Issue 6 14-15

ECHOES

Issue 6 | Volume 114 January 2015

The Independent Voice of Abraham Lincoln High School | Council Bluffs, Iowa | ALechoes.com

International price of gas falls

Photo illustration by Kelly Hickey

Andrea Milstead

Introduction to Journalism

D

eclining prices for a barrel of crude oil have led to the lowest gasoline prices since the end of 2008.

Gasoline prices in the United States average $2.20 per gallon and locally, in Council Bluffs, gasoline prices have been seen as low as $1.85 as of Jan. 2015. Crude oil prices are the major factor in determining the price of a gallon of gas. Other factors include; supply and demand, refining costs, a geopolitical landscape, terrorist attacks, and unforeseen natural disasters.

Lower oil prices have impacted economies all over the world. In the United States alone, consumers have saved over 14 billion dollars in 2014. Indonesia just announced it would no longer subsidize gasoline.

India is gradually phasing out subsidies and plans to deregulate gasoline all

together. Russia is having a full blown currency crisis and Iran is having trouble funding Hezballah in Lebanon. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) is split on how to handle the situation. OPEC wants to control where oil prices are and the current situation is the reason they’re split on their next move.

Falling energy prices are the main reason the Dow Jones Industrial and the Standard and Poors 500 Index are taking such a hit at a time of year that they usually do well. Large oil companies are a main component in many of the major stock market indexes.

“Dropping oil prices help with money to invest in the stock market,” economics teacher, Myron Wilder said.

“But it hurts people if they are invested in oil.”

Lower energy prices are not the only reason for the decline in these indexes, as they have enjoyed seven straight weeks of gain. This

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is a trend that was bound to come to an end.

Gas prices this low not only affect the world as a whole, but greatly impact the people in our own community.

“It now costs me half what it used to cost me to fill my tank up,” Casino Cab driver, Troy Granger said.

“It has raised my income slightly, but not by much.”

Local drivers are saving money all over the place, including sophomore Alexis Gress.

“Most of the money I earned from work was being spent on gas, and I couldn’t use the money for anything else,” Gress said. The extra money has impacted people of all economic standings.

Not only people, but the environment is being impacted by the lowering oil prices. People are buying more gas because of the lower prices and that’s not the greatest thing for our air.

The greater use of fossil fuels thickens the atmosphere

which is not favorable by most as a long term effect.

With gas usage increasing, the amount of renewable power being used is dropping. That worsens our environment even more and hurts the companies of those renewable power sources.

Current gas prices may look like glitter and shine on the surface but there are downsides to the situation as well.

Americans are hopeful that gas prices will remain low. They should not expect for gas prices to remain this low as it is not profitable to mine and refine certain crude oil sources at these prices.

According to Wilder, as less is spent on gas, more stuff can be bought from other businesses. The oil industry is hurting though because it’s expensive to get oil out of the ground so there is a decrease in oil production. Overall the drop in gas prices is not good for our economy, but good for the average American pocket.

Feb. 7:

Feb. 14:

Feb. 16:

ACT Testing Day

Valentine’s Day

President’s Day

News E Key Club hosts Pennies for Patients 2

January 2015

Nathan Vorce | News Editor

choes

New AL club holds fundraiser to acquire funds for lukemia and lymphoma society Taylor Bever

S

Reporter

tarting in January, students across the school started participating in Key Club’s Pennies for Patients fundraiser. If a student has spare change or wishes to participate in helping The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society raise money for cancer, they can donate to participating classrooms. This program, Pennies for Patients, has been around since 1908 and has helped numerous families.

Key Club, on the other hand, is starting its first year at AL. “We do this to help fundraise money for the family of the patients to help as much as we possibly can,” Key Club Secretary James Keller said.

It doesn’t take much change if everyone pitches in. The money goes towards getting the families of the patients things that

they need. By donating, students can help the patients with getting groceries, medical bills, a cheap cell phone so people can get ahold of them, and anything else they might need.

Olive Garden. The more students that donate the better chance you have of winning the lunch from Olive Garden, and helping with the families that have members with Leukemia and Lymphoma.

“Teachers can be involved as much as the kids, it’s up to them.”

Reporter

Among the dances offered at AL, homecoming and prom seem to take the reigns when it comes to the chatter amongst students.

The winter formal, however, doesn’t come close to the hype of the other dances.

“The school is less promotive towards the dance and nobody ever talks about winter formal,” senior Jordan Freeman said.

During the week leading up to homecoming, there are a number of days designated to dressing up and showing off your school spirit in order to get the school amped up for the upcoming dance.

This week of wearing goofy outfits is a great way to get students involved in school activities. During the week of winter formal however, there aren’t any days designated to promoting the dance. This lack of promotion would lead some to be-

ers can help get students motivated to donate,they can also donate. It’s all up to how the teacher wants to have the class participate.

“There will be announcements about the donations,” Springer said.

Additionally, there are

posters around the school for the pennies for patients, and they will be giving announcements about it. It starts in January and ends in March--those are the months when you can donate your spare change to Pennies for Patients at ALHS.

-senior Saffron Springer

“This (Pennies for Patients) will be a challenge within the school to see which class can raise the most,” Co-President of Key Club Saffron Springer said.

Whichever second hour class donates the most money get a catered lunch from

“There was a coach in the midwest that has Lymphoma and pennies for patients helped his family so he wanted to make this a bigger thing with the schools in the midwest,” said Sarah Steinmetz, Key Club sponsor.

That is the reason AL

DECA hosts Vegas Nights Jaime Huerta

decided to start the pennies for patients last year.

And by doing this, Key Club has helped people.

“Teachers can be involved as much as the kids, it’s up to them,” Springer said. It’s not just the students that can only do it. Teach-

lieve there would be fewer people at the dance, but DECA teacher Kristy Courter believes that is not true.

“We get about the same number of people at winter formal and

the winter. We try to find a Saturday where there’s not a lot going on,” Courter said.

Some students experiences suggest the dance was just as popular as homecoming and prom. One student sug-

“The dance was a blast. I loved being with my friends for our last winter formal.”

-senior Luz Villarreal homecoming,” Courter s a i d .

Courter adds a little insight into why we have the winter formal along with why it may seem less of a promoted dance to some students.

“The budget is smaller.

It’s just something to do in

gest an explanation to why the crowd seemed smaller.

“There was a good amount of people but it didn’t seem like it was as much as homecoming because it was in a bigger space,” junior Merzedes Hart said.

Although some students don’t find the winter formal as interesting as other dances, for most students, the night was full of fun, dancing, and creating memories with friends. The night was packed full of dance goodies: loud music, bright lights, and a mosh pit of people dancing to tie the whole Las Vegas theme together. All in all the dance was a success in the eyes of the participants. Another winter formal has passed leaving one senior with a memory to cherish for the years to come.

“The dance was a blast. I loved being with my friends for our last winter formal,” senior Luz Villarreal said.

Boxes like this one are around the school to collect donations. Photo by Nathan Vorce.

AL scouts rank up School scouts earn the title of Eagle Sean Veazie Reporter

A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. This is the Boy Scouts of America’s law; the values all Boy Scouts strive to be like. Nobody embodies these morals better than Eagle Scouts.

Robert-Baden Powell began the Boy Scouts when he noticed English boys reading the manual for wilderness survival designed for the British Army. He rewrote the manual into a book called “Scouting For Boys” and tested it by taking 22 boys to Brownsea Island for a campout. The resulting success led to the founding of the Boy Scouts, and later to the Boy Scouts of America in 1912.

The first stage of scouting is in place to teach scoutcraft skills, or a rudimentary knowledge and includes the ranks, Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class. The second stage in the scouting program teaches leadership skills and mastery of scouting. The ranks in the second stage are Star, Life, and finally, Eagle.

“The best part of being an Eagle Scout is being a leader to younger scouts and teaching them the skills I’ve learned over the years”,

senior Scott Brown said.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is the goal of most serious boy scouts, for it is the highest rank in scouting, and is respected by all ranks, including that of scoutmasters. The process takes, at the very least, one year and ten months. One month for tenderfoot, two for Second Class, three for First Class, four for Star, and six for both Life and Eagle. This is the fastest that it can be accomplished and usually takes five to seven years to complete every rank on the path to become an Eagle Scout.

