The Twilight Epidemic: The Fine Line Between Fantasy and Reality

By Ella Sivertsen and Olivia Baker, M&M TIPsters

There seems to be only one question on the minds of countless teenage girls these days: “Team Edward, or Team Jacob?”

You can always find a Twilight t-shirt at Wal-Mart, thousands of fans rush to the movie theaters at six-o’-clock in the morning to catch the first midnight showing of the latest addition to the saga, and Taylor Lautner probably appears shirtless on the walls of giggling girls more frequently than he would ever care to find out, ever.

But while fans are debating whether Pattinson or Lautner is hotter, there is often something more going on in the minds of true Twilight fans. Thoughts swim around about the definition of love and of protection, the boundary between teenage romance and a darker side to Edward and Bella, and why the knight in shining armor/vampire in shining Volvo can’t come for every girl.

So when does fiction wander too far into the real world?

“[It’s] really annoying [all the attention it’s received]; it’s kinda ruined it for me,” a local Athens teen says. Twilight books have sold around 5.3 million copies, and that’s just in the U.S. The movies have grossed approximately $1.5 billion worldwide! There is now Twilight Saga bedding, clothing, jewelry, makeup, perfume, Barbies, lunch boxes, mugs, board games, and key chains. Someone even prints Twilight toilet paper.

Twilight has become very widely known. Hundreds of thousands of screaming “Twilighters” line up for movie premieres and book signings just to get a glimpse of their favorite stars. While “Twi-hards” take their fan base and posters very seriously, many simply find the craze to be hilarious, and others still have more opinionated, solemn responses to the “epidemic.”

“A lot of the girls who are reading it are really young, like, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, and that’s a REALLY impressionable age,” says Rose Dasher, a young, working woman in Athens. Miss Dasher has personally read the Twilight Saga and is, to put it kindly, not a big fan. It’s not because fans have ruined her experience or because she doesn’t like the casting for the movie; she opposes the messages portrayed to Twilight’s young readers. “[It] presents some rather skewed messages to younger girls… It’s like there’s a lot of messages I disagree with about love and relationships and about women’s roles in relation to men.”

For all of you who don’t know, Bella is extremely dependent on Edward, Jacob, and all the Cullens. Dasher also says that if this relationship was real, it would be “something for the feds to handle.” Regarding things from female dependency to pre-marital sex, Twilight is highly debated the world over. People don’t sparkle; taking the books too realistically can blur the line between reality and fantasy.

Don’t worry too much about those Twi-hards, though. Most find that, like the Backstreet Boys, Twilight is a passing trend.

“There’s always something teenagers will love,” says an Athens resident, “if it’s Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, or Twilight.”

As for the future, like all other fads, Twilight will be eclipsed by something new, with a breaking dawn to a new era. Pun intended.

Ella Sivertsen, 14, is a ninth grader at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, GA.

Olivia Baker, 15, is a tenth grader at the University School of Jackson in Jackson, TN.

Darius Goes West Trip Prep

By Lan’Tiqua Burks, M&M Tipster

In preparation for his trip, Darius and his friends and family all had to do a lot to get ready for this 7,000 mile cross-country trip. They all sold movie credits, had piggy banks at the stores around Athens, and door-to-door barbeques. Barbara Smalley, director Logan Smalley’s mother, helped organize the stops on the trip. (Picture: Logan Smalley, director of Darius Goes West, at the Darius Goes West Day Carnival)

Two weeks before they left they were a little short on money, but the United Cerebral Palsy contacted them and agreed to give them the rest of the money if they would pass out bracelets for their cause. Darius and all of his friends agreed, helping them meet their goal while assisting another cause.

Darius took eleven of his best friends on the trip with him to go across the country to California to convince MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” to pimp his wheelchair. This was the first time Darius ever left Athens and he was going all the way across the country.

Darius Goes West was filmed by Darius’s eleven friends, but they didn’t have any filming background. They searched on Google “how to make a documentary” and read as much as possible in preparation for the trip.

“He didn’t have any film making experience,” said Barbara Smalley. He literally taught himself how to edit, and I would watch…the dailies and I would be blown away ‘cause he told the story from his heart. That’s what made it successful.”

