by Connor Schumacher ‘15

The Ohio Legislature has acted to significantly modify the system for determining how often schools call snow days, otherwise known as calamity days. Starting in the 2014-15 school year, the state will begin to evaluate time in school – and thus requirements for total amount of time students spend in class – not by days, but by hours. The revised state mandate will require that schools be in session for a minimum of 1,001 hours a year, instead of the current minimum of 178 days.

Dean of Teachers Mr. Ptak said that the hours are calculated on a basic formula by multiplying all the hours of the day, excepting homeroom and lunch periods, by the amount of days in the school year. Generally, Saint Ignatius High school totals around 180 days. That basic calculation would estimate that school is in session for about 1,095 hours a school year- well above the state mandate of 1,001 hours.

However, the administration still needs to subtract all the hours lost during days when the schedule is irregular, including delayed starts, early dismissals, and rally schedules. Even after compensating for those lost hours, the administration expects the school to remain in session with a solid safety cushion above the mandate, creating flexibility in case there is a need for snow days. Snow days, then, would be subtracted from the hours in which school is in session.

Mr. Ptak is less concerned about fulfilling the state mandate than ensuring that Saint Ignatius students are able to get sufficient time with their teachers.

“What is more important is how much time students need to be in class to really learn and excel in their classes. That is of far greater concern to us than fulfilling a state mandate,” Ptak said.

Although state regulations have changed, Saint Ignatius policy for calling snowdays has not.

“We [the administration] will close school if it is unsafe for the students, not to satisfy minimum hours or days,” said Principal Bradesca.

by Kellen Dugan ‘15

The atmosphere at Saint Ignatius High School can accurately be described as one of great diversity. Diversity of race, culture, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation, and geographic location can all be found within the heterogeneous Saint Ignatius student body. The number of students of all underrepresented walks of life enrolling at the school is greater than ever, and it is still increasing.

The increasing diversity on campus poses important questions about whether students are succeeding in accepting and respecting one another’s differences, as well as whether Saint Ignatius is accommodating the many cultural, ethnic, religious, and sexual differences on campus.

Vince Hwang ‘14, President of Multicultural Student Union and Chairman of the Student Climate Committee, and De’Shaun Adair ‘14, African Methodist Episcopal preacher and Christian Action Team activist, said that the school is imperfect but improving.

Vince, an Asian-American senior, believes that the transition for any student from grade school to Saint Ignatius is difficult enough already, but says the “biggest obstacle” for students of multicultural backgrounds is the more difficult task of “fitting in.”

“I had a very hard time fitting in and discovering my identity in such a relatively homogeneous environment,” he said. “It took a long time to understand where I belong in relation to not only this school but also this city and even this country.”

Vince also said that, despite the growing numbers of diverse students enrolling, the “peer encouragement and acceptance level” of aforementioned diversity has not grown proportionally with the number of students, which can cause problems.

“There haven’t been many race-related insults or comments that I’ve personally witnessed, but there have been a few,” he said, “and a few is too many.”

While emphasizing that there is room to improve, Vince also stressed the many positive pro-diversity initiatives at Saint Ignatius, including the Multicultural Student Union, the Student Climate Committee, and the Multicultural Affairs branch of the Administration, directed by Mr. Jason Reed ‘95.

Vince said that Saint Ignatius is doing the best that it can to accommodate its diverse student body, and he only offered one specific improvement: a more diverse faculty.

De’Shaun, an African American senior, rated Saint Ignatius a six out of ten in regards to effectively making the adjustment for multicultural students easier. De’Shaun specifically remembers struggling to find “friends to sit with during lunch and free periods” during his freshman year. He also believes that fitting in is a difficult thing to do at Saint Ignatius, especially for students of different walks of life.

“Believe it or not, my religion helped me get to know more about other people,” he said, “by giving me something to talk about. It also gave people an opportunity to come see me preach at my Church.” De’Shaun mentioned that the environment wasn’t always accepting and open-minded, recalling a few incidents of generalizations due to race, “but luckily there’s not a whole lot of that.”

De’Shaun also joined Vince in praising the appeals and comforts of Mr. Reed’s office, especially for students struggling to fit in or trying to find their identity. “Mr. Reed’s office is always open to everyone from all walks of life. It truly made everything easier for me,” he said, reflecting on his years at school.

One possible improvement De’Shaun offered was the implementation of “cultural courses to teach students the importance and significance of specific cultures, especially those that are passed over by regular history classes.” He believes that the courses could be very instrumental in educating the student body about the significance of diversity.

In addition to the student perspective, Mr. Jason Reed ‘95, Director of Multicultural Affairs, offered a balanced view of the school’s atmosphere for diversity. Mr. Reed admitted that numbers of students from diverse backgrounds attending the school when he was a student was far fewer than the number now, but he also stated that the community in which he went to school had more unity than the unity present today at school. “We didn’t see each other as colors, we looked at each other as human beings and respected one another equally,” he said. “Overall, I had a great experience,” adding afterward, “You have to learn from each other to become the total person, the cura personalis, and that’s what I tried hardest to do here.”

While admitting there were a few isolated incidents of racism, he believes that culture has changed since he went to school, and thus changed the circumstances in which students are placed now. “I’ve witnessed many more incidents of racism and hate-related insults as an administrator than I did as a student, by far,” he said.