An important part, the moment all Eagle Scouts wait for is their Eagle Scout project. The Eagle Scout projects are services that the boys can do to benefit the community.

These projects can be a wide

variety of tasks. The Echoes’ own Kelly Hickey has recently obtained the title of Eagle, and his project was to plant trees at College View Elementary School. The only requirement is that is has to benefit the community and has to be approved by the Board of Review, the council of Scoutmasters that decides when you move up the ranks.

“My Eagle Scout project was to make registration booths at Wilson Island Recreation Center,” Brown said.

Eagle Scouts have to work for years, go through many different trials, and are taught skills they never thought possible. While doing this, they learn about themselves, their fellow scouts, their community, and their nation, more than ever before.

News

Echoes January 2014

Nathan Vorce | News Editor

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AP shirts show dedication, commitment course. Recently, the AP Microeconomics class has ordered such shirts for the students participating in the course.

AP Microeconomics teacher Myron Wilder believes that the t-shirt are very symbolic of the class and what goes on inside the closed doors of the classroom. Wilder got the idea for class t-shirts at a social studies conference

account for the final design.

“The students seemed very excited for them.

Everyone was glad to have some input on the design,” Wilder said.

The students in the class also agree the t-shirts are beneficial. Junior Brendan Hartman believes the t-shirts show that the students currently enrolled in the class have devoted time and energy to the class, and have

in Boston, where one of the topics was growing your AP class.

“In the winter, I was thinking about ways to get more kids involved, some traditions that show this as a class students could feel good about joining. The t-shirt idea came up,” Wilder said.

Wilder found the students expressed lots of interest in the idea of class t-shirts, and described the process of making the t-shirts very group oriented, taking input from class members into

a way to show the work they’ve done. “(The t-shirts) show a dedication to the class.

We’ve earned the shirt by going to the class. I think this idea should be implemented more,” Hartman said.

Fellow junior Harrison Jones echoes Hartman’s idea about the shirts being representative of the course and believes they can be seen as motivation.

“It’s an incentive that makes you look smarter,” Jones said.

The design for the shirt is

original, featuring a cow on the front of the shirt with the words, “See the cow, be the cow” underneath the picture.

On the back, it reads “AP Microeconomics 2015, Price is sticky.”

“Our class settled on a slogan used in our materials.

The cow is an optical illusion,

where you either see the cow or you don’t. Eventually if you stick with the material long enough, and study hard, you’ll see the cow,” Wilder said.

It’s an incentive that makes you look smarter.”

- junior Harrison Jones

The front of the AP Microeconomics class t-shirt.

Photo submitted by Myron Wilder.

Nathan Vorce Co-editor in chief

Sometimes, courses go beyond simply teaching and learning. In some classes, there is a unique feel of students and teachers coming

together to make the class more lively. One way of capturing the memories made in the class is to make a t-shirt, which also serves as a way to promote the course, and to represent the abundance of material involved in the

The back of the AP Microeconomics t-shirt. Photo submitted by Myron Wilder.

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Dani Rambo | Opinion Editor

Opinion

Echoes

Gender roles revealed through holiday Ladies should step up Leaving it to the guy Kelly Hickey Reporter

Valentine’s Day can be a very stressful time for couples. With evenings consisting of candies, flowers, and romantic dinners, it can be overbearing for some.

There’s a lot of planning that goes into Valentine’s Day to make it “oh-so-special”.

But overall, which gender appears to put more of an effort into planning; boys or girls? Most boys don’t seem to care as much about such a lovey-dovey, gooey holiday as the girls do. Even in elementary school when we would hold Valentine’s Day parties, I was more interested in the chocolate myself than the lame Scooby-Doo cards and their cheesy jokes. The majority of the planning for Valentine’s Day, in my opinion, should come from the dedicated female in the relationship.

The general belief is that girls are usually more organized than boys are.

Boys are sometimes depicted

as being forgetful, getting the roses at the last minute or quickly scribbling down sweet words on a card. Girls plan ahead and will get the necessary essentials ahead of time, which make them better at planning for special events like this.

Girls care about Valentine’s Day more than the boys do, so they would be willing to put a bigger effort into it. Girls have a better memory when remembering other’s preferences like favorite colors and flowers and are able to utilize that knowledge in planning for special occasions. Reasons like this are why I believe girls are more suited to be better planners for Valentine’s Day events.

There is a science about why girls have a deeper emotional desire on Valentine’s Day, and on a day to day basis. According to fitbrains.com, “Women typically have a larger limbic system than men, which makes them more in touch and expressive with their emotions. Women

are usually more empathic and comprehensive in thinking, while men focus on exact issues and disregard impertinent information.

Men have a difficult time understanding emotions not explicitly verbalized but can think more logically.”

While some think the guys should do all the planning for this special day, they forget all the planning men do throughout the year.

In a typical relationship, the guy is expected to take the first course of action. This includes making dinner reservations, surprising the girl after a stressful day, and paying for fancy dinners, as well as asking the girl out in the first place!

In the end, why do we have to argue over who should do the planning? Both genders should hold roles while planning their perfect day. Relationships require effort from both ends, and working together to make each other’s Valentine’s Day special is rewarding. But what do I know? I’ll just stick to the chocolate.

Audrey Hays Reporter

Being the month of January, I am here to give a little advice on the holiday that marks the month of February. One of my fondest memories from my elementary days was when second grade teachers sent us home with a list of our fellow classmates so each student could receive and make valentines, some even coming with candy. Instead of tiny chocolates wrapped in a cute, expensive box, there were lollipops and pixie sticks attached. Since growing up myself and ladies alike know the tradition of passing out valentines drastically changed. Upon the generations men and women questioned which role their significant other would play. While love was woven more into the meaning, it soon became a habit when men worldwide wore the pants in making it a success. There are the few who leave us guessing like

the game Clue until showing us what they managed to sneak behind our backs while others fail and we discover the goodies in store.

I believe guys are appropriate for the responsibility of pleasing us gals, which women at this point will frown and get to think the point of the arrow should be turned around.

Among the cheesy poems, the sentimental red roses, vacations and big stuffed bears, the guilt usually starts here. It’s alright to have an impulse to treat your man, but if any woman knows that just like Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day is for men to absorb those they let Cupid shoot. Let’s face it, guys don’t do so well when it comes to simple things like parenting, house duties, grocery shopping, or cooking. Mostly we keep them around for yard work, someone to watch sports with, drink beer, take out the trash and for other accounts throughout daily life. The one chore they manage to do just right is pampering us

every Valentine’s day.

I don’t mind couples that have made arrangements to switch roles in paying the bill, getting the next round of drinks, or getting treats at the movies as long as they keep me from falling in step with their motives. What counts to me as a perfect Valentines Day whether it’s full of little gifts or a simple dinner, anything my guy planned would not make me think twice that the role of doer should be switched. It’s not so often through the 365 days a year lovers embrace what connected them as one. The holidays that couples enjoy jointly are: Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Birthdays, and Valentine’s Day. Your closeness may not reflect long lists consisting of sappy girl flicks or paperback fairytales, but it’s what you got. So to end here on this calendar of love, Feb. 14th to me has been renamed Couples Day, where a simple smile is all that’s expected because just letting our man absorb our love can sometimes be enough.

‘Back to the Future’ predictions for year 2015 Taylor Daugherty Reporter

Mark your calendars, because it’s finally here.

2015, the year that Marty McFly goes Back to the Future. “Back to the Future Part II” was filled with promises of what 2015 would be like. Will 2015 actually live up to what Back to the Future promised?

Filled with promises of future technology, Back to the Future is a classic.

It features flying cars and self tying shoes. Things that would make life easier. Sadly none of these advancements

or devices have made it into our daily lives. All of these promises were never lived up to.

One movie prediction that is in the works is the Chicago Cubs becoming the World Series Champs.

This year, the team’s major free agent pick up was Jon Lester. They are under a lot of pressure to win with a 25-year-old prediction controlling this team. A very important 25-year-old prediction at that.

Another prediction that

fans are waiting for is the futuristic fashion. Not the ‘80s idea of futuristic fashion that was shown in the movie but the idea of self-tying shoes. Yes, the Nike Power Laces. These are probably some of the coolest shoes to hit the big screen and a must have for super fans.

