what may rain down on our small school, you continue to remain inspired to soak in each and every opportunity this school provides. But better yet, to seek out that opportunity where the school cannot, and continue to expand your mind and your horizons. After all, what more can be asked of us when it’s kind of incredible, really, that we are only at this school because of the luck of a draw.

Jordan Siden, Kerry Fingerle, Julia Kortberg, Mari Cohen

letter from the editors

A look inside Corey Fellabaum’s Liberty in North Korea chapter.

ultimate frisbee24

mark’s carts16

tantre farms13

03shorts the communicator

shorts

JudItH dEWoskIN CaN BE fouNd IN

11 of tHE 17 school Photos on the second floor

I have recently noticed myself noticing dogs.What do you think this means?-Concerned Enthusiast

My Dearest Concerned Enthusiast,As a matter of fact, I was just mulling over this very issue with a bit of leftover bratwurst and warm candlelight the other night. Noticing dogs is a common symptom of “enlarged spleen” disease, which of-ten develops in mammals and arthropods in their respective middle ages. This means trouble. My brother Grünter explained it to me one fine winter’s day as we skied down the Matterhorn backwards. He said, “Dünbar, when one notices dogs, this means trouble.” Use this new knowledge wisely, young one.

Yours as always,Dünbar

dear

“I would make a burial for it and name

it Damian.”

-alex ford, freshman

“I’d give it mouth to mouth.”

-courtney kiley, teacher

“I would scream and run away.”

-alex held, freshman

“Cat funeral at lunch.”

-alia Persico-shammas, senior

“Immediately collect it in a box and

report it to Dean Jen. Then get to

the bottom of it and investigate.”

-christina hicks, secretary

“Go down to the band room and

hide it in one of the instruments.”

-sam gillies, junior

“I would put it in someone’s locker.”

-raven eaddy, freshman

“I would eat it.”

-hannon hylkema, sophomore

“I would waltz with it.”

-logan shayna, sophomore

“I would bring it home and feed

it to the dogs in my dog walking

business.”

-

alex meingast, junior.

fastFACT

colleen o’brien illustration

james mackin illustration

colleen o’brien illustration

Aproximately 2% of Community

students and faculty answer the thought

provoking and strangely specific ques-

tion, “What would you do if you found a

dead cat on the second floor?”

04 the communicator news

Chicago- based satiri-

cal newspaper The Onion

hit newsstands throughout Ann

Arbor late this sum-mer. The A.V. Club came

along as its sister publication, which is the non-fiction arts

and entertainment section of The Onion. The A.V. Club re-

ports real coverage of Ann Arbor entertainment with the same brand

of sarcasm, but now as locally-pro-duced fare.

Production and distribution of the tabloid is under the control of Bopper Media, Inc., founded by University of

Michigan graduate Bobby Mitchell. He was delighted to be able to return to Ann Arbor

as the president of The Onion Ann Arbor. The weekly paper was first distributed on the campus of University of Wiscon-sin-Madison as a student publication in the late 1980s, comparable to University of Michigan’s own The Every Three Weekly and The Gargoyle humor rags. Currently,

The Onion occupies offices in 14 cities in the United States. Mitchell ex-

plained in an interview how The Onion selects a new city:

“It’s not an exact science, but The Onion knows

its demographics pretty well and

tries to find

towns that match [them] as closely

as possible.” Why the venture to Ann Arbor? “The demographics of Ann Arbor fit [ours] very closely,” Mitchell said. “It’s a col-lege town, and the readers have to be rela-tively intelligent to understand the humor.” He also noted that the similarities between Madison and Ann Arbor made the pursuit a no-brainer. “Plus, I personally have a strong affinity towards Ann Arbor.” he said. Each weekly publication features a compilation of lampooning international and national news stories, sports features, and comics, as well as the The A.V. Club’s chapter, which includes separate sections for national and local pop culture. As the content in the weekly paper hardly skims the surface of what The Onion has to offer, all of the articles in the publication and the rest of their catalogue can be found on their respective websites, www.theonion.com and www.annarbor.avclub.com. They are updated daily with the most recent content. The A.V. Club Ann Arbor’s calendar con-denses a week’s worth of happenings into a convenient two-page spread which contains concert listings, film screenings and show-times, art and culture events, interviews with local artists, and book reviews. The A.V. Club is also keeping an eye on the Detroit area to keep Ann Arbor informed of any other exciting events in the metro-area. The Red Meat comic, a list of weekly events at the Ann Arbor District Library, and A.V. Club crossword are all exclusive features in each edition. The Onion has established itself success-fully with local readers and Community High students. CHS sophomore and loyal Onion reader Graham Gerdes regularly

picks up a paper from the nearby newsstands at Kerrytown and the

People’s Food Co-op.

