March 2013

SUPEERHEROEES

PAGE 4D ALBUM REVIEW

PAGE 5D A

THE PITTSBURG

BOOSTER Friday, March 29, 2013 ■ Vol. 97 ■ Issue 7

Pittsburg High School ■ 1978 E. 4th Street ■

Redux

Pittsburg, KS ■ 66762 ■ www.boosterredux.com

Weekend habits have life-long affects

BY MALORY WHITE

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The Booster Redux

tudents may think that choices made on the weekend will not follow them to Monday morning. However, partaking in certain risky behaviors may in fact have life-long lasting consequences.

At approximately 21 years old, the brain becomes fully developed, meaning any brain damage before this age could be permanent.

Because of underdevelopment of the brain, teenagers are especially at risk when drinking alcohol and popping pills.

According to greenwichtime. com, prescription drug abuse and alcohol consumption can start when an

individual is experiencing mental or emotional problems and seek relief through numbing their feelings by drinking and taking medication.

“I initially started drinking because some of my buddies and I were hanging out and they were drinking and they said, “Hey man, why aren’t you drinking?” senior Joey Smith* said.

“I told them I don’t drink but they gave me a beer and told me to drink it. One chug just led to another and another.”

According to the Area Substance Abuse Council (ASAC,) each year, five times as many teens die from an alcohol overdose than from any other drug, legal or illegal. When teenagers engage in alcohol use, minor or fatal damage can occur in the liver, pancreas, brain, reproductive system and stomach.

Long–term drinking can damage the liver, which is the organ mainly responsible for breaking down alcohol. Extensive alcohol use also has the potential to put teens at significant risk for oral, esophageal, laryngeal, breast, and stomach cancer.

Alcohol poisoning is also a serious repercussion of drinking large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. Consuming an excessive amount of alcohol can affect breathing, heart rate and gag reflex and could potentially lead to coma and death.

Accordingly, teenagers are among the

largest group with prescription drug abuse and alcohol use problems. Many feel that since prescription pills were prescribed by a physician, they are less likely to be addictive than illegal drugs.

“You see kids taking them for peer pressure, just to try it, or they’ve had it themselves and they have a dependency on them,” said School Resource Officer, Mike Reese. “Just like with alcohol, prescription drugs are so readily available now. I think that’s the number one problem with prescription drugs, they’re so easy to get.”

According to kidhealth.com, pill abuse can lead to vomiting, mood changes, cognitive function and even decreased respiratory function, coma, or death. Taking various pills simultaneously can affect a person’s heartbeat and breathing, cause seizures a n d could potentially kill them.

A recent study on prescription drug abuse and alcohol reveals that one in five high school students said they had abused prescription drugs, such as OxyContin and Percocet.

Various types of alcohol and prescription drugs have specific side effects that can negatively SEE ALCOHOL AND PILLS 2D

Government class has a day out on the town Students visit various municipal agencies

BY MICHAELA WAGNER

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The Booster Redux

n Wednesday, March 27, twenty of Gary Wolgamott’s AP Government and Politics students travelled to Memorial Auditorium to experience the annual event of Government Day sponsored by the local Pittsburg Elk’s Lodge.

All southeast Kansas schools were invited to the event. Each school was allocated 15 slots to their government students, and over one hundred represented the schools.

Wolgamott had to talk to the Elk’s Lodge coordinators and request five more slots so he could take his entire AP Government and Politics course: this is the first year that Wolgamott has had to do that.

“I think it’s wonderful that I get to take this many kids, I’d like to take more, but [the Elk’s are] kind of, limited on the space and transportation,” Wolgamott said.

When students registered, they requested to be involved in a certain cluster group.

There were eight groups to choose from; four at the city level, and four at the county level. The cluster groups consisted of Public Safety, Parks and Recreation, Public Utilities/Public Works, City Administration, Medical Interests, Law Enforcement, and General Government 1 and 2. The students who attended these clusters visited and toured one to three places in a three hour time frame.

Shortly after the students arrived, an announcement was made to search under their seats for an envelope. Many were surprised to find envelopes filled with gift cards under 20 percent of the seats.

Throughout the rest of the event, prizes Senior Lizzy Willis listens to a member of the Fire Deptartment during a tour. Seniors visited were dispersed. These ranged from gift various organizations during the Elk’s Lodge Government Day. PHOTO BY HAYDEN PARKS cards donated or funded by sponsors of the event, to a package deal of school supplies. distributed 12 $500 scholarships. deeds has kept records of property “I won a $10 gift certificate to the movies Two of the recipients were from PHS; owners for Crawford county in giant, and a free meal at the Mall Deli by chance,” seniors Lauren Geiger and Lizzy handwritten books since the late senior Derek Scholes said. “I had an Willis.

