Spartan basketball teams to face the state's best at State Farm Classic
Unity Junior High 8th grade Honor Roll announced
Unity Junior High School announced the 8th grade recipients achieving honor roll and high honor roll status for their academic performance during the first quarter last month. Congratulations to all the students who earned the requisite grade point average to celebrate the honor.
High Honor Roll
Grace Michele Bickers
Alex Martin Bromley
Clare Faustina Bryant
Cadence Marie Chandler
Berkley Jane Cloud
Caleb Benjamin Coy
Danika Ann Eisenmenger
Reese Bella Frye
Journey Maddison Gabbard
Bailee Mae Gadeken
Walker Dale Hall
Colton Ray Harmon
Avery Nicole Kamradt
Kathryn Clara Knoll
Cash Cohen McCann
Audrey Claire McDaniel
Brooklyn Marie Mumm
Sadie Jane Polonus
Adam Lucas Reedy
Ethan Daniel Schaefer
Allyson Lynn Shaw
Isaac Benjamin Siegwald
Evalyn Alexandra Skibbe
Piper Estelle Staley
Grace Lynne Tempel
Leah Marianne Watson
Elizabeth Johnna Wayne
Maggie Jean Weckle
Grace Ann Wherley
Rylan Kade Wolf
Honor Roll
Wyatt Leon Blanchard
Paige Nicole Bradley
Matthew James Brady
Maddix Jacob David Briggs
Brody Ray Butler
Kydie L Cain
Ronin Naoto Carman
Noah Seyha Conde
Ryan Joseph Cunningham
Braedyn Lucas Dalton
Addison Tyler Davis
Hudson Lee DeHart
Austin Michael Drewes
Elizabeth Lynn Farney
Allison Renee Fenter
Ava Nicole Grace
Olivia Ashlyn Hall
Dustin Rose Harris
Broderick Wayne Irwin
Cheyenne Jean
Hailey Anne Keck
Alexis Aryona Knee
Azyel Xzavier Luna
Carson Wesley McCune
Aiden Meado
Landrey Michelle Mohr
Nicole Elizabeth Paeth
Evan Alexander Puckett
Max Warren Rossi
Malakai Thomas Roth
Lane Edward Sexton
Alyssa Renae Shields
Gabrielle Marie Spanglo
Madison Amanda Spohn
Jacob Michael Ward
Jonathan Dean Warren
Kingston Wheeler
Ava McKenna Wolf Rice
Addison Danielle Wyatt
Joel Mitchell Yergler
Kendal Lea Zerrusen
Unity Jr. High 7th grade Honor Roll
Last month, Unity Junior High School announced the names of seventh-grade students who achieved honor roll and high honor roll status after the first quarter. Congratulations to the students who earned the requisite grade point average to celebrate the honor.
High Honor Roll
Patrick Benjamin Baxley
Cooper Charles Beckett
Beckam Krystopher-Wayde Brown
Brilynn Creola Cain
Jackson Christopher Cheely
Skyler Andrew Chilton
Soren Lovell Davis
Andrew Patrick Donovan
Kaylee Grace Estes
Carson David Fairbanks
Cohen Fincham
Reagan Elizabeth Lisle Fisher
Mackinzee Brooke Gumm
Hallie Lynn Handal
Jordan Stephen Harmon
Tessa Lynn Horn
Karleigh Grace Jamison
Lincoln Banner Johnson
Joseph Brooks Kamradt
Khison Able Kern
Tatum Anne Kirby
Bryan Michael Kleiss
Nolan Mark Tempel Meharry
Dalton Robert Moose
Rhianna Olivia Ocasio
Kandace Lachelle Reed
Journee Lynn Ring
Carter Charles Schmid
Sophia Grace Seidlitz
Caleb Joshua Siegwald
Lillie Jean Vanderpool
Kole David VanSickle
John William White
Austin James Wiersema
Olivia Ann Williams
Adilynn Michelle Wilson
Olivia Ruth Witheft
Honor Roll
Brayden Michael Burke
Sadie Jo Carpenter
Madison Grace Castor
Garrisan Martin Cler
Shamya Merari Davis
Kinzey Nicole Duitsman
Dillon Michael Ellars
Nolan Myles Elliott
Haley Elizabeth Ennis
Zoe Margaret Fish
Shae Lin Fournier
Nathaniel Howard Hammer
Brady Cullen Harris
Roman James Hastings
Kane William Knudsen
Jax Hunter Logsdon
Tysen Mac McConaha
Clint Michael McCormick
Payten Renee Niles
Larissa Marie Parr
Clayton Wyatt Pruitt
Mia Lynn Reifsteck
Lillian Yvonne Ring
Rainer Arizona Robinson
Caden Del Rogers
Riley May Schendel
Nate Stierwalt
Gavin James Warren
Sawyer Allen Franks Weller
Vivian Wheeler
Reece Earl Winfrey
Cole Thomas Zorns
Unity Jr. High 6th grade Honor Roll
Last month, Unity Junior High School announced the names of sixth-grade students who achieved honor roll and high honor roll status after the first quarter. Congratulations to the students who earned the requisite grade point average to celebrate the honor.