“I’ve been reading The Onion since fifth grade,” said Gerdes, “I haven’t really read The A.V. Club, but I did know that it was the sister publication,” he explained. Gerdes also mentioned that The A.V. Club could help local artists and businesses get their names out. Gerdes said that although “it’s weird that the online [source] is updated daily and the paper is just a compilation of the past week’s articles,” he feels the publication has executed the paper well in their choice of stories that they publish. Along with distributing over 20,000 newspa-pers weekly, The Onion created two office jobs, four internships, and multiple freelance opportu-nities in Ann Arbor. A local distribution and delivery company being used by the tabloid has also added staff to manage the project of delivering the papers to over 50 different newsstands at and around popular coffee shops, businesses, and libraries on and off campus. The publication is looking to expand, both in Ann Arbor by adding more jobs at its office and beyond, “pos-sibly to Ypsilanti and Detroit,” Mitchell said.“But right now our main focus is solidifying our place in Ann Arbor and reaching out to as many readers as possible.” C

ann arbor, meet the onionsATIrICAl neWspAper The onIon mAkes An AppeArAnCe In Ann Arbor ThIs fAll. Ann Arbor InTroDuCes “AmerICA’s fInesT neWs sourCe” AnD ITs loCAl ArTs AnD enTerTAInmenT seCTIon, The A.v. Club. charlotte steelebrienne o’donnell illustration

03feature the communicator

This semester, senior Vittoria Meloni is finally fulfilling her middle school dream of travel-ing from her hometown of

Milan, Italy to the United States. Meloni first considered a visit to the United States when she began researching exchange programs at her high school in Italy. She and her best friend found a good program and decided to travel to the United States together. While Meloni’s friend was placed in Minne-

sota, Meloni soon found herself in Ann Arbor, Michigan: Meloni attempted to explain the major cultural differences between the United States and Italy. “The people in the United States are more relaxed and they don’t care about the way you dress or the way you do things. In Italy, especially with teenag-ers, it is all about the way you dress, all about what these people are wearing or what they said and judging them. And here everyone is just free to do what-ever they want and no one is judging them for what they want to do.” The American high school experience is almost surreal for Meloni. When she attended Huron’s homecoming, she was shocked. “It is like something that you imagine when you think about the teenager highschool life in the US,” said Meloni. “People in Italy don’t believe that lockers exist for real because we do not have them, and like the football matches and dances, which is crazy because we don’t have them, so people who do exchanges say that they are liv-

ing in television because we don’t have that kind of stuff.” While she has learned a lot about the U.S., Meloni has also learned to appreciate a lot about Italy. “There are some things about my country that I never really liked and now when you are here there are things that you like, because staying away, I realize that there are some things about my country that I really miss, that we don’t have here, like all the ancient things,” said Meloni.

“It hasn’t changed my mind about the U.S., but it has changed my opinion on my country.” Meloni misses her high school in Italy. Although she likes all her classes here, she misses classes like Ancient Greek and and Latin. One of the hardest adjustments for Meloni is leaving her friends behind in Italy. “When people write you it is nice because they say that they miss you and tell you what is going on but it also means that they are getting by without you, so I have had some bad days but what you have to do is you just have to stop caring about what is going on at home and focus on the life that you are living here.” said Meloni. During the summer, being homesick was not a problem for Meloni. How-ever, as time went on she began to miss Italy more. It was difficult for Meloni to start school away from all her friends in Italy. “When school started I got more homesick because it is real life and you know that you are missing things at home,” said Meloni. “Being in the

middle of two lives trying to live both will be the hardest part.” As Meloni has been away from her hometown for so long, she has been forced to become more indepen-dent. “That is one of the reasons I wanted to do an exchange because after two months, I love my family and I miss them, but I can deal with being away from them, which is good because soon I will go to university where I might have to live on my own and now I know that I can do it.”

across the worldvITTorIA melonI TrAveleD 4,700 mIles from mIlAn, ITAly To lIve, leArn, AnD experIenCe A neW CulTure As An exChAnGe sTuDenT AT CommunITy hIGh sChool.

abby kleinheksel & ruthilah graffgabby thompson illustration

“being in the middle of both lives trying to live both will be the hardest part.”

C

sponsor: Judith DeWoskinstudent leader: Clare JacobsonWhen they meet: Monthly Friday meetings dur-ing lunch in Room 303What they do: They celebrate and make pre-sentations about Asian food, culture, events and political concerns.Goals: They want to bond with others who have similar roots in two different cultures and to cre-ate awareness.