1800’s,” she said. envelope under my chair, and they called Moore learned something that she Students had the chance to tour the number on my name tag, I was so different buildings that had to do with did not already know, and so did happy.” aspects of city or county government. another fellow senior AP Government Senior Gracie Spencer also received a The fire department, the ambulance student. door prize, but was excited to do so.

“I visited the county court, barn, the register of deeds office, and “I won a gift can for a free sandwich and the parks and recreation department commissioner’s office, treasury drink at the Mall Deli,” she said. “I had just were among the areas that were commission, and the clerks got done telling [senior] Andie [Casper] toured by the students. commission,” senior Bryan Stebbins how unlucky I was and how I never win Senior Haylee Moore toured the said. “I felt it was an eye opening anything when they called my number. I register of deeds office as a part of the experience that showed me the was so excited.” complexity and organization of the cluster General Government 1.

Along with the prizes, the Elk’s Lodge “I learned that the department of county government.”

Crusin’ for a bruisin’ Joe White shares his story about teen drinking

BY EMILY BADEN

The Booster Redux ith prom and graduation just around the corner, students tend to be less focused on work and more on enjoying their time left in high school.

However, some students idea of fun could lead them to making a decision that will impact them the rest of their life.

On Thursday, March 14, junior and senior students were given the privilege to listen to Joe White’s story.

White’s story begins on his senior homecoming night in 2006. According to White, after consuming alcohol, he and friends thought it would be fun to attempt a remake of Jackass: The Movie which is a reality film with the tagline “Do not attempt this at home.” It is a riskier continuation of the stunts and pranks done by the various characters of the MTV television series Jackass. As a result of trying to recreate this film, White made the choice of jumping out of a car going 35 mph. He hit his head on a curb and suffered traumatic brain injuries along with paralysis on his right side.

“I was foolish, I was so stupid, drinking and everything, but it has all come clear; I have one arm and one leg, but that is all I need with my mouth,” White said. “But remember, never give up. Never give up. What does not kill me makes me stronger.”

According to Abbie Eli, White’s assistant, when White jumped out of the car they think he tripped over the curb and hit his head, which formed a blood clot about the size of an egg in his brain. He now has partial paralysis resulting in no movement in his right arm and little in his right leg. He has to have assistance and has a auditory process disability from that “one splitsecond decision that has now changed his life forever.”

White says he has been given a second chance at life after defying the odds and is using that second chance to prevent others from making life-altering mistakes.

“Joe tells people you can start all over again,” Eli said. “I don’t care what you did last weekend, what you planned on doing tonight, whatever it

W

SEE JOE WHITE PAGE 2D

News

■ Page 2D

DID YOU KNOW

ALL-COUNTY BASKETBALL SELECTIONS

This year’s all county selections included six seniors, they all qualified for either first, second, or third team all SEK. Lizzy Willis first team all SEK unanimous, Tanner Ellis, Stefon Rich, and Alaura Short second team all SEK, FeDor Lomax third team all SEK. As well as qualifying for all county, Short and Willis were selected for the annual AllStar game at Colgan, along with Ellis and Lomax. Lomax was also selected for the Fort Scott All-Star game. Selected for the Neosho County AllStar game were Ellis and Rich.

PROM INFO

The prom theme this year will be “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It will be held Saturday, April 6 at Memorial Auditorium.

Promenade will start at 6 p.m. and last until 6:30 p.m. Parents and visitors are welcome inside Memorial Auditorium to take pictures between 6:30 and 6:45. Dinner will be served immediately after. Concluding the evening will be the dance from 8 to 11.

PERFORMING ARTS SCHOLARSHIP The Friends of PHS Performing Arts Sponsored Scholarship application deadline will be April 1.

Applications must be typed and include one attached letter of recommendation or reference.

See counselors for more information.

DECA DECA recently competed March 3 through the 5 in Overland Park. Loren Kutz and Josh Allmon placed 4th in Learn and Earn, along with individual placer Isis Ruiz. Ruiz received a 2nd place medal for a roll play and placed 6th overall.