High Honor Roll
Ethan Earl Bent
Katherine Elaine Berkey
Konnor Lewis Bletscher
Sylvia Lola Cahill
Logan Chounard
Kale Boden Cowan
Trevor Daniel Coy
Alec Joseph Daly
Amelia Marie Good
Hayden Bradley Grussing
Aubrie Paige Gumm
Jordan Elizabeth Hamilton
Kynedy Ashlynn Hoel
Alivia Krall
Adeline Marie Marinelli
Scarlet Rosemary McCann
Lilly Madelyn Meharry
Tatum Faith Meharry
Baeden Edward Millsap-Moore
Jacklynn Kay Alexandra Moore
Kelvin Justus Moose
Holden William ONeill
Carolina Maria Pagaduan Popovics
Luc Sandor Marcelo Popovics
Maxwell Douglas Powers
Marina Ray Price
Maya Alexis Rawdin
Vivian Rosalie Shunk
Dylan Robert Stierwalt
Olivia Jane Styan
Jack Christopher Terven
Hayley Olivia Thompson
Cassandra Pearl Thweatt
Charles Reider Watson
Quentin Stephen Webber
Ashton Jace Wolf
Honor Roll
Lilly Annabelle Bailes
Grace Bailey
Brooklyn Blair Bates
Ty Craig Benedict
Elizabeth Joanne Berkey
Ella Addyson Bromley
McKenzie Lynn Deakin
Emma Nicole Denney
Evan Matthew Donaldson
Jase Charles Eisenmenger
Levi Amari Flowers
Alice Marie Henigman-Foster
Samuel Bentley Hollett
Owen Dean Hottman
Kaiyanna Renee LeForge
Cora Dee Leonard
Owen Michael Lighty
Jauniyah Rosemarie Lisanby
Russell Patrick McCabe
Addyson Jo McIntosh
Ellery Merkle
Hayden Andrew Moore
Ava Alyse Murray
Khloe Jo Orrison
Jaxon David Pendleton
Logan Harvey Reimer Couch
Henry Scott Ritchie
Bella Rose Robbins
Skylar Grace Savona
Grace Catherine Schriefer
Sophia Isabella Schuckman
Connor Allen Schwartz-Rouse
Austin David Shafer
Hayden Dale Smith
Tucker Douglas Stierwalt
Virgil Laurence Summitt
Lea Ruth Taber
Jayden Michael Terven
Deklyn James Thomas
Nicholas James Thomas
Hallee Ann Weber Patterson
Henry Joseph White
Olivia Lynn Wilson
Ethan Matthew Wishall
Adam Scott Wolken
Giving Place continues to help local families in need
Turkey tournament starts Monday at SJO
ST. JOSEPH -- The girls' basketball season officially starts on Monday with SJO hosting the Second Annual Toyota of Danville Turkey Tournament. Mahomet-Seymour joins the four-team, round-robin style tournament replacing Urbana High School. Spartans fans can catch the varsity program on the hardwood this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings at approximately 7:30p as the team will battle to defend their 2021 title against Tri-County, Centennial and the Bulldogs from Mahomet-Seymour. The SJO JV team will play in the school's practice gym at 6 pm on all three nights. This year's St. Joseph-Ogden varsity squad includes Sammy Uden, Addi Seggebruch, Olivia Baltzell, Katie Ericksen, Addison Frick, Taylor Hug, Kaytlyn Baker, Addie Brooks, Sara Kearney, Addy Martinie, Kayla Osterbur, and Ellie Ward.