ASUAsian Student Union

BSUBlack Student Union

sponsor: Janelle JohnsonWhen they meet: Every other Tuesday during lunch in Room 212What they do: They organize and plan events such as Soul Food Friday, Black History Month, and Valentines Day. They are now preparing to host the Forum Talent Show on November 1st. Goals: They wish to increase membership and they encourage the student body to participate and be active.

QSA sponsor: Chloe Root

student leaders: Max Bonilla, Sonny Spears, Charlotte WolfWhen they meet: Every Monday

during lunch in Room 307What they do: They educate students about queer issues and create a safe and supportive place for LGBTQ youth. They also address is-sues in our school. Goals: They hope to get more involved with activism, outreach to more allies in the group outside of school, and keep as many people in the school as comfortable as possible.

Depression Awareness Group

sponsor: Robbie Stapleton When they meet: Every Thursdays during lunch in Bodley HallWhat they do: They learn about mental health, and they raise awareness, decrease stigma, and provide resources to students.Goals: To raise awareness and decrease stigma.

Hippie Chupacabrasstudent leaders: Oliver Hill and Jonas Gear-hart-HallWhen they meet: Twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays after forum until 4:30/5 on the back lawnWhat they do: They learn and practice Frisbee. They play games about once a month.Goals: They want every player to competently throw a forehand and backhand. They also hope for everyone to know the structure and strate-gies of Ultimate Frisbee.

Community High Athletic Tribesponsor: Robbie Stapletonstudent leader: Eliza SteinWhen they meet: Every other Wednesday in Bodley HallWhat they do: The athletes from all schools come together to eat lunch together, support/encourage each other and have fun. They aslo talk about their sports’ seasons, records and personal accomplishments. CHAT also con-ducts a major fundraiser each year.Goals: They want to bring in athlete guest speakers from the area. They will also conduct the annual Strong kid’s Campaign and plan an outing in the Spring together.

Book Clubleaders: Nat Powellstudent leaders: Jake Becker and kaylona HoldenWhen they meet: Every third Thursday of the month at lunch in the Library What they do: They share and promote reading, dis-cuss books, and recommend similar books/authors Goals: They wish to make reading a life long enter-taining endeavor.

Community Ensemble Theatersponsor: Quinn Strassel student leaders: Jessica Shapiro, Etsie Arruda, Gabrielle Vuylsteke, Laura Waltje, Gabby Thompson, and Briana O’NealWhen they meet: Every day after school in the Craft Theater What they do: They construct and perform plays. CET makes sure every student who wants access to theaer has the opportunity. Goals: They want diverse types of shows and students. CET also wants to keep shows energetic and fun.

sponsor: Courtney kileystudent leader: Melanie LangaWhen they meet: Every Monday during lunch in Room 318What they do: They fulfill the ecology void at CHS and are currently working on a rain garden. They also raise salmon in the classroom, read science articles about current events, and go on fun sience field trips. Goals: They wish to go on a canoe trip, a winter hike, and to the Natural History Museum. They also want to expand the salmon project to el-ementary kids to educate them.Who can join: Students who like science and want to improve Ann Arbor by making it more environmentally friendly

sponsor: Chloe Rootfounders: Fauster kitchens and Dylan Croasdill When they meet: Every Tuesday during lunch in Room 307What they do: They provide a bridge between different activism communities, create aware-ness about community issues, and give students the opportunity to learn more about activism. Goals: They wish to take more action in our school, work, and local community. They want to reintroduce radicalism and show that youth can be an effective radical force.Who can join: Anyone who is interested in activ-ism and politics.

youth activist training Network

ECO CLUB

06 the communicator school news

ch

s c

lub

sFrench Clubleaders: Danelle MosherWhen they meet: TBDPurpose: They prepare for the trip to France and learn about French culture. They also write to their home-stays, keep students up to date with current slang, and cook French food and watch French films. Members do not need to go on the French trip. Goals: To prepare students for the trip and to prepare others to get by in France easily.

mock trialsponsor: Chloe RootWhen they meet: After school, in Room 307. Meeting frequency increases throughout the semester. What they do: Students try out for different case positions and then the group simulates a legal case. They compete against other teams. Goals: They wish to keep up the level of rigor and engagement that Cheryl Grace had. They also want to keep as many people involved at the same intensity.Who can join: Anyone; there is room for differ-ent levels of involvement.