HOSA HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) members competed in the Kansas HOSA State competition Monday and Tuesday in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Four students received medals individually and in group events; Lizzy Willis 1st in Nursing Assisting, Joban Mendpara 1st in Medical Spelling, Reece Burns 2nd in Medical Photography, Caden Yantis 3rd in Extemporaneous Writing, and Caden Yantis, Joban Mendpara and Reece Burns 2nd in Creative Problem Solving.

GAME RESCHEDULES The JV girls softball game and JV boys baseball game that was to be held on Monday, March 25 is now rescheduled for Friday, March 3 at 4:30 in Chanute. The softball tournament that was scheduled for Tuesday, March 26 will be postponed to Friday, April 5 at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. in Fort Scott. The JV tennis game that was to be played Tuesday, March 26 will be postponed for April 16, 2013 at 3:00 in Fort Scott.

SECTION D

BOOSTER REDUX Friday, March 29, 2013

Advanced Placement test grant expires District plans to aid students with AP exam fees

BY REECE BURNS The Booster Redux

With the seven advanced placement (AP) courses offered by the high school, many students who take the classes will consider taking the AP exams at the end of the year.

Several factors can come into play when a student is deciding whether or not they will be taking their AP test such as, grades, teacher recommendation, confidence in the material, and also money.

Junior Ashley Hall is one of those students.

“If the school paid for the test, then the deciding factor [to take the test] would depend on how prepared I am,” Hall said.

“I would have to take two tests, money is really tight so I’d have to get it fully paid for in order to take it.”

AP exams cost $81.00 each. The school had a grant that paid for the sessions but the grant expired this year. According to Assistant Principal Rhonda White, students may not have to pay the entire exam fee themselves after all.

“The district is currently seeking outside sources of funding to help at least offset some of the portion of the exam fees for the student,” White said.

Superintendent Destry Brown wants as many AP students to take the exams as possible.

“The district has decided to pay for a portion of the fee of the AP tests,” Brown said. “The more kids to take these tests the better; I want our kids to do well.”

The district is planning on covering anywhere between 50 to 75 percent of the fees. The final number will be based on the individual student and his or her family’s financial status.

White also notes that because of the grant the district received the last two years the number of students taking AP courses and taking the exams increased from 15 students taking 17 exams in 2009 to 68 students taking 102 exams in 2012.

The increase in numbers over the last four

years resulted in the school being named on the College Board’s AP Honor Roll; one of only five schools in Kansas to be named and one of only 539 schools in the entire nation to be named.

Senior AP Calculus student Evan Owen feels that the price of the exams seem steep for his minimum-wage pay.

“If you figure in my pay, that’s a little over 11 hours that I’d have to work just to pay for that test,” said Owen. “They say AP Calculus is one of the hardest tests they have but if it weren’t for the price I’d still try it.”

Junior AP History student Jeff Dunford feels that the fee is still worth the possibility of getting college credit.

“I would pay the $81.00 if I took the time and dedicated myself to ensure that I do well,” Dunford said. “I think with the college credit on the line, students would take a better approach than they would on any other test.”

Damaging effects of deadly habits: alcohol and pills CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1D

affect the user depending on the organizations to refrain from variation. However, they all share drinking and drug use for the one commonality — they can lead school year. If a student were to to addiction. test positive for drug use, it would Usually, teenagers do not start result in disciplinary actions. off with the intent of becoming an “I do think that we try to be aware addict and are not often aware of and we try to promote safety,” the precise moment they start to Stockard said. “I also think teachers develop their addiction. Common have really good relationships with warning signs include unusual students where they have those fatigue, personality or mood types of conversations and are changes, depression, general open to talking about the dangers withdrawal, frequent truancy and of those types of things as a high discipline problems. school student. We also try to Youth who drink before the age bring in speakers that can relate of 15 are four times more likely to students and we have an S.R.O. to develop alcohol dependence in the building and then we have than those who begin drinking at the county attorney come in and age 21, talk about some according “Each year, five times as many teens of the legal to asac. die from an alcohol overdose than from repercussions com. of using drugs “ E v e r y any other drug, legal or illegal.” and alcohol as a year, there -AREA SUBSTANCE ABUSE minor.” have been survey COUNCIL A situations compiled on a n d greenwichtime. students that I have dealt with com found that 75% of 12 to 17-yearthat have had a drug or alcohol olds say they are encouraged to problem,” school psychologist party with marijuana or alcohol Beth Stockard said. “It depends on when they see images of their peers which year it is how many we’re doing so. 45% of those individuals talking; some years, it might just have seen online photos of their be one, and then other years, it classmates drinking, doing drugs might be up to as many as ten or passing out. students.”