2nd Annual
TOYOTA OF DANVILLE
TURKEY TOURNAMENT
Monday, November 14th
JV: SJO JV vs. Tri-County JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Centennial JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Centennial vs. Mahomet-Seymour 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Tri-County 7:30 PM (Main Gym)
Tuesday, November 15th
JV: SJO JV vs. Centennial JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Tri-County JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Tri-County vs. Mahomet-Seymour 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Centennial 7:30 PM (Main Gym)
Thursday, November 17th
JV: SJO JV vs. Mahomet-Seymour JV 6:00 PM (Practice Gym)
JV: Tri-County JV vs. Centennial JV 7:30 PM (Practice Gym)
VARSITY: Tri-County vs. Centennial 6:00 PM (Main Gym)
VARSITY: SJO vs. Mahomet-Seymour 7:30 PM (Main Gym)
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Prairie Central 0
The road to state: The Rockets cross country performance was "impressive"
Special to The Sentinel
CHAMPAIGN -- Based on their dominating performance all season, no one could doubt the Unity Rockets were going to win another Class 1A IHSA cross-country state title. Heading into the Illinois High School Association sectional meet, the program did not lose a meet. Not one race to any team. The program has brought home state titles in 2021, 2017, and 2015. The Rockets also collected trophies in 2016 for second and third-place hardware in 2018 and 2019. The path to the state finals included crushing it at the St. Joseph-Ogden Class 1A sectional meet held at Dodds Park on the campus of Parkland College back on October 29. The day was just one more chance to show just how dominant they were and had been all season. The Rockets cemented the sectional title by 86 points, finishing with 40 points. Marshall took second with 126 points. "Their performances were very impressive," said Kara Leaman, Tolono Unity's head coach of the Rockets' performance at sectionals. "They are excited. While we have won a state title before, we have never done it back-to-back. They want to be the first Unity Rocket team to do it." Not only did they leave the sectional with the all-important team championship plaque, four of the scoring top five left with individual sectional hardware. Emily Decker finished the 2.95-mile course in 18 minutes and 2.49 seconds. The sophomore was fifth. Mackenzie Pound (sixth), Erica Woodard (seventh), and Olivia Shike (10th) finished within 21 seconds of Decker. Pound finished at 18:11.21, while Woodard entered the chute at 18:12.55. Shike crossed the finish line at 18:22.89. The fifth scorer, Reagan Stringer, clocked in at 18:51.59. Camryn Reedy and Josie Cler took 18th and 25th, finishing respectively at 19:25.71 and 19:47.82. "This Saturday, my hope for every athlete is that they can walk away knowing they competed as well as they could," said Leaman. While the Spartan girls did not qualify as a team, Savanna Franzen grabbed one of the individual qualifying spots, taking 13th in the sectional. She ended her race at 18:35.28. "I tried to be controlled the first 50 percent of the race," said Franzen. "I was not feeling the best today. This course is not all that fast. I am looking forward to running at Detweiller, which is a very fast course." She led the Spartans to a 10th-place finish, which scored 271 team points. Hannah Mock (61st), Sydney Steinbach (69th), Sophia Kasper (82nd), and Kaytlyn Baker (93rd) rounded out the top five for the Spartans. Mock, Steinbach, and Kasper, all freshmen, all broke the 22:00 barrier. Mock finished in 21 minutes and 09.72 seconds, Steinbach finished the course in 21:35.14, and Kasper finished at 21:58.25. Baker closed out the Spartan effort with a time of 22:26.77.