Game Club

sponsor: Nat Powellstudent leaders: Hank Bedard and Dillon Gilbert Hakken When they meet: Every Thursday from 2:30-4:30What they do: They provide an outlet for socializing and friendly competition. They hang out and play video games such as Halo and Wii system games. Students are welcome to bring in their own games and systems.Goals: They look forward to another Game Night, a fundraiser to raise money for a charity. Game Club would also like more girl meme-bers.

Poetry Club

sponsors: Ellen Stone student leaders: kerry Fingerle, Mari Cohen, Hind Omar, and Julia DeVartiWhen they meet: Every Wednesday during lunch in room 304What they do: They write, analyze, critique and appreciate poetry together. They also support poets and prepare for performing. You do not have to write poetry to be a member. Goals: To create energy throughout CHS about writing poetry and to do a fall reading and shorts on the ledge.

sponsor: Cindy Haidu-Banksstudent leader: Corey FellabaumWhen they meet: Every Friday during lunch in Room 305What they do: They raise awareness and inform about the lack of human rights in North korea.Goals: To gain membership and to raise $2500 to save a North korean refugee.Visit the club’s website at: www.wix.com/communityhighlinkcha/home

Forum Councilsponsor: Steve Coronstudent leaders: Emma Share, Shadi Ahmadmehrabi, and Hind OmarWhen they meet: Every other Thursday during lunch in Room 113What they do: They discuss and bring student issues to administra-tion. They also plan student events such as volunteering as a school and Multi Culti. It’s a place where students can propose to sanction, stage, and implement an event.Goals: Carve out the identity of Forum Council.

1. Define the purpose of the club.

2. Find an adviser who will commit to attending all

meetings for liability.

3. The club has to be financially self supporting.

4. The club must follows district/federal rules (has to be open to every

student).

5. Email Dean Jen for her approval.

Want to start your own club

Liberty in North korea

julia kortberg & gabby rosalesbrienne o’donnell illustration

07school news the communicator

from the ground up

“We went to the school district and pitched our plans and basically they said that they would really like to implement some of our ideas.”

ruthie graff illustration

The eColoGy Club, AlonG WITh A Top ArChITeCTure fIrm, Is TAkInG on A neW proJeCT: mAkInG CommunITy hIGh A Greener sChool

08 the communicator feature

extreme Makeover: Back Lawn Edition. When students came back to school this year they could see the beginnings of

what will be a native rain garden and a larger basketball court on school grounds. The rain garden will be located on the southwest corner of the lawn. Its purpose is two-fold: to beautify the grounds and to filter the run-off from the campus. “What a rain garden does is it catches the water that runs off the parking lot and also the field and prevents it from going into the storm drains and ultimately the Huron River by having plants that can live in drought situations and wet situations…their roots soak up a lot of the water,” said science teacher Courtney Kiley, who worked with the Ecology Club on plans for the garden. Improving the quality of run-off coming from Community is of increased importance because of the increase in size of the blacktop used as a basketball court. A larger area of

impervious concrete means more dirty runoff that needs to be cleaned. The rain garden will counteract this extra pollution and reduce CHS’s impact on the local environment. “[The goal was to] take our con-crete slab and add to it to create a half

basketball court,” said Dean Jen Hein. While the new part of the court is cur-rently unusable because of the place-ment of the basketball hoop, Hein is hopeful that this problem will soon be remedied. “I did have a conversation with an ad-ministrator from buildings and grounds

and… I’m going to have the basketball hoop moved to the end of the new court so that when kids go to dunk the ball they don’t run into the fence,” she said. Beyond simply creating the garden and basketball court, the project on

the back lawn will require a further step. Portions of the back lawn near the garden have been be re-graded so that they drain into the garden rather than onto the sidewalks or parking lot. Furthermore, there will be a series of small check dams to slow the water draining off the basketball court so that

it doesn’t damage the rain garden. While students have been eagerly awaiting the expansion of the basket-ball court, the expanded blacktop has led to some unexpected advantages for students. “Whenever it’s nice out I eat there,” said CHS sophomore Isabel Sandweiss. “I really like it. It’s nice because when the grass is wet or when it’s a nice day it’s nice to have a place to sit where you don’t get wet but you can still enjoy the weather.” Because the basketball hoop has re-mained in its previous position, instead of being moved to one end of the new asphalt that was put in during the summer, those eating lunch on the new cement aren’t in the way of the game. “The basketballs don’t hit you because there is that side area,” said Sandweiss. The planning for these improvements began last year when the Ecology Club worked with employees of the JJR Landscape Architecture firm to create a plan to make the campus grounds more environmentally friendly. Last spring,

melanie langa

70% of Pollution in streams

is runoff from yards.