According to helpguide.org, PHS administration has utilized the steps to self-help include various strategies to discourage committing to stop the addiction, drug or alcohol usage through setting goals and preparing for structures including random drug change, getting sober safely, find testing, having guest speakers new meaning in life, planning for and requiring students involved and learning to handle cravings, in extracurricular activities to sign getting support and utilizing behavior contracts. treatment centers. *name has been changed to The contract requires students involved in sports, clubs and protect the privacy of the student.

Eighth graders ease into high school PCMS students attend enrollment information night

BY ALLI BADEN The Booster Redux

Enrollment is a time to pick new classes for the upcoming school year. And for the 8th graders, it is a new experience. On Wednesday, March 27, 8th graders came to enroll for their freshmen year.

Enrolling for freshman year is a little different than enrolling for any other year.

Instead of enrolling during school, parents, as well as students, come during the evening to discuss enrollment. They first met in the auditorium for an introduction to the basics of high school.

“We go over all the requirements for graduation, regents requirements,

expectations of Pittsburg High School and how it’s different from the middle school.” counselor Jessica Stegman said.

After the introduction, parents and students then filed into the commons area to start filling out their enrollment sheets.

Stegman believes that this year, picking electives has become a lot easier for 8th grade students. In February, they came here to tour the school and to meet all the elective teachers.

“We had a lot of positive response from students and parents about the visit.”

Stegman said. “I think it opened the doors to them knowing what’s at PHS and what we have to offer to them.”

English department sponsors annual poetry contest

BY ABBI WW The Booster Redux

April is National Poetry Month and it is officially time for the fifth annual poetry contest.

The rules of the contest are as follows: poems may be no longer than 20 lines long. Poems must be turned into room 304. All poems must be typed and titled. Each entrant can enter no more than two poems. The name of the entrant is to be printed on the back of the piece. The deadline to enter will be Thursday, April 18.

Besides the self-rewards of enriching one’s creative side, cash prizes will also be given to the top three winners. $50.00 will be given out for first place, $25.00 will be given for second place, and the third place winner will receive $15.00. Also, the winning poems will all be published in the next issue of the Booster Redux.

Crusin’ for a bruisin’: Joe White’s story CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1D

may be. Just because that’s who you were Ebbs said listening to White’s message has you are doing and not putting yourself in a then, that doesn’t have to be who you are now helped her make better decisions herself and position where you could end up like Joe or or tomorrow.” has inspired her to encourage others to make other people.”

Before White gave his presentation at the good choices as well.

Many students say they have benefited from high school, FCCLA members heard his “I feel it is important for us to learn about hearing White’s story and said it helped change story at the district club meeting in the choices they make for the better.

“I have personally changed because I November. Senior FCCLA member “Joe tells people you can start all over again,” Eli said. “I Morgan Ebbs was inspired by what don’t care what you did last weekend, what you planned on have done things before and it was not she heard and was the one who took fun at all,” senior Dakota Taylor said. the initiative to bring White to the doing tonight, whatever it may be. Just because that’s who “Of course I didn’t crash or anything school. you were then, that doesn’t have to be who you are now or and didn’t get hurt, but I was lucky to “When we saw [White] at districts, hear his message and it changed me.” a lot of people were really receptive tomorrow.”

White says he hopes students will to his message and really enjoyed -ABBIE ELI continue to spread his story and that it will keep on saving lives. the presentation,” Ebbs said. “So I thought it would be a good thing “You only have one life to live,” for our school because we had the Rachel’s [White’s story] because, but when you [drink Eli said. “Joe is fortunately here because he Challenge and other things like that, so I alcohol] in excess or do it in a dangerous has had a second chance at life. This is his thought it would be good to continue on the situation that is when it becomes a problem,” purpose, this is his passion, and hopefully you trend of [hearing a] positive message.”

Ebbs said. “It is just being in control of what will spread his story.”

Opinion

■ Page 3D

Booster Redux staff and policy Editors-in-Chief Ryan Taylor Bethanne Elliott Katie Phalen Managing Editors Michaela Wagner Malory White Copy Editors Logan Rink Parker Matthews Photo Editor Hayden Parks News Editor Reece Burns Sports/Activities Editor Miranda Moore Feature/Opinion Editor Abbi Epperson Art Editor Duncan Willis Graphic Designer Reagan Rink Staff Emily Baden Caden Yantis Alli Baden Ashlee Beitzinger Macy Frasco Morgan Plank Joban Mendpara Suhani Mendpara Priscila Ruiz Evan Rajotte Rebeca Espadas Adviser Emily Smith

The Booster Redux Pittsburg High School Student Publications 1978 E. 4th St. Pittsburg, KS 66762

PHS Student Publications Department and newspaper class produce The Booster Redux. Please call us with comments at 620-235-3200.