“My goal in 2005 was to create a comfort zone for all students. I wanted to teach students how to look at their neighbors as equals, as humans. All humans deserve respect,” said Mr. Reed. According to Vince and De’Shaun, Mr. Reed has accomplished his goal for the most part.

Mr. Reed’s list of goals includes heightening awareness and respect for diversity, fostering a community that embraces every dimension of diversity, and creating a comfortable environment for all students. He is proud of what the school has accomplished, but said that the work is not over.

“We’ve come a long way, in making this school a better place for all, but we still have a long way to go,” Reed said.

by Kellen Dugan ‘15

An unwritten honor code dominates academic behavior at Saint Ignatius, and most teachers make a conscious effort to foster honesty and integrity in schoolwork. As the school handbook explicitly indicates, there are serious penalties for cheating. The consequences for academic dishonesty range from an automatic zero on the given assignment to JUGS, probation, suspension, sharing the incident report with colleges, and immediate expulsion.

But if outsiders think there is no cheating at Saint Ignatius, they are sorely wrong. In an anonymous, man-on-the-street poll of the student body, nine out of ten students admitted to cheating personally or witnessing cheating without reporting it to a teacher. While the sample is not representative, the implicit indication is that cheating is alive and real in Ignatius classrooms.

The Dean of Academics, Mr. Michael Gavin, has a few explanations for the phenomenon. First of all, Mr. Gavin claims that “cheating is a misnomer,” and that “lack of integrity is a better description.” Mr. Gavin articulated three major reasons for the results of the poll: student laziness, pressure to succeed on students, and ubiquitous cultural preferences.

The first explanation, laziness, speaks for itself: a good amount of students choose not to study and resort to using others’ work whether it be on tests, homework, or papers. Some students choose that route, and Gavin says that they’re only hurting themselves.

The second explanation, pressure, seems to be a very common reason for cheating and compromised integrity. Most people understand that students are under an extreme amount of pressure to do well from parents, college, and, most frequently, themselves. When students are trying their best, with the intention of earning straight A’s, and they earn B’s, many resort to cheating in order to achieve the A.

“The B is no longer good enough,” said Mr. Gavin, “ because students need the A to appease the expectations, and thus justify their means of getting that grade.”

The third explanation, cultural preferences or tolerances, is a less tangible reason for people to understand, but it may also be the root of the entire problem of lack of academic integrity. Mr. Gavin argued that student culture downplays the severity of cheating, and the unstated norm about cheating is that “it’s not that big of a deal.”

Mr. Gavin defended the current hard curriculum and regulations that are currently in place at Saint Ignatius, affirming that they are the most effective rules that have been enforced yet, given the slippery topic of cheating.

Cheating is hard to prove unless students are caught in the act, and the consequences put in place are very severe, but enforcement is difficult. Mr. Gavin says that the regulations can change as much as they please, but if campus culture doesn’t change, specifically the tolerance and downsizing of the severity of cheating, then cheating will always exist.

The only thing that he believes can be done is to alter the “soft curriculum,” the expectations and culture norms, at not only Saint Ignatius, but all schools by incorporating an honor code for all students to promise to follow.

The honor code would try to foster an atmosphere of new and more honorable expectations.

“If the right thing to do becomes the cool thing to do,” said Mr. Gavin,”then integrity has been restored.”

by Matt Nicolay ’14
There are a number of talented creative writers here on campus – a fact that Mr. Gallagher, English teacher and moderator of Vista magazine, contends is not very well known.

“Creative writing is something that’s not as promoted, and I don’t think that that’s much of a secret.”

He goes on to say how he believes it’s possible for teachers to use a creative approach for writing in English classes, but he laments that the best opportunity for actual creative writing is available far too late in students’ high school careers.

“The only class we really offer’s Creative Writing, and that’s second semester senior year.”

However, Mr. Gallagher doesn’t believe that there is a lack of creativity among students on campus. He mentions four significant writers here on campus: Alastair Pearson ’14, Ben Lew ’14, Brian Capron ’15, and Tim Domzalski ’14. However, he points out that there might be a lack of confidence among students.

“Sometimes I think guys do write creatively, but often times I think guys are a little skeptical about putting out their poems or their short stories. I’ve had guys come up to me and tell me, ‘Mr. Gallagher, I’ve got this poem I want to put in,’ and then they don’t submit it, because they’re nervous.”

He does not believe that this is a lost cause, however. He goes on, “That’s just kind of breaking down a cultural mentality that it’s ‘not cool’ to be a creative writer.”

Mr. Gallagher points out that in the past the English department has done creative writing contests in the spring. He also mentions how he’s trying to get two Vista magazines out this year, in an attempt to change the cultural mentality to see creative writing as a part of what Ignatius students do on campus.

“I think that just showing creative writing is an important part of an Ignatian education will help.”

He points out that it will have to be a slow, gradual adjustment to the cultural mindset, but it can certainly happen. Part of the solution will be students gaining confidence in their abilities and talents in writing, but Mr. Gallagher knows that going against the cultural mentality can be difficult, especially when a student is putting out a personal work.

“As every artist knows, when you put your work out there, you’re leaving a piece of yourself.”