rain gardens significantly

reduce this number

if a rain garden is made correctly, water will not stay in it for more than 24 hours

09feature the communicator

once these plans were completed, they were presented to the district for consideration. “We went to the school district and pitched our plans and basi-cally they said that they would really like to implement some of those ideas overtime with the first step being put-ting in a rain garden out by the fence,” said Kiley. Because the original plans presented changes for the entire campus, not just individual locations around the school, it was not economically or practically feasible to implement them all at once. However, it is possible that other facets of the plan could become reality in the not so distant future. Once it was clear that more detailed cost estimates were determined district administration approved the rain garden and basket-ball court expansion. “The district was inspired by what the Ecology Club had suggested so the district met with their architects and had the plans revised,” said Hein. This summer, the district added additional space next to the existing

basketball court and designated an area for the rain garden. The Ecology Club will continue work on the rain garden throughout the fall with the hopes of having it completed before winter be-gins. “We need to have a proper mix of planting soil which is sand and potting soil and compost so that water can in-filtrate through that soil…and some of the area needs to be re-graded so that it actually drains into the rain garden,” said Kiley. The necessary re-grading took place during Forum Day. On Sunday, Octo-ber 2nd, the Ecology club began plant-ing the garden. Most of the plants used in the garden were purchased from a local native plant supplier. However a portion of the other plants in the rain garden came from the gardens of CHS families who were willing to divide their plants and help give part to the new garden. Once the planting is finished the garden should not require very much maintenance. This is one of the many advantages to native plants that can

survive in varied conditions from drought to flood without serious prob-lems. “We’re going to have to figure out a system of watering every other day but basically rain gardens are good because in the spring they don’t need a lot of maintenance but we’d have to weed a little bit,” said Kiley. This project will be funded by a combination of district bond money and donations from Community High’s neighbor Zingerman’s Delicatessen. Community is also able to do what Hein called “very minimal landscaping” with further funds allocated by the dis-trict. These funds will be significantly less than the various donations, but will be enough to make a dent in the many projects that the Ecology Club hopes to accomplish throughout the year. This will most likely involve deal-ing with the railroad tie steps near the northeast corner of the building that are breaking down. “We want to make sure that we keep the campus safe and that we don’t have soil erosion,” said Hein.

Because of the financial strain the district is currently under, money for further improvements proposed by the Ecology Club will most likely come from outside sources if they are to hap-pen soon. “School districts don’t have the funds any longer to make that kind of financial commitment to the outside of a campus but first impressions do make a difference,” said Hein. If the rain garden is a success, the Ecology Club will be looking for fur-ther funding in the form of donations or grants to continue improving the look and the sustainability of Commu-nity High’s campus. Hein recognizes the difficulty in procuring funding but is optimistic that improvements can and absolutely will be made. “This is going to be a project over time. We’re going to ask all part of our community to be involved: students, parents, staff, business own-ers, and other individuals in Ann Arbor who may be willing to work with us to develop our campus,” she said. C

Green school An overhead view of CHS and the possible new green technology that the Ecology club soon hopes to implement with help and funding from the district. This map was produced by JJR Landscape Architcture firm.

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10 the communicator feature 11feature the communicator

A typical Friday lunch period at Community High sees students sitting at the tables in the hallway, soaking up the

warmth of Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea across the street, trickling through the doors of nearby restaurants, or traversing the back lawn. There is usu-ally laughter on Fridays, brought on by relief and anticipation as another week comes to a close. But senior Corey Fellabaum chooses to spend his Friday lunches focusing on a place far beyond the back lawn, and is willing to give up Friday lunch laugh-ter to do so. Fellabaum and the other members of the Community High Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) chapter spend the lunch period discussing the human rights situation in North Korea and working to make a change. Fellabaum founded the CHS LiNK chapter in February 2011 after rep-resentatives from the national LiNK group visited CHS in the fall. The LiNK representatives, who showed a video and shared information about North Korea, were looking for some-one to start a chapter at CHS. Fella-baum, who was adopted from South Korea, was up to the task. “I had a relationship with the Koreas because I was born in South Korea, and I just felt that it’s really wrong that they are being tortured and that kind of stuff … I wanted to do something and then I just started a chapter,” Fellabaum said. Before last November’s visit from the LiNK representatives, Fellabaum knew that people in North Korea lacked