The Booster Redux’s purpose is to inform, educate, enlighten and entertain readers fairly and accurately in an open forum.

Opinions expressed in editorials or opinion columns do not necessarily reflect views of all members on the Booster staff.

Digital photos have not been altered to manipulate reality.

Photo illustrations are labeled to reflect any technical alternations.

Anonymity may be given in the following cases: the information is unable to be presented another way, the information warrants anonymity, the source’s privacy and/or reputation requires protection and the source must be protected from damages.

A student or faculty member death during the coverage period will be covered with a short obituary. The Booster Redux is a member of Journalism Education Association, National Scholastic Press Association, Kansas Scholastic Press and International Quill and Scroll.

The Booster Redux encourages letters from students, teachers and community members under 300 words and signed with a valid signature only.

The Booster Redux reserves the right to edit contributions if they are libelous, obscene and for length. Any grammatical errors at the fault of the writer will be printed.

Corrections of errors printed at the fault of the Booster staff will appear in the appropriate section of the next issue.

We always want what we can’t have

BY REBECA ESPADAS The Booster Redux

Espadas is a foreign-exchange student from Cancun, Mexico. Her column is printed in English and Spanish.

Espada’s Worldly Words

If someone asks you to define beautiful would you be able to do it?

When we are little we are told what each thing is.

Stealing something is bad, sharing is good and so on.

But when it comes to what is pretty and what is ugly, those definitions are often given from our parents and influenced by society.

These days what we define as beauty is based on what we see publicized. Learn to believe there is no way someone bigger than a size zero could be modeling for a worldwide company. Trying to fit into society has become more and more difficult since we started defining people by their size number or their weight. Talking about beauty is a cliché topic. We know that being underweight is not healthy and has negative consequences but there is still a pressure on people trying to be accepted by who they really are. Even when we know the dangers, boys and girls prefer to starve

themselves and try unsafe methods to lose weight.

We hate how publicity manipulates beauty, but at the same time we die to be a part of it.

We want beauty so bad, that we make others be part of it. As we feel the pressure to fit into the rank of the beautiful, we can’t accept the idea of letting others feel beautiful without having those standards. We make others feel bad about themselves so we can feel better.

What I think is funny is how we blame society for how the concept of beauty has changed over time.

Society is defined by large social groupings sharing the same geographical territory.

So we can say, we are society.

Being part of a society gives us the power to define and determine our rules and terminology. So the question is; are we responsible for how beauty is defined?

We hate how publicity manipulates beauty, but at the same time we “die” to be part of it.

I don’t let society define what I believe is beautiful.

Everyone will be different and great in their own way, regardless of shape, size, color, whatever. We all have different likes, tastes, and attractions. We should define beauty as being unique and individual, not looks.

SECTION D

BOOSTER REDUX

Friday, March 29, 2013

Siempre queremos lo que no tenemos

BY REBECA ESPADAS The Booster Redux

Espadas es una estudiante de intercambio. Su columna está impresa en Inglés y Español.

Espada’s y sus palabras mundiales ¿Si alguien te pidiera que definieras belleza, serias capaz de hacerlo?

Cuando somos pequeños nos enseñan a identificar cada cosa.

Robar es considerado como mal, compartir como bien, etc. Pero cuando hablamos en lo que es bello y que es feo, esos conceptos son comúnmente dados por nuestro padres e influenciados por sociedad.

Hoy en día, lo que definimos como bello es basado en publicidad, nos acostumbramos y creemos que por ninguna manera alguien de una talla mayor que cero sería capaz de modelar para una compañía mundial.

Ser aceptados se ha convertido cada vez más difícil desde que empezamos a definir a cada persona por el número de talla o su peso. Hablar de belleza es un cliché. Sabemos que pesar menos de nuestro peso no es saludable y que tiene consecuencias negativas, sin embargo hay una presión por parte de la gente que trata ser acepta por lo que en verdad son.