Tabacco industry made an intense effort to market methol cigarettes in Black communitites
DALLAS -- The massive growth in popularity of menthol cigarettes over several decades is the result of the tobacco industry’s intense and persistent targeting of Black communities, women and youth – a campaign the industry continues today with new products and marketing campaigns. These are the findings of a new research study by Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA), a research unit of Stanford Medicine, and the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health.
The report comes as the Food & Drug Administration weighs public comments on draft rules to remove menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars from the market, and as a growing number of states and localities act to stop the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products. Massachusetts and 160 localities nationwide currently restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes, in addition to other flavored tobacco products. In November, California voters will consider a ballot measure to prohibit flavored tobacco products including menthol.
“This study is a compelling addition to the overwhelming evidence showing that tobacco companies directly target populations including Black communities, women and youth with menthol cigarettes, which make it easier to get hooked and are much tougher to quit than other tobacco products,” said Rose Marie Robertson, M.D., FAHA, deputy chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association and co-director of the Association’s National Institutes of Health/Food and Drug Administration-funded Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science. “Nearly a century of disgraceful behavior by the tobacco companies has made clear that menthol and other flavored tobacco products threaten public health and perpetuate inequities – they should no longer be sold.”
Menthol cigarettes are used by 85% of Black people who smoke and 44% of women who smoke, compared to 30% of non-Hispanic white people who smoke. More than half of teens who begin smoking start with a menthol brand. Numerous studies have shown that the cooling sensation of menthol cigarettes makes them easier to inhale deeply, which leads to a higher dose of nicotine and a stronger addiction as compared to other cigarettes.
The study finds that disproportionately high use of menthol cigarettes by Black people, women and youth, as well as others including Hispanic people (48% of Hispanic people who smoke use menthol brands), is not the result of organically evolving consumer preferences over time. Rather, it is the result of decades of high-dollar marketing campaigns explicitly targeting these populations.
The industry’s efforts continue today in a market dominated by categorical menthol brands such as Newport, Kool and Salem, which are joined by menthol extensions of major cigarette brands including Marlboro, Camel and Pall Mall. One measure of the tobacco industry’s strong emphasis on menthol is the number of menthol variants sold in the marketplace. For example, Marlboro cigarettes are sold in 11 menthol variants, including Black Menthol, Smooth Ice and Bold Ice; Camel sells 12 types of menthol cigarettes, including Crush Smooth and Crush Rich; and market leader Newport offers seven menthol variants, including Smooth, Boost and Boost Gold.
Tobacco companies’ recent tactics: flavor bursts, additives and greenwashing
The study finds that tobacco companies have evolved their products with capsule cigarettes, which contain a sphere of flavored liquid in the filter that when squeezed produces a burst of intense flavor. Known as “crushers,” “clickers,” “kickers,” “infusers” and “squeezers,” capsules serve as a flavor booster in menthol cigarettes and are sold on the U.S. market by Camel, Marlboro, Lucky Strike, Newport and Pall Mall.
Capsules and other innovations including infusion cards, infused paper, flavor caps and flavor stones also serve as on-demand menthol additives in unflavored cigarettes. These post-market additives enable sellers to circumvent restrictions on menthol tobacco sales. Tobacco companies also attempt to sidestep sales restrictions by offering numerous menthol and mint varieties in categories including e-cigarettes, cigarillos, chewing tobacco, snus and hookah that are currently regulated differently than traditional cigarettes.
Another new industry marketing tactic is the depiction of menthol products as “organic,” “additive free” or “plant based”. This trend, which the study calls the “greenwashing” of menthol cigarettes, continues years of tobacco industry efforts to hide the health hazards of tobacco use to the public. A federal court in 2006 found that several major tobacco companies had violated civil racketeering laws following decades of lying to the public about the health threats of smoking.
“Our report shows that since at least the 1930s, tobacco companies have systematically preyed on targeted populations with menthol cigarette promotions intended to get more people to start smoking a product that the companies know is both harmful to health and exceedingly difficult to quit,” said Robert K. Jackler, MD, principal investigator, Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising and Edward & Amy Sewall Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine. “By continuously rolling out new marketing campaigns and innovating their products to avoid oversight, the tobacco industry is intent on recruiting new tobacco users and continuing to threaten public health.”