While the trip and making the documentary was going on, Darius’s friends were still busy with their own lives, but they devoted a large portion of their time to the trip and the movie.

“He edited while he was a senior in college so it took him a year,” Smalley said.

Barbara planned the itinerary and asked Darius where he wanted to go. She also threw in a few places in that he might not have known about. They got discounts at hotels and at different stops on the trip.

All the preparation and the money donated finally paid off after the movie was released and it raised two million dollars for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research.

Lan’Tiqua Burks, 15, sophomore at Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Wheelchair Accesibility Through the Years

By Nicole Alanko and Kathy Garner, M&M TIPsters

“Accessibility is a bigger challenge than anything.” Darius Weems would know. As a 20-year old with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy, the Athens native has traveled the country spreading the word about his disease, and showing people about life in a wheelchair.

“It was random places that were more accessible,” Darius said. “It varies from different places I go to. I like to go to places that aren’t accessible so that if they see me, like a real person, they’ll want to change it. If they see me, they’ll be inspired to change it.”

Darius is one of the more famous people that is trying to change wheelchair accessibility. It’s a fight that picked up momentum in 1932 with the invention of the first folding wheelchair. This wheelchair was called the Everest and Jennings chair. Before this time, wheelchairs had been heavy and it was difficult for people with disabilities to leave their homes, so accessibility to public buildings was not an issue. After the invention of the Everest and Jennings chair, however, disabled people were able to put their chairs in their cars and go anywhere. This was how the Disability Rights Movement began.

With advancements in medicine, more people were living through serious injuries that normally would have caused them to die. Many of these were veterans of the World Wars, who then began to protest in America for more rights and more access to public places.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was originally passed in 1980, with revisions made in 2008. This Act was meant to enforce stronger legislation pertaining to the rights of people with disabilities. It discusses employment, access to buildings and public transportation, and communication devices.

“No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation,” according to the Act.

The full Act itself is very simple, with specific guidelines. Sections 1, 2, and 3 are all general knowledge sections. They detail the purpose as well as general information and vocabulary used in the remainder of the document. Section 4 details the minimum requirements of areas, including but not limited to curbs, stairs, toilet stalls, water fountains, and saunas, to make them handicap accessible, including exceptions. Sections 5 through 15 specify requirements for specific areas, such as restaurants, libraries, and medical care facilities.

This was an extremely important piece of legislation that laid the foundations for new changes to come. While after twenty years, not every building is wheelchair accessible, change and success will come. Darius himself does not advocate for any specific legislation.

“Accessibility is dependent on the owner,” said Amble Johnson, a writer for the Darius Goes West organization. “People will want to change. They’re just ignorant.”

Nicole Alanko, 16, is a Junior at Riverheads High School in Staunton, VA.
Kathy Garner, 15, is a sophomore at Ursuline Academy in Dallas, Texas.

Other Resources:
http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm
http://www.ada.gov/
http://www.ada.gov/adastd94.pdf

Darius Goes West Carnival Overview

By: Suleiky Guerrero

M&M TIPster

Another Annual Darius Goes West Day (DGW) that was as good as expected. This Saturday, July 24, was the Darius Goes West Carnival in Athens, Ga. There was music, face painting, water bounce houses, basketball, the Goslabi Challenge—where contestants swallow a spoon of the sushi spice wasabi—mechanical bull riding, animal petting, horse rides and a dunking booth for the mayoral candidates.

Many people attended the event, including Darius' family, friends, visitors and the mayoral candidates.

“I laughed, I cried, it was great” said Kelly Freeman, a Darius Goes West Day volunteer from Sugar Hill, Ga., about the Darius Goes West movie. “They gave so much to him and he’s giving so much to us and doesn’t even realize it so the least we can do is give back.”

“It really touched me that actually the crew would take upon the cause that they did and decide ‘Hey, we’re going to do something about this,” said Freeman’s mother, Judy.

Dan Johnson who had met Darius before the movie also had a lot to say about him. “The job that he’s done raising money for the cause and that he’s stayed with it so long and really seen it through instead of just taking his trip and staying home after that, he has kept working, trying to fight the disease.” Dan brought his brother Phil Johnson, a spinal meningitis survivor from 1953 who also supports Darius’ cause, to the event on Saturday.