Sin importar de las consecuencias, niños y niñas prefieren morir de hambre que usar métodos saludables y seguros para bajar de

“Only women belong in the kitchen,” “only men can fix cars” and many other sexist stereotypes

BY MALORY WHITE The Booster Redux

S

White’s wisdom

tereotypes and cliques exist in all experiences, especially within high schools. It is emphasized throughout high school who is labelled as the preps, the jocks, the nerds and the skaters.

Stereotypes are developed when an individual is unable or unwilling to gather all of the information needed to make fair judgments about other individuals or situations. Often, society creates these stereotypes, but they often lead to unfair discrimination when the stereotype is unfavorable.

For example, the movie industry has frequently portrayed AfricanAmericans as being unintelligent, lazy, or violence-prone. As a result of viewing these stereotyped behaviors of African-Americans, other individuals developed prejudice against African-Americans because of the images seen on the big screen.

Accordingly, women have often been and continue to be portrayed as promiscuous. Some even have the view of a person with a mental illness as someone who is violence-prone.

Television, books, and music are all influential sources of stereotyped individuals. Stereotypes also evolve

out of fear of persons from minority individuals with different viewpoints groups. This may be how some should be encouraged to get along stereotypes developed in the first with one another and get to know the place; a series of behaviors by a other point of view before making member of a group which was assumptions. If the stereotype were unfairly generalized to be viewed as to get too serious, it could result in a character of all members of that unfair and misleading assumptions, group. which could lead to mistreatment, Sexist stereotypes even exist in segregation, and prejudices of journalism; undeserving people. according If the stereotype to research in false, the victim “Instead of being presented carried out by may internalize the with stereotypes...opportunity the industry stereotype and believe body Women to learn that within each they are what people in Journalism, range, some people are say they are. This can unflattering cause depression, and in loathsome and some are photographs delightful, ” serious cases, suicide. of women and According to male bylines Cody Freels, in his - MARGARET MEAD presentation Stop was the majority of the Stereotypes, the first step front pages of to decrease stereotypes newspapers. Women’s groups, who is realizing that we are in fact complained about sexist stereotypes stereotyping and admitting that we in the media, welcomed research are at fault. to resolve the sexism displayed on Next, a conscience effort must media that is distributed across the then be made to realize when a nation. stereotype is occurring and tell Instead of stereotyping individuals ourselves that it is wrong. Vocalizing because of their race, gender, the change to peers is the third sexuality, etc., stereotypes could step; this will help to reduce the be eliminated by recognizing the amount of stereotyping our peers do obstruction. around us, which helps to reduce “Instead of being presented with or eliminate the stereotyping we stereotypes by age, sex, color, class, perform. Finally, once individuals or religion, children must have the are comfortable with the change, opportunity to learn that within each educating others about stereotyping, range, some people are loathsome its negative effects, and the reasons and some are delightful,” Margaret for stopping the stereotyping trend Mead said. can potentially inspire realization for As prejudices may have to do with those individuals. feelings of insecurity or persuasion;

How the media went wrong with their reactions to the Steubenville rape case

BY LOGAN RINK

The Booster Redux

O

Rink’s reality check

n March 17, two high school football players from Steubenville, Ohio were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl. These boys, Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays, raped their heavily intoxicated classmate at and after several parties on an August night last year. However, not only did they rape her, but they photographed and recorded videos of the rape, uploaded incriminating photos to social networking sites, and shared tweets by other students that were present such as, “Some people deserve to be peed on.”

In addition, two teenage girls in Ohio have been charged with menacing the victim through social media... because being the victim of a high-profile rape isn’t horrible and traumatizing enough.

But the cherry on top of the victim’s ice cream sundae from Hell: the media is sympathizing with the rapists.

I’m not kidding. For example, when covering the guilty verdict, CNN reporter Poppy Harlow said, “These two young men who had such promising futures -- star football players, very good students -- literally watched as they believed their life fell apart.”

Not that I’m all that surprised (really, I’m just

disgusted). It’s pretty much to be expected that when two “star football players” in a small Ohio town are convicted of rape, sympathy for the two boys with such “promising futures” (who also should already have a pretty good understanding of the fact that rape is wrong, immoral and illegal) will be extended. However, such sympathy is not to be expected (well, it shouldn’t be expected) from such a highly watched media outlet such as CNN. Oh but wait, it gets worse. Fox News (hold your surprise) aired the victim’s name during an American Newsroom broadcast. However, Fox refused to release the boys’ names- which had already been released by like, I don’t know, EVERY media outlet in the world and their names were used in open court and they are convicted rapists.