As it turns out Nike is trying to make this possible! Yes, sometime in 2015 we will be able to wear power laces.

Most importantly there was the idea of time travel.

It’s the biggest lie of them all.

It didn’t necessarily promise that we’d have it, but they made the entire movie about it! I mean the idea of time travel is definitely scary and pretty mind boggling but I mean it’s 2015 and we have some crazy technology.

Sadly there are promises that won’t get lived up to.

The idea of self-drying jackets is a little far out.

I mean, can you imagine how bulky that would be in order for it to dry it self?

Another far fetched idea is a practical hoverboard. While

it could be done, it hasn’t.

We have so many things that are actually way cooler than some of the things featured in Back to the Future. Look at the televisions that we have. They get bigger and thinner all the time. Same with cell phones. Every year new phones come out and the screens are bigger and the phone is much thinner than the last. Even though not having these devices is a total let down, we should still mark the calendars for Oct. 21.

place for watching funny, videos, or just for listening to music there’s more to the site than what people realized.

FIrst off, teachers use YouTube in many ways either showing their students a tutorial video on a lesson, or showing a decent anti bullying video, or just sharing a song or a funny video to entertain their students. Students can learn pretty much anything from going on YouTube whether

it’s learning how to tie a tie, learn math, learn how to play music, etc. So in other words, YouTube can help improve your lifestyle in a variety of ways.

Although there are a few things teachers will have to be on the look out for are students who will choose to just search up random videos rather than do their work.

Also, some students might cause distractions by having the video they selected play

too loudly and it might distract students. A simple solution to this problem is to just tell the class to either turn down the volume on whatever electronic device they are using. They could either access YouTube from either their phones or from a laptop--that’s assuming that their school assigns them a laptop.

YouTube should not be blocked because teachers and studentd not only use it

for entertainment uses or for educational resources. They use it in a way to improve their own lifestyles as well.

YouTube can be used in a wide variety of ways either you’re looking up a video to listen to a song, or you’re watching a tutorial video, or just a funny video. Blocking YouTube would take away all that from everyone. YouTube is both educational and it helps improves lifestyles for anyone to use.

Important uses of YouTube in and out of class Anthony Ruiz Reporter

Y

ouTube is an amazing site to watch videos for both entertainment and education and both teachers and students use this site however they desire. Now what would happen if schools were to block YouTube?

Teachers use it to show their students instruction videos on how to do their work and everything while students use it for more entertainment uses. YouTube isn’t just a

Opinion

Echoes

Staff Editorial

Dani Rambo | Opinion Editor

Reality of New Year Resolutions Ah, the age old tradition of New Years’ Resolutions.

Trying to make ourselves better through a meaningless goal. So many to choose from. Well, to start off with, there is always the losingweight-quickly goal. Also the I’m-going-to-donate-tonsof-money-to-charity goal, which we know will probably never happen, unless we hit the jackpot in the lottery, which is another goal on the to-do list. Which, again, will never happen. Then, of course, there is the always useful I’m-going-to-changemy-whole-life-overnight resolution, which is basically a summation of almost all resolutions that have ever been made. To be honest, the tradition of coming up with New Years’ resolutions will only highlight a person’s flaws. Take for example the losing weight goal. Trying to follow that one is only going to make you feel worse about yourself, and cause stress. Reminding yourself frequently to not mess up and break your resolution wouldn’t be a great way to spend your time either. Is there any real need for these silly vows? Of course there isn’t, but the illusion that

you are changing something makes it seem like it’s worthwhile. Then, when you crash and burn, you resolve to do better next year on your resolution keeping, and it becomes a cycle. Wash, rinse, and repeat. Oh, but we can’t forget about that lovely productive feeling you get when you come up with the perfect resolution that you swear upon all past resolutions you are going to keep. There is also that

feeling you get when you realize everything you vowed to do was forgotten weeks ago. These feelings are more often than not followed up by a flippant phrase, “There’s always next year.” Maybe if we made our goals more realistic, we could actually keep them. The thing is, we get caught up in trying to change everything too fast, when really, it doesn’t need changing at all. If you must change, only fix one thing at

a time. Maybe two, if you like to live dangerously. Keeping a resolution is harder than it looks; if you can find a person that can keep one, both you and that person deserve a prize. There’s just something about resolutions that almost makes you want to break them. If it is a tradition to make them, then it’s a tradition to break them.

We simply make careless promises we know we can’t keep. How about we just do

away with this senseless act of promise-making; why couldn’t we just resolve to make things better, to be a better person, and make the world a nicer place to live as a whole? Yes, it sounds cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Why do we make these unachievable goals for ourselves to try to follow? We do not need resolutions each year to tell us how to live our lives.

Hailey Carson

back on myself now, I see how very oblivious I was to the coincidences happening around me.

Now almost daily I find my thoughts drifting off thinking about the irony of things, and I realize that a large part of, if not all, the events in my life are because of these very things. There have been countless times where I have felt relief flood my body because I happened to say just the right thing, or move before I was caught in the middle of something that was sure to bring on a wave of self-chastising for what I should have have done. In the moments of pure stress

and I am procrastinating the work, I often think of what could have been done to prevent it or take it away. It is usually something that is just out of reach. When I was 15 I longed for a car and a job, now it’s when I can finally graduate and move out. I see now that there will always be things that I am waiting for, and if things happened just even at just a slightly different time it would just work itself out.

Upon understanding this, I saw that I must stay motivated to grasp these goals. Instead of just hoping for things to work themselves out, I take steps

to ensure that I have all that I can and am taking steps to minimize those “If I could..” thoughts. Staying motivated will eliminate some of the problems altogether. The most common things I have struggled with is homework and time management. My first job really improved both of these. I had to learn how to finish tasks that I was given at work or else face consequences. The money I was getting was a factor in my effort, but I compared that to school work. An education is needed for a higher paying job, with that money I can work towards the house and car I want. Since I have been

working for my money, my new hobby is to compare what I make to the cost of living, and the extra things I want. It really makes me wiser when spending it. I see more connections from my actions, and things that happen in life because of them.

The feeling that I have in my gut that draws me towards or drives me away from something is a valuable thing, so I factor that into all of my decisions. Sometimes, choices I make seem unexplainable as to why I would do them, but I have learned to trust my intuition because it is usually right.

by the fact that several nations have programs in place a lot like this such as Austria, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France, Iceland, Germany, Israel, and the United Kingdom’s. Canada also has this program in place which is much more practiced than other countries. This proposal is in place to help end child poverty and benefit impoverished people as a whole.

This idea is good in theory but in practice it would be unadvised. This is very much a child support system except from the government. Child support is money paid by someone usually a parent or guardian to benefit the child and the

money is used for only that child or children. This is how it is supposed to work. But many people report that the parent who receives child support just puts the money in with the rest of the income and uses it with everything else. If this system worked as it was meant to be the cash should be going to the child’s well being.

What could be predicted with this kind of system is what has happened to welfare recipients, or more to a point to the people who abuse welfare. Welfare is in place for non working households until they get back on their feet, but a large portion of people abuse this system. They sit around and take the money from the

government and never get to work again. A way to get more money from welfare is by having more children.

The more children they have to support the more money the government sends them-simple as that. But the thing many welfare recipients have done is bring more children into this world where none of those responsible for the well being for the children is working. The “parents” in this just use the kids to get more money for themselves.

The money doesn’t go to the children to help raise them.

This is what could happen with this allowance, people have extra kids just to get the extra three hundred dollars a month.

For every kind of support

system there is someone abusing it. The proposal I make is that the money goes directly to the children after the age of twelve unless in certain circumstances. In this case it makes it much more difficult for the parents to take the money and spend it on things that don’t benefit the child. Another thing that could be done is that the money goes to certain shelters that every month parents can go pick up food and clothing and other things for the child. The items all have a point value and after they reach three hundred they can’t have anymore. This makes sure that the money is being used to benefit the children and not the parents.

Since starting my first job, I feel that I have grown from who I previously was, and I have gained a different point of view on life. Looking

Reporter

Matt Bruenig, a reporter for The Week, is proposing a new government policy where the federal government pays $300 a month to families for every child they have.