The candidates also had a lot to say. Spencer Frye, who is the director of Athens Area Habitat for Humanity and a mayoral candidate for the Athens elections, said he met Darius when he and his mother were looking for affordable housing. Not being able to build a house for them they sent them over to one of their partnering homing agencies, the Athens Land Trust. Here they were able to find Darius and his mom a home. The only problem was that the house was too small. The hallways were too narrow and wasn’t handicapped accessible, so they put up funds to build additions to the home such as the handicap ramp and widening the doorways.

“What he’s done and what folks have done around him is just inspiring,” Frye said.

Heidi Davison, Athens’s mayor when Darius left for his cross-country trip, was also there Saturday. “It’s a real unifying event that everyone can get on board with and feel like they’re a part of. So when you keep reading the story, folks that have been involved with it from the very beginning say ‘I’m a part of that’ and are proud of that,” she said.

Suleiky Guerrero is a Media and Message TIPster. She is also a rising 9^th grader at Westwood MOA in Port St. Lucie, FL.

Gubernatorial Election Coverage

By Nicole Alanko, Lexi Lutsky, and MaLea Berry, M&M TIPsters

The people are speaking their mind at the polls and on the streets. The election for the next governor of Georgia is coming up in November, but a runoff for the two leading Republicans is August 10th. In the primaries on July 20th, Democrat Roy Barnes was a clear leader with 64%. Karen Handel was the leading Republican with 33% and Nathan Deal was a close second with 23%.

All of the candidates are focused on job growth in the state, education, and resources. Democrat Roy Barnes is basing his campaign on growing jobs in different areas, and education is extremely important. He wants to increase funding to schools and make sure the funds are used well. He also does not want to cut teacher salaries.

Karen Handel is basing her campaign on keeping taxes low to increase jobs and creating a better infrastructure. She is also serious about making it easier for parents to enroll their children in charter schools and is in support of a water plan for the next drought.

Nathan Deal is basing his campaign on promoting the private sector of businesses and supporting the FairTax, and also giving local school systems more power. Nathan Deal also wants to be strong about illegal immigration.

The people of Athens are also talking on the streets, answering the fundamental question: What do the people want in a candidate? Some are looking for candidates’ decisions to be faith based, and others look for them to have a good education. Most said that they just want people to do what they say, have similar views, and to be honest.

“I’m looking for someone to improve the economic state of Georgia,” said Rohaid Nanji, a young man in his twenties. “[It’s important that he will] Follow through on his plans, especially for improving the state.”

Ross Daniel said, “I want their decisions to be faith based.”

“I want them to have integrity,” one woman responded.

Ben Pearlman said that he wants his candidate to “just be able to express decent views and not pander to the electorate.”

Nicole Alanko, 16, is a junior at Riverheads High School in Staunton, Virginia.
MaLea Berry, 15, is a sophomore at The Paideia School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lexi Lutsky, 15, is a freshman at Carolina Forest High School in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Spreading awareness for DMD

By Paxton Swisher, M&M TIPster

Most Americans haven’t heard of it. Most people can’t tell you what it is. No, it’s not some new fad. It’s the number one genetic killer of kids.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, or DMD, is becoming more and more common and there is no cure. Before, about 6 years ago there weren’t many fund-raisers for it either. This all changed when a 15 year old Darius Weems, who had never left Athens, Georgia set off on a road-trip with 11 of his friends. Darius has DMD and went on the trip mainly to get his wheelchair pimped on the popular show “Pimp My Ride.” But he also wanted to spread awareness about DMD. The documentary about this trip was entitled “Darius Goes West” or DGW. The movie went viral, fast. Using aspects of social media like Twitter and Facebook, this sparked the raging fire that is the “Darius Goes West” campaign against DMD. Since the movie, the DGW team has taken every opportunity to spread the word and gather donations to fight DMD and hopefully find a cure in our generation.
Since the release of the film, the population helping to fight DMD has greatly increased. More and more people are seeing the film and wanting to make a difference. Darius describes the way the message is mostly spread is by “word of mouth.” The newest development in the campaign against DMD is that the DGW movie is now free on their website. They call this the “Play it Forward” campaign. This was started in the hopes that people will watch the movie for free, and then forward it and send it to all their friends, spreading the message about DMD. But the movie and play it forward campaign is just one aspect of the overall one to fight DMD.