The fact of the matter is that sports- especially high school sports in small towns- are held highly in American society. We don’t want to believe that the stars of our favorite teams are capable of doing wrong. Even though time and time again, we see our idols mess up (see Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, etc.).

When the media sympathizes with the star football rapists, they are perpetuating rape culture. Rape culture is defined by Wikipedia as “a concept used to describe a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media normalize, excuse, tolerate, or even condone rape.”

CNN should not be gushing over the boys’ ruined futures- the guilty verdicts didn’t ruin their futures, it was their decision to rape. Instead they should be focusing on how this horrible crime will affect an innocent young girl. Every two minutes, someone in the US is sexually assaulted. It is time for the media and society as a whole to put the blame where it belongs.

peso.

Decimos que odiamos lo que la publicidad ha hecho con el concepto de belleza, pero al mismo tiempo morimos por ser parte de ella.

Queremos ser parte de lo que la sociedad define como bello, que hacemos que otros lo quieran de la misma manera. Al sentir la presión de ser aceptados en el concepto, no aceptamos la idea de hacer sentir otros bien consigo mismos sin pertenecer a esos estándares.

Tratamos de hacer sentir menos a las personas que se sienten bien para nosotros sentir esa satisfacción.

Yo creo que es chistoso como culpamos a la sociedad por definir y ajustar el concepto de belleza.

Una sociedad se define por un largo grupo social que comparten el mismo territorio geográfico.

Por ende podemos decir que, nosotros somos la sociedad. Ser parte de la sociedad nos da poder de definir y determinar nuestros propios términos y reglas. En otras palabras, la pregunta seria; ¿somos responsables por cómo belleza ha sido definida?

No aceptamos como la publicidad manipula los conceptos de bello, pero al mismo tiempo morimos por ser parte de ella.

Personalmente no dejo que la sociedad defina por mi. Todos son diferentes y excelentes por sí mismos, sin importar el tamaño, forma, color, o cualquier. Tenemos diferentes gustos y nos atraen cosas diferentes. Deberíamos definir belleza por lo único y originalidad, no por lo físico.

Letterto the Editor Time for a real solution I agree 100% that poverty in America is a problem; though Logan’s solution, putting more funding in welfare programs, isn’t a real fix. Doing this will only inflate our deficit even further and hurt America’s work force. To find a real solution we need to look into how we’ve solved these problems in the past. In 1933 President Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); this program gave unemployed, able-bodied Americans to work, this program gave unemployed, able-bodied Americans to work, the program ended in 1943. I believe America should establish a new type of CCC. A national labor corps would employ able-bodied Americans on government assistance and put them to work making public buildings and fixing our evercrumbling infrastructure. This program could provide similar benefits to that our military provides or could just cover food, housing, and health costs.

A labor corps would be costly, but cost effective. Working Americans would no longer have to see their hard earned pay go to waste on something that doesn’t benefit them. All of the nation could rely on our labor corps workers to fix our public used transport systems and establishments. We could pay for this by creating a new funding that would go toward our workers and privatizing Social Security. This would no longer be a tax that is drained by those who never earned it; it would instead be an investment into your future that could be drawn anytime through life. If the “stubborn GOP” or staunch Democrats (Harry Reid) would pass a bill like this we could have a permanent solution to poverty. It is time we provide a real solution, not one that furthers our debt.

Sincerely, Josh Cook

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Creative sparks begin to fly: art classes thrive

Having fun in Rebecca Lomshek’s Intro to Art class, freshmen Brook Garrett and Shy Sorden work on their art projects. PHOTO BY MACY FRASCO

BY EMILY BADEN The Booster Redux

I

nside every classroom at the high school, students are using their talents in different ways. Students taking offered art classes, are getting the chance to show off their creative side.

The high schools art classes are taught by Elizabeth Darling and Rebecca Lomshek. This year is Darlings first at the high school. She teaches drawing, adaptive art, painting, and intro-to-art. Lomshek teaches intro-to-art, ceramics, sculpture and jewelry. However, to take any other art class, intro-to-art is always the prerequisite.

“I like getting to know the students,” Darling said. “I think just getting to know people and interacting with people is my favorite part [of teaching art.]”

Darling teaches her classes based off of the state standards and grades projects with a rubric. She says she grades mostly on craftsmanship, and says it depends on the assignment because artwork can be somewhat subjective. The art teachers use a rubric to keep personal opinions out of the grading process.

“We usually start a project out by giving a context,” Darling said. “We will talk about the wider idea of why we are doing it and then I will do a demonstration. After that, they do some independent practice and try it on their own.”