This idea has been supported

Editors-in-Chief Jessi Borwick Nathan Vorce

Section Editors

Dani Rambo Kendal Bainbridge Will Schademann Tanner Hochstetler

Graphic Design Editor Don Vinkenberg

Business Manager Calab Holder

Circulation Manager Logan Erwin

Reporters

Los Ecos

Francisca Aguilar-Padilla Jazmine Martinez Ricardo Lopez Raquel Lopez Juan Nunez

Adviser

Gerry Appel

New support system to end poverty Sean Veazie

ECHOES

Kelly Hickey Sean Veazie Hailey Carson Alyssa Clayton Audrey Hays Jake Peterson Anthony Ruiz Taylor Daugherty Jaime Huerta Taylor Bever Emma Seilstad

Student reality check on growing up Reporter

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The Echoes is published by the newspaper staff at Abraham Lincoln High School, and exists to serve as an open forum for the students, faculty, administration and community.

All state and federal laws regarding the publications of student materials shall apply, and the Echoes will not publish materials which also fall under the guidelines established by the Council Bluffs Public Schools system, and are deemed libelous, obscene, or a material and substantial disruption to normal classroom activities.

The views expressed are not those of the Council Bluffs Public Schools, faculty, or administration.

Any student, faculty, or staff member wishing to contribute materials will need to submit a letter to the editor within deadline restriction; however, final publications is at the discretion of the staff. Letters to the editor are encouraged, and must be 400 words or less in length and signed; letters will be printed as received. Every attempt will be made to verify the authenticity of the author and no anonymous letters will be published.

Advertising will not be accepted for all products or services that are illegal for minors to possess or utilize.

Advertisers wishing to reserve publication space should contact us by:

Phone: 712-328-6481 Facebook: ALHS Echoes Twitter: @ALHSJournalism Web site: alechoes.com NSPA Member Publication

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Feature

January 2015

Spread Design By Jessi Borwick

outside perspective of administrators personal lives Todd Barnett Danielle Rambo Opinion Editor

M

ost kids don’t even realize or happen to think about the outside lives of teachers, but if you caught Principal Todd Barnett outside of school chances are pretty high that you will either see him working with his kid’s baseball team or golfing. One thing his family likes to do together is travel and he is a really big sports fan. His list of favorite sport teams consists of the Broncos, Nuggets,

Rockies, Avalanche, and the Buffaloes. If he could pick something out for dinner tonight it would have to be steak and one of his favorite movies is “Top Gun”.

The band he likes the most would have to be Florida Georgia Line. Also, Barnett went to college at New Mexico Highlands University where he majored in social studies and minored in secondary education.

Once again we look at administrators and teachers so differently until we learn more about the likes and interests they have.

Principal Todd Barnett’s son Conner plays football

tom Lowndes Nathan Vorce

Co-Editor in Chief

T

om Lowndes, S c h o o l Administrative Manager at AL, lives a very family first lifestyle. He has two daughters: Abby and Meg, and two grandsons: Charlie and Alex.

“Family is always number one to me. I have one daughter in Minneapolis, and one daughter in Chicago, so my wife and I travel all the time,” Lowndes said.

When he is not travelling, Lowndes enjoys watching sports. He cheers for the Green Bay Packers in the NFL, the Chicago Bulls in the NBA, and The University of Iowa for

college athletics.

Another pastime Lowndes savors is music.

Adept at playing the guitar, Lowndes took lessons for six weeks in college, and then taught himself the rest.

“I played some

songs for my wife on her birthday, and my three year old grandson Alex joined in with his harmonica.

After every song, he grabbed my hand, got up, and bowed to the crowd,” Lowndes said.

During this

Assisstant Principal Tom Lowndes and his family.

summer, Lowndes plans on travelling with his family to St. Simon’s Island in Georgia.

“Family and travel are my passions,” Lowndes said.

Bridgette Bellows Calab Holder

Business Manager

For the student body, administrators may seem phantom-like and out of view.

However, their activities are definitely not singularly geared towards work.

Assistant Principal Bridgette Bellows has much appreciation for leisure activities.

“I have read Pride and Prejudice many, many times (perhaps close to fifty). I have also read nearly every ‘spin off’ made of the novel.”

Bellows began her career in education as a teacher, gradually climbing to her current position of Assistant Principal.

“I started as a science teacher and I am very passionate about the

study of all sciences. I knew that I really like to work with young people, and I was aware very early on that my life’s work would be serving others in some capacity.”

Bellows also enjoys

“I have a sister who is eleven years younger than me and a brother who is 22 years younger than me. My sister is a nurse and is one of the most kind and generous people I know. Despite our age

dislikes, challenges, and dreams of a teenager. I think it helps me relate more with the students I work with.”

The services provided by Bellows are invaluable, and

Jeff Novotny Andrea Milstead

Introduction to Journalism

E

ver wondered about our school administrators’ personal lives? Activity Director Jeff Novotny is just like every other adult. Though he is busy with school events such as sport games,

concerts, and meets, he spends much time with his family. His wife is a teacher at Kirn so he tries to help with their kids a lot because of how busy she is. He has two kids; one two year old and an 11 month old. His favorite restaurant is Famous Dave’s and his wife likes Chipotle, and he claims those seem to

Assisstant Principal/Athletic Director Jeff Novotny and his family.

spending time with her family and is grateful for the support that she receives from her loved ones.

difference, my brother and I are very close.

He gives me good insight and perspective regarding the likes,

without her steadfast commitment, the student body would be lacking crucially needed support.

Fun Facts • “I was the state (Nebraska) champion my senior year in high school (1990-1991) in cross country, 1600m and 3200m runs.”

-Novotny • Won a singing contest when he was in eighth grade.

-Barnett • die hard packers fan and plays guitar -Lowndes • Loves the novel “pride and prejudice” and has a spin off novel close by when she has nothing else to read.

-Bellows • When he was 21, he moved to LA and lived on the beach for two years.

-Mclaughlin

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be the two places he eats out at a lot. It appears that family is a very huge part of his life.

“Family first and foremost,” Novotny said.

Novotny seems to put lots of his life into this very foundation of Abraham Lincoln High School as he gets to work at 7:30 a.m. every morning and doesn’t have much free time left except time with family. He does enjoy golfing and other sports though and thinks of it as his time away. He also spends Sundays watching television and his favorite show is Pawn Stars.

Novotny devotes his life almost entirely to this school and his family. Without him, school sports, clubs, and activities wouldn’t have anyone to keep them in track.

Michael McLaughlin Hailey Carson Reporter

J

ust like students do other things outside of school, so do teachers and administrators.

When Assistant Principal, Mike McLaughlin, leaves school, he heads home to his wife and two kids. McLaughlin and his son Owen, who just turned 13, like to go and watch sporting events together, specifically college football. His favorite team is Notre Dame, which they recently saw play against LSU in Nashville. McLaughlin plays golf and enjoys reading, but can’t pick a favorite book.

“There are so many good ones where do I start,” McLaughlin said. “Anything by Tom Clancy, he writes so many good ones it would be hard to pick.”

McLaughlin spent a week in the bahamas with his family last year, and would visit every weekend if he could. He would like to go to Ireland in the future. When he was 21, he moved to LA and lived on

Assisstant Principal Michael Mclaughlin and his family at the Bahamas.

the beach for two years.

According to him, if he won the lottery he would spend the rest of his life traveling, and trying to spread the money out with his friends and family to do the most good with it.

He taught history before, but decided he wanted to do something about problems so he became an administrator. As for future plans, he likes where he is at now.

Feature 8 Echoes Spotlight on AP scholar Joey Helm Jessica Borwick | Co-Editor-in-Chief

Hailey Carson Reporter

E

dward Helm, whom many know as Joey, hates dusting his house, enjoys eating cereal at any time of the day, and would save his money for college if he won the lottery. One day he would like to visit Japan, because he has heard from people who have visited there liked it, and he would like to experience the culture.

His favorite colors are red and blue and, like many teenagers, describes himself as lazy. He was born on Aug. 6, 1997. This senior has quite an academic reputation also.

Helm has made Gold Honor Roll almost every trimester, showing that he keeps his grades up and has a high gpa. He has passed AP tests for Language and

Composition, Physics, Biology and Calculus, and received an AP Scholar Award. In Oct. 2013, Helm scored a 33 on the ACT. After taking it again, he got a 35 out of a possible score of 36.