many human rights, but was unaware of the specifics. He now knows how dire the situation really is. North Korean citizens do not have freedom of speech, press, assembly or association. Criticism of the govern-ment is prohibited. Political prisoners are kept in concentration camps, where human rights violations, including tor-ture, are routine, and many prisoners do not survive. Furthermore, North Korea is also experiencing a food crisis, due to government neglect, previous natural disasters, and a lack of arable land. Ac-cording to the LiNK Global website, 33 percent of the North Korean popula-tion is currently undernourished, and 23 percent of children under the age of five are underweight. The country relies heavily on international food aid. LiNK was founded in 2004 with the mission to help North Korean refugees, raise awareness about the situation in North Korea, and advocate for North Korean citizens. Since then, LiNK has established underground shelters in China and Southeast Asia to help refugees fleeing North Korea, who could face torture or death if captured. However, it costs money to rescue refu gees. That’s where the LiNK chapters come in. The LiNK chapters, such as Fellabaum’s at CHS, spread the word about North Korea and raise money to rescue refugees. Fellabaum explained that the price to save one refugee is $2,500, which pro-vides for transportation and amenities. The CHS LiNK chapter got started last year with a bottle drive fundraiser that raised around $35. Fellabaum plans to

continue fundraising efforts this year, and is optimistic about the group for the 2011-2012 school year. “I think that it will a better chapter this year because we started only the winter semester last year, and we didn’t have a full year to get people,” he said. The group currently has five or six members that attend meetings regu-larly. Though Fellabaum hopes that more people will join, he feels that the current number of members is a good start. “I think it’s good … it’s not just like one person,” he said. Fellabaum is the group’s president as well as its founder. Though he is aided by the other group members and by the staff adviser, Social Studies teacher Cindy Haidu-Banks, Fellabaum takes on a lot of the responsibility of leading and organizing the group. One of the most difficult things that Fellabaum has to do is deal with the heavy subject matter, which can be an obstacle to adding members and spreading awareness. “There are some pictures that are really sad and sometimes some disturbing photos, like someone being tortured or some-thing like that, that some people can’t handle,” he said. Fellabaum does not want to force anyone to see the images, and believes that it is a matter of per-sonal choice. However, for Fellabaum, the benefits of leading the Community High LiNK chapter far outweigh the challenges. Fellabaum has been able to improve his leadership skills, and working on the LiNK chapter has changed his outlook on the world. “Now I can see that there

are other people that are suffering…we Americans have a good life and other people don’t,” he said. Furthermore, Fellabaum has been able to help a place that he has a personal connection to. Though he was a baby when adopted from South Korea, Fellabaum still feels that he has a relation to the Koreas. “When the Korean War happened, it split families and friends and that kind of stuff. And it kind of does touch me a little bit, because I don’t know if I have family in North Korea. I don’t know,” he said. Fellabaum believes that the LiNK chapter’s message has also had a posi-tive effect on the CHS student body. “A lot of people are now talking and say-ing ‘How is your LiNK chapter going?’ and they ask me some questions about North Korea…it’s made people more open to seeing some other views, like the pictures,” he said. The successes of leading the chapter have inspired Fellabaum to continue working with LiNK after he gradu-ates from CHS. He currently plans to attend Washtenaw Community College and later transfer to Ball State Univer-sity, and he wants to look into starting LiNK chapters at both institutions. College, however, is a year away. For now, Fellabaum is focused on the up-coming year of fundraising and spread-ing the word for the Community High LiNK chapter. He hopes to inspire the student body with his message: “People in North Korea are suffering, and they need help from you, and we are a glob-ally united people that are able to help other people.” C

ThrouGh hIs lIberTy In norTh koreA ChApTer, senIor Corey fellAbAum hopes To spreAD The WorD AbouT The humAn rIGhTs CrIsIs In norTh koreA AnD mAke A ChAnGe

mari cohen

Community High School Sci-ence teacher Courtney Kiley often gets mistaken for a student. For this reason,

Kiley decided that one of her profes-sional goals was to bring class back to the classroom. “I got pretty casually dressed last year when I was pregnant…wearing sweats and stuff to school, so I [am really trying] to make an effort this year to put the class back in the classroom and dress up a little more,” Kiley said. However, her view of the word ‘classy’ is not the same as most people’s view of it. “I am talking about not wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts every day, and that would basically be it. I also think wearing black is classy…I wore a pretty fancy sweatshirt the other day. Most people would look at it and say

it’s just a sweatshirt, but it had some embellishments on it that made it classy,” she said. Kiley says she started out strong. On the morning of the first day of school, she was wearing nice pants and

a blouse, until her five month old threw up all over her. “So I dressed up in something that I still thought was pretty classy, like a nice little sweater and some nicer jeans, but my hall mates, who set the bar pretty high for fashion — Liz and Tracy — immediately made fun