A long history of industry targeting
The study is the result of exhaustive research of tobacco industry marketing and internal corporate correspondence since the 1930s, including company advertisements targeting specific consumer segments by skin color, gender and age over the course of decades. The study also includes excerpts from numerous internal company documents reflecting the industry’s sophisticated marketing approaches in areas including:
- Building a menthol market in Black communities – The report examines tobacco industry efforts to sell more menthol products within Black communities by deluging urban centers with menthol cigarette advertisements on billboards, buses and subways, distributing free “starter packs” and discount coupons, and featuring prominent Black athletes and entertainers in menthol advertisements in leading Black newspapers and magazines.
For example, industry documents show that Newport employees handing out samples in predominantly Black communities from a Newport van were instructed to “assertively ask people to accept samples of Newports” as part of an overall effort to “provide aggressive promotional and advertising support for the brand.” A 1981 RJ Reynolds corporate document stated that “the Black segment has been identified as the Brand’s Special Market priority” for its Salem brand.
- Seizing on menthol’s popularity among women – The report states that when tobacco companies discovered that women were early adopters of menthol brands, they responded in kind with marketing campaigns such as Kool’s “Lady, Be Cool” and Salem’s “For More of a Woman,” and with brands targeting women such as Virginia Slims (“You’ve come a long way baby”), Eve and Capri.
The Eve brand, launched in 1971 by Liggett & Myers, intentionally chose both a “feminine package design” and a “truly female name,” according to industry documents. Philip Morris Executive Larry Williams indicated that the name Virginia Slims, launched in 1968, was chosen because “most women like to think of themselves as slim.”
- Targeting youth – Internal company documents reveal a consistent focus on attracting youth smokers since the 1920s. An internal RJ Reynolds document from September 1927 states “School days are here. And that means BIG TOBACCO BUSINESS for somebody. Let’s get it. And start after it RIGHT NOW.” In other internal correspondence, companies adopted acronyms such as “YAS” (Young Adult Smokers) and “FUBYAS” (First Usual Brand Younger Adult Smokers), referring to the targets of their youth-oriented advertising campaigns.
Lorillard’s 1984 promotion plan for Newport noted that: “Newport's franchise represents the youngest demographic profile in the industry. This profile is enviable in terms of it being an ‘in’ brand, as well as insuring future viability as long as these smokers stay within the Newport franchise.” The patently youth-targeted “Alive with Pleasure” campaign established Newport as a dominant youth starter brand, the best-selling menthol brand, and the second best-selling cigarette in the U.S. after Marlboro. Internal Newport documents reflect that a primary market for Newport cigarettes was young African Americans. Newport’s 1992 brand plan revealed that the products was targeted “primarily to young ethnic adult smokers ages 18-24,” and that “the ethnic market could be a major source of new business for the brand that we plan to exploit it.”
- Financing music festivals – From the Newport Jazz Festival that began in the 1950s, to the Salem Spirit Concert Series in the 1980s, to tobacco-sponsored concert series today including Kool MIXX, Marlboro’s Vinyl Vibes and Salem’s Stir the Senses, tobacco companies continue to recruit new users across populations through music events. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act prohibited music and art event sponsorships by cigarette and oral tobacco brands, but not by cigars or emerging nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.
- Obfuscating the harms of smoking – For much of the last century, tobacco companies attempted to reassure a public increasingly worried about the health consequences of smoking through marketing campaigns with claims such as “More Doctors Smoke Camels,” and “Got a cold? Smoke a Kool.” Today, menthol tobacco advertising continues to include health reassurance messaging with the use of proxy terms such as “natural” and “organic” tobacco.
“Exposing the ways tobacco companies target people in disadvantaged communities with products that threaten their health is core to the American Heart Association’s commitment to battling systemic racism,” said Michelle A. Albert, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association, immediate past president of the Association of Black Cardiologists and Walter A. Haas-Lucie Stern endowed chair in Cardiology, professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. “To promote public health and achieve health equity, we must enact proven public policies that prevent the industry from engaging in practices that have contributed to the loss of millions of lives from tobacco use.”
Slideshow | Spartan football season ends in playoffs
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