His plans for college include going to the University of Iowa to pursue a degree in either actuarial or computer science, he hasn’t decided which yet. He is thinking about leaving the region to earn his masters, but the destination is also undecided.

Despite being involved in multiple activities, he still has lots of free time in and out of school. For his senior year, he loaded up on TAG classes with Sarah Steinmetz, TAG Strategist, to work on filling out scholarships and planning for after high school.

“He is a bright student,” Steinmetz said. “He has a lot of potential.”

January 2015

He is enrolled in Composition, AP Chemistry, Calculus 2, and Intermediate Spanish. He participates in TV News, tennis, and Mathletes.

Before, he worked at McDonalds for two years, but quit the summer before his junior year. He wanted to get internships at Gallop, but it didn’t work out. While Helm doesn’t have a formal job now, he makes some money by tutoring other people. He tries to mimic a teacher as much as possible to help explain things to his pupil, and he can help with pretty much anything.

He spends a lot of time on Reddit, a social networking, entertainment, and news websites, playing or reading about games. He plays most of his favorite games, like League of Legends and Counter Strike, on PC. “Academically, stuff

comes to me easy enough that I haven’t really built up a work ethic,” Helm said.

According to him, the key to success is effort, you have to work for things. All of his achievements have been from working in school, not

actually donating much of his free time towards them.

“I don’t study,” Helm said. “Even though that stuff looks pretty good, it could be better. I find that school isn’t too crazy difficult if you put effort behind it.”

Helm is interested to see what he could accomplish if he did study.

According to him, he has seen people who don’t take academics in stride, try hard and do pretty cool things.

Photo by Dani Rambo

Adults abusing drugs affecting loved ones Jaime Huerta Reporter

We all know drugs are bad and how they affect the human body. The user isn’t the only one affected, however. Do you ever stop to think about how they affect the people involved in the user’s life and the toll they take on the relationships with their loved ones? Parents that use substances risk putting their relationships with their children in jeopardy. In some cases, teens have been forced to mature faster than others and play the part of the parent in the family. This is a process known as “parentification.”

“This happens often because of mistrust in parents. If they are actively using drugs they are sometimes viewed as undependable. Parents want to be more like friends and neglect their parental duties,”

says Brandon Jerred, LMFT a therapist specializing in drug and alcohol abuse in adults and adolescents.

When parents are abusing drugs they tend to neglect parental duties and focus strongly on the drug itself instead of their children. This hinders the bonding process between the parents and children. With the disruption of the bonding process comes difficulties the child may face later in life. Children become more mistrustful in others and maybe less willing to learn from adults causing kids to rebel against figures of authority according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

“This occurs often because of the living environment, parents are actively rebelling against authority which causes kids to think it’s okay,” Jerred said.

Adults and experts specializing in the field of substance abuse aren’t the only ones recognizing the connections between parental drug abuse and the drug abuse that occurs in their children’s lives as well. High school students see drug abuse in their daily lives. Kids are more likely to abuse drugs if a parent or guardian is abusing them as well.

“I think this happens because that’s what they grew up around and it’s what they’re used to,” said Meghan Glaze, a senior attending Lincoln Southeast.

There’s a significant amount of research showing how parental drug abuse can affect children as they grow up. If the parents are abusing drugs while the child is still developing in the womb, the side effects are much worse and possibly life threatening.

“I think the drugs cause

problems for the child’s mental development,” Glaze said.

In some cases if a parent is abusing drugs, children may become dependent on the drug while still in the womb.

“A lot of research shows the drugs are admitted from parents into the child which causes developmental problems. Some kids are already addicted to drugs when born. Withdrawal

symptoms have been seen in newborns,” Jerred said.

Not only do the drugs damage the kids physically but they also damage them emotionally. The parents put all their attention into the drugs and neglect their children’s needs causing children to want to rebel.

“They think the rebellion will bring attention from the drugs their parents are doing to them,” said Jordan Freeman, a senior attending

Abraham Lincoln High School.

Parental drug abuse is happening all over the United States; if you or a loved one is suffering from substance abuse please seek help. There are a multitude of facilities that can help with the effects of substance abuse and if you’re in need of assistance contact Heartland Family Services at heartlandfamilyservice.org.

“A lot of research shows the drugs are admitted from parents into the child which causes developmental problems. Some kids are already addicted to drugs when born. Withdrawal symptoms have been seen in newborns.”

-Brandon Jerred, LMFT Therapist

Additional sleep creating productive students Logan Erwin

Circulation Manager Slacking off has definitely been a huge issue lately, with test scores dropping for some, students sleeping in class, or even skipping school. There is a solution to the problem: start school just one hour later.

SleepDex says students need approximately one more hour of sleep per day than an adult does in order to focus on a normal basis. There are four stages of sleep; Falling asleep, light sleep, deep sleep, and dream sleep. Falling asleep and light sleep takes approximately 30 minutes total, basically a little nap.

Deep sleep can last an hour or so, which you feel groggy when you wake up from it.

The best rest you get is when you’re in dream sleep for at least three hours, studies say.

If you set school back by an hour then a student could go from groggy and inattentive to focused and actively participating. Slacking off and lack of sleep correlate perfectly; fatigue, lack of motivation, concentration and memory problems, and even other health risks can, and most likely will, harm students. Weight gain, irritability, and inability to cope with stress adds to the difficulty of not being able to complete work. In a recent study, over 50% of students get 7 or less hours of sleep each night. An astonishing

82% of middle school and high school students wake up irritable and tired, a statistic that is beyond too high.

Now the new rule of setting a ten absence rule is counter-productive. For example, a student who

gets little sleep can easily oversleep his entire first hour and build up 10 absences easily. Extend by an hour and students can sleep longer, get breakfast for energy for the day, and even help other students since they have that

“ In a recent study, over 50% of students get 7 or less hours of sleep each night.”

-SleepDex

energy and focus. According to Student Pulse, a site that writes articles about student life and education, a teenager’s “internal clock” makes it much harder for them to sleep before 11 pm.

Many students work to better themselves with jobs and advanced classes but add that in with social life and they don’t get much sleep at night, sometimes much later than 11 at night. If the school gave a little leniency then the effects would be massively beneficial. In fact, some schools have tested this theory and students miss class less, pay more attention in class, perform better in class, and report lower levels of depression even!

On the other side of school, staff and teachers

could use the extra hour as well. They could use it for sleep to get the same gains the students get or come in to work at the same time and be even more prepared for students with extra material or learn ahead. This time for more attentive students means more material can be put in to class time, yielding smarter and more attentive students. It is a continuous cycle of bettering one’s self.

We are the next generation, we must be strong and independent to create a bright future rather than have our lives rot and ruin from stress and health complications for the first 18 years of our lives. “A rolling stone gathers no moss,” advice that some may wish to consider.

Echoes

January 2015

Arts & Entertainment

Kendal Bainbridge | A&E page editor

Tim Burtons newest film opens eyes wide Logan Erwin Reporter

Recently, acclaimed director Tim Burton released a movie called “Big Eyes” where a woman named Margaret Keane is a world renowned painter: yet her husband is taking the credit and fame for the eerie big-eyed children paintings. Margaret met a man named Walter Keane in the early 1950s and they were wed since she wasn’t able to support her child. Both parents were trying to become famous with their art until Walter starts taking credit for her art. Over a decade of her keeping the

secret, she divorces him and finally claims the art as her own.

Overall, the movie was very slow-paced yet the dramatic acting of Christopher Waltz as Walter was brilliant.

He played such an emotional role and did so in a way that makes the viewer almost feel bad or pity him. Amy Adams was very lackluster, considering she was the real painter of the big-eyed waifs and the protagonist of the movie. Her role wasn’t very emotional, she was mostly a victim to Walter and his manipulative ways.

It seems as if Burton was trying a different style of movie. He’s mostly iconic for “Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Corpse Bride” but

even for “Dark Shadows,” an eerie film which matches his style, it was criticized heavily. This new, slightly more upbeat, film should not be a recurring theme for Burton.