of me [on] the first day for not being dressed up...I was pretty discouraged actually, because I thought I was doing a good job. They don’t seem to recog-nize when I make efforts,” she said. Starting to slip back into the routine

of wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts, Kiley is thinking about easing into this goal by starting with Classy Wednes-days. Every Wednesday, many Commu-nity students sport their finest clothing. Kiley admits that bringing class back to the classroom, “…was a long

term goal. I really set out to dress up every single day… I mean I admit I’m the worst one dressed in the science department and Tod [Tharp] wears Crocs to school, so that says something about what I dress like… I set out to be a long term thing, but then I quickly realized that in order to be classy I have to buy the clothes and I hate shopping. The classy Wednesday thing is a good thing to shoot for.” The Communicator has decided to help Kiley out. Throughout the weeks we will be posting pictures of Kiley’s clothing. C

bringing ‘class’ backto the classroomChs TeACher CourTney kIley hAs hIGh hopes for her personAl WArDrobe ThIs yeAr.

kate summers

“ I set out to be a long term thing, but then I quickly realized that in order to be classy I have to buy the clothes, and I hate shopping. ”

Want to see more of Courtney Kiley‘s outfits? Go to: http://the-communicator.org

according to link’s website,

north korea is consistently ranked last

among other countries for leVel of Press

freedom

to learn more about fella-baum’s link

chaPter, Visit his website:

httP://www.wix.com/communty

highlinkcha/home

the pursuit of liberty

kate

sum

mer

s ph

oto

jord

an s

iden

pho

to

10 the communicator feature 11feature the communicator

A typical Friday lunch period at Community High sees students sitting at the tables in the hallway, soaking up the

warmth of Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea across the street, trickling through the doors of nearby restaurants, or traversing the back lawn. There is usu-ally laughter on Fridays, brought on by relief and anticipation as another week comes to a close. But senior Corey Fellabaum chooses to spend his Friday lunches focusing on a place far beyond the back lawn, and is willing to give up Friday lunch laugh-ter to do so. Fellabaum and the other members of the Community High Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) chapter spend the lunch period discussing the human rights situation in North Korea and working to make a change. Fellabaum founded the CHS LiNK chapter in February 2011 after rep-resentatives from the national LiNK group visited CHS in the fall. The LiNK representatives, who showed a video and shared information about North Korea, were looking for some-one to start a chapter at CHS. Fella-baum, who was adopted from South Korea, was up to the task. “I had a relationship with the Koreas because I was born in South Korea, and I just felt that it’s really wrong that they are being tortured and that kind of stuff … I wanted to do something and then I just started a chapter,” Fellabaum said. Before last November’s visit from the LiNK representatives, Fellabaum knew that people in North Korea lacked

many human rights, but was unaware of the specifics. He now knows how dire the situation really is. North Korean citizens do not have freedom of speech, press, assembly or association. Criticism of the govern-ment is prohibited. Political prisoners are kept in concentration camps, where human rights violations, including tor-ture, are routine, and many prisoners do not survive. Furthermore, North Korea is also experiencing a food crisis, due to government neglect, previous natural disasters, and a lack of arable land. Ac-cording to the LiNK Global website, 33 percent of the North Korean popula-tion is currently undernourished, and 23 percent of children under the age of five are underweight. The country relies heavily on international food aid. LiNK was founded in 2004 with the mission to help North Korean refugees, raise awareness about the situation in North Korea, and advocate for North Korean citizens. Since then, LiNK has established underground shelters in China and Southeast Asia to help refugees fleeing North Korea, who could face torture or death if captured. However, it costs money to rescue refu gees. That’s where the LiNK chapters come in. The LiNK chapters, such as Fellabaum’s at CHS, spread the word about North Korea and raise money to rescue refugees. Fellabaum explained that the price to save one refugee is $2,500, which pro-vides for transportation and amenities. The CHS LiNK chapter got started last year with a bottle drive fundraiser that raised around $35. Fellabaum plans to