Not only is the campaign meant to spread the word about DMD, but also about having wheelchair accessible buildings. In the film, Derius was often unable to go places because they weren’t wheelchair accessible. Darius said in an interview, “I like to go to places that aren’t accessible so that if they see me, like a real person, they’ll want to change it. If they see me they’ll be inspired to change it.” This is another cause that the campaign to spread awareness can help.

In the film, Darius is bet to eat a spoonful of wasabi, or “goslabi” as he calls it. Being one of the most loved parts of the movie, the DGW team decided to start up the “goslabi challenge.” According to their website, participants are supposed to start a fund-raising page. Once the fund goal is met, they each eat a spoonful of wasabi sauce and record it on film. The proceeds then go to help DMD and the best videos are eligible to win cool prizes. This will both raise funds for finding a cure to DMD and spread awareness about the disease.

From the “goslabi challenge” to Darius being interviewed on news programs to Big Daddy Weems himself visiting schools across the country, it’s obvious that the campaign to find a cure for, and spread awareness of, DMD are going well. However, the fight is not won yet. Donations are still needed, and there are many Americans who still don’t know what Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is. Help the campaign for spreading the message about DMD by donating through the “Darius Goes West” website, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube

Paxton Swisher, 15 years old, is a sophomore at Parish Episcopal school in Dallas,Texas.

The Amazing Michael Davenport

By David Garcia, M&M TIPster

"Words can't express it. He still keeps his motivation and faith."

These are the words of Leo Davenport, father of the locally famous Michael Davenport. But if he’s so famous, why doesn’t anyone recognize his name? This is probably because he has a more recognizable appearance, an even more remarkable talent, and has amazing character.

When Michael was only 13, he was in a traumatizing event changing the rest of his life. While playing in his yard with a copper wire, he got tangled in an electrical cord, leaving him injured in the hospital. When he awoke a month later, he found himself in a completely different world: a world without his hands. The accident left him handless on one side and with a prosthetic arm on the other. Michael was faced with the challenge of re-learning everything he could do with hands, but in a different way.

Through the years, Michael began to make some decisions that weren’t the best: he took up drinking and began to take for granted the life God had given him. But Michael is now living a happy life in Athens. After he saw what he was doing to himself, Michael decided to turn a new leaf and start his life over the right way. By doing this, Michael found his new passion: drawing.

Before his accident, he claimed to be a horrible artist, but once he lost his limbs, that changed. He said he began to draw with his mouth when he was about 15 or 16 and that was when he made his first sketches of the UGA mascot. When he saw that his creation had potential, Michael worked harder and harder at his mouth sketches until they met his standards.

He says his inspiration for drawing came from his artistic grandfather because he had the same go-to attitude and the same perseverance as himself. His paintings are now what keep him living, making most of his income from making drawings along the streets of Athens.

His amazingly accurate mouth drawings are sold for $40-$60 and he sells roughly five or six a day. Mikey, as many call him, gets friendly customers every day, but is most popular during the football season when all the fans want one of his drawings. Over only a decade, Michael has become a celebrity in Athens and is always welcomed by all its residents. He is even scheduled to meet with Oprah in the near future.

But his life after his change wasn’t all that easy. He continued to face many hardships, such as learning to write with his mouth and, recently, dealing with the loss of his sister. He says he continues because God gave him his life for a reason so he’s going to follow his dreams for as long as he can.

After his life changing experiences, Michael said that he became much more friendly and approachable. This is easy to see as ex-customers greet Michael as he draws for the tourists. They make sure he’s doing fine and ask about his family then continue on with their daily lives.

Michael says that if he had anything to say to the young people of today he would tell them “…just don’t ever give up and follow your dreams no matter the obstacles.”

Click here to see Michael making one of his drawings.

David Garcia, 15, is a sophomore at South Grand Prairie HS in Grand Prairie, TX.