His cinematography is much like the history of Margaret Keane’s art: very dark and disturbing but they test themselves by taking their original style and heavily modifying it which draws less attention to their work Tim Burton has had a rough past few years, the divorce of Helena Bonham Carter and less successful films has possibly tarnished his reputation and love for filmmaking. Carter and Burton met on the set of Planet Of The Apes in 2001 and continued work to work to-

9

gether til Dark Shadows in 2012. It could be speculated that since their divorce, Burton has lost a certain asset to his career, Burton and Carter work beautifully together but it has been noted that other films without both of them have been slightly less successful.

Compared to the actual story of Margaret Keane’s life, the movie is very accurate. Key scenes like her leaving Frank Ulbrich and where she proves the paintings are her work are beautifully recreated. Burton did a wonderful job of this movie yet a lot more could be desired. If possible he should stick to his eerie and mysterious cartoon style, nothing too serious.

A walk into dreams with Poet Anderson Anthony Ruiz Reporter

Critically acclaimed art project called “The Dream Walker” is the highly anticipated multimedia project by the experimental supergroup Angels And Airwaves. The project is an album, a short film, a short comic book series, a graphic novel, also it includes video animations.

The album and short film were announced in 2011 shortly before the release of their previous album “Love Pt 2.” While the comic book series, graphic novel, the videos and animations were announced on Oct.7, 2014. This is the first album they made to not be produced by their “5th member” Jeff “Critter” Newell who died on New Year’s Eve of 2011. The singles from The Dream Walker are “The Wolfpack” while

more singles are yet to be released. Although there were three other songs release before the album was released.

The songs were “Paralyzed” released on October 7th 2014, “Bullets In The Wind” released on November 17th, and finally “Tunnels” on December 1st.

The album “The Dream Walker” is the 5th studio album by Angels And Airwaves. So far its one of their highest rated albums scoring both perfect and near perfect scores on charts all over the world. lt has been highly praised by both fans and critics due to the fact that its has more “texture and dimension” as stated by a critic from AllMusic. The album expands their normal genre of music that consists of Alternative Rock to Dark Ambient electronic music.

The central message of the

Photo by Anthony Ruiz album is dreams, near death experiences, sleep paralysis, and the central character Poet Anderson. lt has been

highly praised by both fans and critics and is considered to be the best album to date. The Dream Walker is

for digital release only and was streamed exclusively on Rolling Stone.com on Dec. 8 for anyone to view.

The short film title Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker is a 15 minute film that’s also a part of The Dream Walker Project. The film has been highly praised and won best animation at the Toronto International Short Film Festival. All music in the short film we’re song recorded and made by Angels And Airwaves songs feature in the film were “Paralyzed”, “The Disease”, and “Tunnels.” Along side the album is a prequel comic book series and novels that have new characters and a brand new story while still tying together with the Poet Anderson storyline.

The central character, Poet Anderson, is modeled after the lead singer Tom De-

Revealing mysteries of true holiday cheer “It means a time when you can get away from your school life and be with your extended families for some people and for some people to have gifts given to people out of your own kindness and for people to have the people you love the most next to you.”

-Freshmen, Tristen Arrick

“The holidays, to me, are a special time to spend with family and reflect on how great God is and how blessed you are to have such a loving family to spend these times with. Every Christmas season, all of my extended family comes together for a Christmas party, then spends the night at my grandparent’s so we can all get up and go to service in the morning.”

-Junior Macee Wise

Audrey Hays

Reporter There are few discussions that restate what occurred over winter break, and soon students return to work. The holidays are many things than just giving and receiving gifts. Based on the survey, “What Meaning is the Holiday to You?”, out of 108 responses four students and the assistant principal revealed just how strongly this holiday season meant to them.

“Family and tradition.

I come from a large Irish Catholic family. As a child we always had huge family Christmases. That’s what it’s all about.”

Assistant Principal, Michael McLaughlin

Photos by Audrey Hays

“Holidays to me, means surrounding yourself with loved ones and enjoying a great get- together. Holidays aren’t always about the gifts and giving, there’s more to it. No matter the situation, holidays should be about the people in your life.”

-Senior, Alexis DeMare

“The holidays, to me, are a special time to get together with family and reflect on everything that’s happened in the time before.

Also, they serve as a time to take a break from the stresses of everyday life, and focus not only on what you are thankful for now, and your great moments from the past.”

Sophomore, Jacob Kaufman

longe. He came up with the idea of Poet Anderson back in 2008. Poet Anderson has dark bangs like Tom Delonge did back in 2008. The idea of Poet Anderson came from when Tom Delonge started to watch movies like “Blade Runner”, “A Clockwork Orange”, and animes such as “Aoki Densetsu Shoot.”

Project Dream Walker isn’t over; there will be more books, comics, a digital graphic novel, and a soon to be a full length live action feature film. The album was one of the highest anticipated albums of the year. So far it’s living up to its anticipation with the reviews it’s getting.

The short film won best animation and is highly praised in its reviews. The project has yet to end, in the mean time everyone will have to wait patiently for the next installment to the project.

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Kendal Bainbridge | A&E page editor

Arts & Entertainment

January 2015

Echoes

Is Pinterest too biased against the male gender?

Logan Erwin Emma Seilstad

Reporter Pinterest is a website many people turn to for inspiration, recipes, or just for the need of a good laugh. It is widely mistakened for fe-

males only. However, Pinterest is not just a site for females, it just so happens that a lot of women use it. In fact, there are many ways that men can and do use it.

Although Pinterest has a lot of pins focused towards women, there are many that

can function for both sexes.

A few examples of masculine things you’d find on Pinterest would be; home improvement projects, men’s clothing and accesories, cars and motorcycles, health and fitness, and even sports.

“I mainly use Pinterest

Photo by Emma Seilstad

to look for cars and tattoos,” junior Austen Claar said.

Pinterest is a site that benefits both genders because it has many tutorials, recipes, and links to helpful tips. For women, there are hair tutorials, nail art, and about any beauty tip you can think of. For men there are fitness programs, carpentry tips, instructions, and even things such as video game walkthroughs.

Many specific interest areas are featured on the Pinterest search bar. These specialized boards apply to both genders. The boards are, Place Boards, Architecture, Art, Geek, Food & Drink, History, Health & Fitness, Outdoors, Science & Nature, Tattoos, Technology, and Travel.

Despite the variety of boards, Pinterest still has more feminine pins under each board, thus drawing more females in and pushing

away more males. Certain users, like Paul O’Connor who pins glorious amounts of nerdy media, have beaten the stereotype and accumulated a massive fan base.

Approximately 70 percent of users are female, so it can be assumed that the content that is feminine is somewhere in that 70 percent range.

Even the concept of the site is more feminine since it is technically scrapbooking.

“I use Pinterest to look at DIY projects, women’s fashion, and health & beauty,” Pinterest enthusiast Addie McClain said. “I’m not a crafty person but the DIY projects on Pinterest are so simple and inexpensive.”

Pinterest is the most gender-oriented form of social media with Foursquare and Instagram coming in close second and third with approximately 55 percent each. Luckily this day and age we have many forms of

social media, including variations of Pinterest like Dartitup co-founded by Brandon Harris and Gentlemint cofounded by Brian Kinney are testaments to the manlier version of media.

Pinterest hasn’t just stood by and let this happen though, there have been updates that include ways to save articles and easier ways to discover content they have grown from 42 million monthly users in the beginning of 2014 to 53 million in the beginning of 2015.

Forbes Magazine says Pinterest has 22% of the U.S. population using their site while Twitter has 20%. Right now the Big Three sites are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn in that order yet Pinterest has such a high user base that it’s considered massively successful. Pinterest can be easily gender-based but anyone can still find loads of enjoyable content.

“Unbroken” portrays the soldier but not the man Calab Holder Reporter

Angelina Jolie’s second directorial effort chronicles the life of World War II hero and Olympic runner Louis Zamperini. However, in the eyes of history, the film can’t be categorized as a fully concerted portrayal of Zamperini’s life, when so much of his existence was omitted from the film. The subtitle of Laura Hillenbrand’s seminal book “Unbroken,” upon which the film is based is, “A World War II Story of

Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.”

When watching the film, Zamperini’s experiences as a POW were executed with diligence and attentiveness, but his post-war life in which he receives redemption and learns to cope with his traumatic experiences is given a short mention at the end.