continue fundraising efforts this year, and is optimistic about the group for the 2011-2012 school year. “I think that it will a better chapter this year because we started only the winter semester last year, and we didn’t have a full year to get people,” he said. The group currently has five or six members that attend meetings regu-larly. Though Fellabaum hopes that more people will join, he feels that the current number of members is a good start. “I think it’s good … it’s not just like one person,” he said. Fellabaum is the group’s president as well as its founder. Though he is aided by the other group members and by the staff adviser, Social Studies teacher Cindy Haidu-Banks, Fellabaum takes on a lot of the responsibility of leading and organizing the group. One of the most difficult things that Fellabaum has to do is deal with the heavy subject matter, which can be an obstacle to adding members and spreading awareness. “There are some pictures that are really sad and sometimes some disturbing photos, like someone being tortured or some-thing like that, that some people can’t handle,” he said. Fellabaum does not want to force anyone to see the images, and believes that it is a matter of per-sonal choice. However, for Fellabaum, the benefits of leading the Community High LiNK chapter far outweigh the challenges. Fellabaum has been able to improve his leadership skills, and working on the LiNK chapter has changed his outlook on the world. “Now I can see that there

are other people that are suffering…we Americans have a good life and other people don’t,” he said. Furthermore, Fellabaum has been able to help a place that he has a personal connection to. Though he was a baby when adopted from South Korea, Fellabaum still feels that he has a relation to the Koreas. “When the Korean War happened, it split families and friends and that kind of stuff. And it kind of does touch me a little bit, because I don’t know if I have family in North Korea. I don’t know,” he said. Fellabaum believes that the LiNK chapter’s message has also had a posi-tive effect on the CHS student body. “A lot of people are now talking and say-ing ‘How is your LiNK chapter going?’ and they ask me some questions about North Korea…it’s made people more open to seeing some other views, like the pictures,” he said. The successes of leading the chapter have inspired Fellabaum to continue working with LiNK after he gradu-ates from CHS. He currently plans to attend Washtenaw Community College and later transfer to Ball State Univer-sity, and he wants to look into starting LiNK chapters at both institutions. College, however, is a year away. For now, Fellabaum is focused on the up-coming year of fundraising and spread-ing the word for the Community High LiNK chapter. He hopes to inspire the student body with his message: “People in North Korea are suffering, and they need help from you, and we are a glob-ally united people that are able to help other people.” C

ThrouGh hIs lIberTy In norTh koreA ChApTer, senIor Corey fellAbAum hopes To spreAD The WorD AbouT The humAn rIGhTs CrIsIs In norTh koreA AnD mAke A ChAnGe

mari cohen

Community High School Sci-ence teacher Courtney Kiley often gets mistaken for a student. For this reason,

Kiley decided that one of her profes-sional goals was to bring class back to the classroom. “I got pretty casually dressed last year when I was pregnant…wearing sweats and stuff to school, so I [am really trying] to make an effort this year to put the class back in the classroom and dress up a little more,” Kiley said. However, her view of the word ‘classy’ is not the same as most people’s view of it. “I am talking about not wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts every day, and that would basically be it. I also think wearing black is classy…I wore a pretty fancy sweatshirt the other day. Most people would look at it and say

it’s just a sweatshirt, but it had some embellishments on it that made it classy,” she said. Kiley says she started out strong. On the morning of the first day of school, she was wearing nice pants and

a blouse, until her five month old threw up all over her. “So I dressed up in something that I still thought was pretty classy, like a nice little sweater and some nicer jeans, but my hall mates, who set the bar pretty high for fashion — Liz and Tracy — immediately made fun

of me [on] the first day for not being dressed up...I was pretty discouraged actually, because I thought I was doing a good job. They don’t seem to recog-nize when I make efforts,” she said. Starting to slip back into the routine

of wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts, Kiley is thinking about easing into this goal by starting with Classy Wednes-days. Every Wednesday, many Commu-nity students sport their finest clothing. Kiley admits that bringing class back to the classroom, “…was a long

term goal. I really set out to dress up every single day… I mean I admit I’m the worst one dressed in the science department and Tod [Tharp] wears Crocs to school, so that says something about what I dress like… I set out to be a long term thing, but then I quickly realized that in order to be classy I have to buy the clothes and I hate shopping. The classy Wednesday thing is a good thing to shoot for.” The Communicator has decided to help Kiley out. Throughout the weeks we will be posting pictures of Kiley’s clothing. C

bringing ‘class’ backto the classroomChs TeACher CourTney kIley hAs hIGh hopes for her personAl WArDrobe ThIs yeAr.

kate summers

“ I set out to be a long term thing, but then I quickly realized that in order to be classy I have to buy the clothes, and I hate shopping. ”

Want to see more of Courtney Kiley‘s outfits? Go to: http://the-communicator.org

according to link’s website,

north korea is consistently ranked last

among other countries for leVel of Press

freedom

to learn more about fella-baum’s link

chaPter, Visit his website:

httP://www.wix.com/communty

highlinkcha/home

the pursuit of liberty

kate

sum

mer

s ph

oto

jord

an s

iden

pho

to