Jolie was certainly able to exhibit the degradation and humiliation that Zamperini was subject to on a daily basis, but I felt that I was historically and even emotionally distanced from the film.

If I wouldn’t have read the book and had no knowledge of the circumstances and effects of the Second World War, then I would be blatantly ignorant to the tribulations that our military, and even the colonial empire of Great Britain, suffered from Japan at the beginning of war. Not only would a bit of historical context educate the audience on the dire situation of our military at the beginning of combat, but it would also provide an emotional component that would extend far beyond Louis’s unthinkable torture and focus also on the morale deadening

victories of Imperial Japanese forces at Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines that our entire nation experienced. With this additional element of historical overview, the situation of Zamperini would not be lessened, but greatly amplified in his overpowering emotions of isolation and hopelessness.

More importantly, the film gives us the prisoner, but not the man that Louis Zamperini was. Apart from the inclusion of Zamperini’s personal mantra “If I can take it, I can make it” the picture attempts no other forays into

Zamperini’s personal beliefs, convictions, or life as an independent civilian of postwar America.

Personally, I am aware of the conditions that our country’s servicemen endured in the Pacific Theater.

My great-grandfather was a POW himself, and he spent three and a half years in a Japanese prison camp. When attending an American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor convention in San Antonio, Texas, my greatgrandfather was asked to conduct an interview with a young student who was interested in hearing his story.

When the interviewer asked him what he wanted to be remembered as, my greatgrandfather responded, “I don’t want to be remembered as a hero. I just want to be remembered as a good father.”

This is the essence of humanity...the triumphs of our servicemen are not only on the battlefields of foreign lands, but in the hearts of the ones that they love.

Their roles in domesticity do not eclipse to their service to their country; they only add to the intensely personal story that makes a soldier an individual.

Pentatonix revolution begins Acapella group shines with new album Emma Seilstad Reporter

Photo by Alyssa Clayton

Trivia Crack a whim of the past?

Alyssa Clayton Reporter

Trivia Crack is a dangerous game. It has the ability to both strengthen your mind and ruin friendships.

This app, with its shiny crowns and its easy gameplay design, has attracted many students, and their class time. Just as its name implies, it is quite addicting.

You can play in challenge mode or just play against a random person, but most people like to play against their friends. If you log in with your Facebook account, you can then challenge any of your friends to a game. To win, you simply have to col-

lect a character from each of the categories; arts, entertainment, history, geography, science, and sports. If you earn coins, you can buy bombs to narrow the answers down for you, making it easier to answer.

There are only two types of questions: Those that are stupidly simple, and the questions that Stephen Hawking couldn’t answer.

There are always those tricky questions that you’ll randomly guess and get right, and the happiness that is provoked by this could be compared to the happiness one would feel if they got a perfect score on the SAT test. The following minutes are filled with words, such as: “Omg,

I didn’t even know the the answer to that one! I totally guessed randomly, and I didn’t even use a bomb!”

As popular as Trivia Crack has been in the past months, the trend is dying down. For a while there, everyone was challenging everyone else, and there was no rest for the phones that contained the app. Could it be that people are actually putting their phones down to converse face to face? That couldn’t possibly be the case. Hopefully the time spent on Trivia Crack made them smarter by teaching them tidbits of information. No doubt, if you play this enough, you will be the undefeated champion of Trivial Pursuit.

Pentatonix have sung their way into many hearts across the world. They have transformed the music charts by adding a dash of acapella to the mix. The unique ensemble is made up of 5 members by the names of Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Avi Kaplan, and Kevin “K.O.” Olusola.

PTX has been making music since 2011 when they competed and won season 3 of The Sing-Off. They have since released a debut EP titled “PTX Volume 1”. In the same year they released their first Holiday album titled “PTXmas”. Their album “PTX Volume Ⅱ”, was their first album to go big. It was rated at number 1 on Billboard’s Independent Album Chart and debuted on the Billboard 200 chart as number 10 in 2013.

After winning The Sing Off they started their acapella revolution into pop music. “I

think they are a very revolutionary new group that is both combining acapella and pop music to form something to get your brain jiving,” freshman Brennan Plummer said.

After being dropped from their original record company, the acapella cover band started up a YouTube page. Currently they have 7,428,387 subscribers. The number will only grow as they continue to post videos that showcase their spin on popular songs. Some of the most viewed videos include: “Daft Punk” mashup with 103 million views, “Evolution of Music” with 49 million views, and “Radioactive” with 91 million views.

Among the covers performed only by the vocal quintet, you will find videos featuring other singers. Such as Lindsey Stirling, Tori Kelly, and an upcoming collab with Meghan Trainor.

2014 has proven to be their best year as their “Daft Punk” medley scored them a Grammy nomination.

The group’s holiday album

“That’s Christmas to Me”, which was released in 2014, has had the most success of all their albums. Not only did it receive a gold and platinum rating by the RIAA, it was the highest-charting holiday album since 1962. It also topped the Billboard 200 at number 2 on the list for 2014.

2015 holds promise to top 2014 as the group announced their “On My Way Home Tour.” The tour will make stops in places all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. Twenty shows have already been sold out, and tickets are going fast.

One reason that Pentatonix is sure to advance in the future is because of their likeability and uniqueness.

“They take music above and beyond, I think. They take what people know and add magic to it, making it something people love.” Junior, Claire Boes said.

As Pentatonix continues to break-through the instrumentally lined walls of the pop music world, they are revolutionizing the way people view acappella music.

Echoes

Sports

January 2015

Commentary

Tanner Hochstetler | Sports Editor

11

Conference play brings excitement to fans

Photo Courtesy of MTC Campus. Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant (22) defends pass to North Carolina State’s Cody Martin (15).

Jake Peterson Reporter

C

ollege

basketball:

a sport of thrillers, a sport of disappointment, a sport of controversy, and a sport of champions.

Heading into the 2014-15 campaign, the UCONN Huskies are the defending champs and with winning the national

championship, the pressure turns to UCONN and head coach Kevin Ollie.

Many questions hang in the air coming into this conference season. How good will the defending champs be this season? Well,

Ryan Boatright is back, but, they don’t need to be reminded about Shabazz Napier leaving for the next level. Kentucky has been unstoppable to start the season. And the Big 12 conference heading into this season has as much depth as any of the conferences, so who will take that prestigious Big 12 title? Will it be Kansas, Iowa State, Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor, or a team we are not even talking about?

The Creighton Bluejays are coming into this conference campaign starting 9th in the Big East preseason power rankings, which is second to last in the conference, just ranked above DePaul. Many people have been writing them off because the obvious loss of Doug McDermott, but perhaps coming from under the radar is what coach Greg McDermott wants.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are coming off of a steep decline of a season, after being one of the last four into the big dance and getting knocked out in the first round, it ended up being a disappointing end to the season for Fran Mccaffery’s club, can the

Hawks respond this season, and actually finish? Time will tell.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers have done a terrific job under Tim Miles, after losing in the round of 64 to the Baylor Bears, the Cornhuskers felt like they excelled to what they were expected to do at the beginning of the season, it was the first time they went to the NCAA tournament since 1998, and Terran Petteway is having himself a heck of a career at Nebraska.

A lot more is expected from this Nebrasketball club this season. Will they exceed their expectations again this season? A key stat to be aware of, Nebraska has never won an NCAA tournament game, but many believe it will be broken this season.

The Iowa State Cyclones are expected to have another breakout conference season like last year. Though they lost two key players DeAndre Kane and Melvin Ejim, Fred Hoiberg has managed to reload on the transfer ballot. Starting with senior transfer from UNLV, Bryce Dejean-Jones who led UNLV in scoring last season, just like what DeAndre

Kane did at Marshall, Bryce will be another high scoring offensive weapon this year for the Cyclones.

Another transfer who is being redshirted this season is Hallice Cooke, he was one of the top in the country in 3 point percentage last year as a sophomore at Oregon State.

Jameel Mckay who was redshirted last year is eligible now, the transfer from Marquette has a wingspan of 86 inches, which makes him an excellent shot blocker for the ‘Clones. Those who are back for Iowa State are Matt Thomas, Naz Long, Dustin Hogue, Georges Niang, Monte Morris, and more.

This team is not only a true contender for not only the Big 12 title, but for the Final Four.

This college basketball season should be yet another thrilling year, if you lose you lose, if you win you win. So kick back, relax and enjoy watching some college basketball for the rest of the 2014-15 campaign.

Conditioning preparing track, baseball Preseason open gym helps athletes get on track Breana Rocha Reporter Usually the cold weather and snow keeps people inside and not doing much, but for the track athletes, they are starting to condition and train for the upcoming spring sports. Track is among the spring sports that the coaches want to condition ahead of time. Like summer conditioning, winter conditioning can be just as important when it comes to track. Preparing for a sports season takes a lot of effort and concentration.

“With preseason conditioning you kinda go into the track season without a lot of the pain and soreness,” sophomore Avery Thomas said. Soreness and muscle fatigue can be a huge problem, especially when athletes are experiencing it during the season. Soreness takes time and rest, and many runners don’t have that luxury.

Track involves tons of running. While conditioning, athletes will build up their endurance so they can run farther and faster. With this there are hurdles and other events that the athletes have to practice and focus on.

“Im thinking about getting to the finish line as soon as possible,” sophomore Tasha Bonner said.

Track runners have certain

distances that they run when they condition, this becomes almost a ritual for them.

Every athlete has a ritual, it becomes part of them when they practice. Rituals when running can decide if you’ll run faster, suffer fewer injuries, and even help you further your ability.”I make are to make sure I’m taking care of my body by eating healthy and to make sure I’m constantly stretching to help my muscles,” junior Merzedes Hart said.

Running takes strength and energy and when runners haven’t practiced it can make a huge difference. Runners have everything down from the way their feet touch the ground to the way they breathe. People say practice makes perfect, and in this case that is true. “Rituals get you into the routine and mind set for the season,” Thomas said. Mindset is also something that can make a difference when running. If runners don’t have the right mindset it can make running seem not as fun anymore.

Track’s pre-season conditioning may be rough but for some, it is crucial to being ready when the season starts. From vigorous running to mastering hurdles, preseason conditioning is a life saver

2015 Boys Track Important Dates

February 15- Practice begins.

March 17- Opening Invitational @ Iowa State.

May 7- Conference Championship.

2015 Boys Baseball Important Dates

January- Open Gym Begins.

May 4- Practice Begins.

May 26- Away @ Atlanctic.

Tanner Hochstetler Editor

In the midst of the offseason you can find athletes letting go and becoming lazy. Some athletes take heed to their coaches’ words and use their athletic capabilities to participate in an off season sport or become a “tri-sport” athlete while others decide to slack off.

Whatever the circumstances, the offseason can become a great advantage for kicking off the season.

The boys’ baseball team as well as many other sports teams within the school usually offer various preseason conditioning. The open gyms and early conditioning usually occur a few months before the start of the regular season.

This gives athletes the ability to get comfortable with their teams, and burn off a few before the start of the season. For the baseball team, open gyms give players the chance to work out their rough spots and practice their skills. Open gyms consist of various conditioning exercises, agility training, running, and hitting and catching drills.

“I enjoy going to the open gyms and working on my long throws,” junior Kolby Knight said.

These accommodations can help the players

tremendously before the season, but for some it may not be enough.

Athletes of any particular sport tend to have some sort of ritual weather it’s pre or present season. These rituals help mold the player into who they are. For many it may be drinking a little extra water, eating better, or strict exercise, but others may find comfort in their rituals elsewhere.

“Our ritual as a team is to get warmed up and stretched out before we play. It helps us all focus mentally,” senior Ryan Edmundson said.

Rituals can come from a personal point of view such as a particular event an athlete always does before their game.

“I enjoy eating Subway before a game. It helps the team get some food before an important game, and it helps us get pumped,” junior Adam Barrett said.

A personal ritual can also be a personal artifact close to that person.

The ultimate goal of preseason practice is for players to stay in shape.

Practice makes perfect and it can be a difficult season if one is not in shape. Weather it’s personal training or organized training it’s important for athletes to get interaction.

With baseball conditioning kicking into overdrive the team anticipates the spring season.

Echoes Sports 12 What are your goals for the season?

January 2015

Will Schademann | Sports Editor

“To get better as a

“ I want our relays

team and for myself.”

to qualify for the state

state tournament, and have

team.”

a good year for my senior

- Junior Tony Bonner

- Senior Jack Weiss

“My goals are to make the

year.”

“To give 100% and score the most points at a game.”

- Freshman Cailey Schaa

-Senior Robert Peters

A.L. honoring former student athletes Ridenour, others, honored for AL excellence Calab Holder

Business Manager

A new project led by Activities Director Jeffrey Novotny is aiming to recapture the excellence of athletic alumni with a new project. Novotny has arranged to display jerseys of former Abraham Lincoln athletes who have participated in Division I college athletics as a way of motivation to current school athletes.

“It is definitely an honor to have my jersey shown.

It’s really cool now that I’m a teacher here at school. It shows our kids that if they have big dreams and they work hard, they can achieve big things,” Art Teacher

Brittany Ridenour said.

Ridenour graduated from Abraham Lincoln in 2008. During her senior year, Ridenour received several accolades, including Iowa Player of the Year, Gatorade Player of the Year, and 1st Team All-Tournament at state. Additionally, after moving to the semi-finals of the state volleyball competition, Ridenour attended Baylor University as a four year full-ride scholarship student athlete.

Abraham Lincoln graduate Tonia Tauke advises student athletes to relish their potentially short experience with sports.

“My advice for young athletes is to have as much fun as possible before you have to be serious. Be involved in a lot of things--it will prepare you for the real world. Hear the roar of the crowd and soak it in. Later on, people won’t cheer when you get your taxes done on time or get jerseys handed out just in time for the first

tournament. Enjoy it while you can! My dad always told me to play sports with a smile on your face. Enjoy it, because not everyone gets to play. And, he’s right. He never got to play and all he ever wanted for me was to enjoy it. And I definitely did.”

Tauke graduated from Abraham Lincoln in 1996.

She went to state two years in both volleyball and basketball, while also making All-State in both sports. Additionally, Tauke won a national championship in club volleyball in 1995 and won the Big 12 three times during her tenure at the University of Nebraska.

Not only is this project an opportunity to exhibit the recent triumphs and successes of Abraham Lincoln, but it is also an appropriate occasion to educate the student body and staff on the past achievements of our school and to ensure that these bygone moments do not pass into obscurity.

The jersey of Abraham Lincoln alum, Baylor alum and head coach of the volleyball team, Brittany Ridenour.

Photo by Nathan Vorce

Commentary

It’s down to two: Seahawks, Patriots battle for Super Bowl Jake Peterson Reporter

S

uper Bowl XLIX is getting revved up to be a very promising matchup between two NFL super powers, the AFC Champion New England Patriots and the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks.

Some very interesting matchups in this game.

The third year quarterback

Russell Wilson vs a well improved Patriots defense, Tom Brady vs Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas, Vince Wilfork vs Marshawn Lynch, LeGarrette Blount vs Kam Chancellor, etc. An interesting game indeed, as the best defense in the league collides with one of the best offenses in the league. Also a couple of good special teams going at it, both with a very disciplined style of approach.

The Seahawks are coming off of a come from behind win over the Green Bay Packers in overtime, 28-22.

Meanwhile, the New England Patriots are coming off

of a 45-7 dominating performance over the Indianapolis Colts, after a DEFLATING performance from Andrew Luck and the Colts. So at this point something has got to give, will it be the Patriots offense or the Seahawks defense?

The key players on the Patriots offense are Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, LeGarrette Blount, and Rob Gronkowski. Key players on the Seahawks defense include Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor.

The game also features two legendary coaches, Pete

Carroll and Bill Belichick; both coaches have outstanding careers. Carroll who is coming off of a controversial career at USC, and Belichick has been apart of the NFL coaching staff for a long, long time. So let the battle of the bragging rights begin.

You can catch this Super Bowl matchup and hopeful commercials on NBC on Feb. 1 at 5:30 PM. Also don’t miss the halftime show featuring Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz. Don’t miss the game of the year on NBC, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth on the call, it’s the Seahawks and the Patriots.

Graphic by Alyssa Clayton