Sophomore Haley Uttley is one of Darling’s independent study students and is also in her painting class. Uttley first enrolled in art because she did a lot of art on her own time and said it is even better to get school time to create.

“I’d say my favorite part of art classes is that

it is a break for your mind from all the other subjects,” Uttley said. “You get to be creative and unwind.”

Uttley enjoys spending her art time working with watercolors and India ink. She says she gets inspiration from looking through art blogs online and seeing what other artists are doing.

“I would recommend trying an art class even if you don’t think you’re an artist,” Uttley said.

“A lot of the classes have a lot of crafting such as clay work and sculpting that everyone can do.”

Another one of Darlings independent study students is junior Brandon Kirsch. Unlike Uttley, some of Kirsch’s criteria for the class is spray painting. He said he likes what he can do with the spray paint and wanted to do something more with it.

“My friend [sophomore] Tyler Spears and I were thinking one day ‘that would be cool if we

Evolution of Superheroes

BY PRISCILA RUIZ The Booster Redux

Source: All character names and depictions included on this graph are registered trademarked and are not owned by The Booster Redux.

Superheros have been a huge part of our lives for most of us.

No matter the age or gender, we’ve all picked up at least one comic book to read. Maybe it was Spider-Man or maybe even Aquaman. Nevertheless, superheros influenced us somehow.

The first comic book printed in America was in 1847 known as The Great Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck. The book was 40 pages long with 6 to 12 panels per page. There weren’t any word balloons, but there were words underneath the panels to describe the story. The author, Rudolohe Tpffer, is from Switzerland.

Since then, we’ve come a long way to improving not only the graphics, but the plot itself.

The great debate has always been between Marvel and DC comics. Marvel is mainly written by Stan Lee and DC written by several different authors.

Throughout the entire evolution of Superheroes, one of the main differences was the way graphics changed. As technology quickly advanced, hand-drawn cartoons were quickly replaced by computer animation. Even though time and money was saved with this new method, some, like me, would still prefer the original comics. Original comics back in the 60s made the reading much more quick to finish and did not include so much detail in the actual comic itself, therefore not having the ability to upstage the plot, or story.

Additionally, comic books have begun to increase the amount of text that they use per panel or page, making the comic book itself more than triple the size of what it used to be and making it more like a graphic novel. The bigger the size, the more a comic book will cost. Along with the cost, we are no longer given the opportunity to buy them out in the streets like where they were originally sold. We are forced to buy them in an organized book store where they would be sold at approximately ten dollars.

Original comics, on the other hand, are much more costly, but not as costly as they should be considering some see them as a piece of history.

The evolution of superheroes is rather complicated just because of the fact that there is great controversies in which is better. However, the evolution of superheroes in comic books and otherwise is constantly continuing. For now, all we can do is wait to see where the next step takes us.

could do a mural for something,’” Kirsch said “Then, sure enough, Mrs. Darling told us to g talk to [principal Jon] Bishop.”

According to Kirsch, Bishop said he wante a mural to be done in the wrestling room, s Kirsch and Spears have been working on ever since.

“Most of the credit does go to Tyler fo getting it started, but I feel like I’m a great frien there to help,” Kirsch said.

Kirsch said he has been drawing since h was a little kid and has learned most of his skil on his own. He likes art because it is somethin that gets him in his own world.

“If you are going to do an art class don’t d it just because you think it is an easy grade Kirsch said. “If you are going do it have passion for what you are doing, I mean, that how me and my friends got going.”

Parks & Rec is quirky fun NBC’s comedy takes over Netflix

BY LOGAN RINK

The Booster Redux

Everyone has a favorite pastime... Something they look forward to every day after school. For some, like me, this pastime can seem to consume your life. My favorite pastime- or perhaps, it should more appropriately be called my obsession- is watching TV shows on Netflix. I’ve watched every episode of a few dozen shows online and still have a long list of shows to start. I find nothing more satisfying than committing myself to a bunch of fictional characters in whose life I entangle myself, my emotions, and my free time. Every quirky, dark, twisted, or hilarious turn of events feels like a turn in my own life. I am not exaggerating when I say that I may or may not have a problem.

Whenever I finished every Netflix episode of the Office, I was distraught. What could ever make me feel better? I was crushed.

Nothing could ever replace my favorite show in the entire world. And while the show that remedied my sorrow couldn’t ever replace the spot in my heart I hold for the Office and its characters, it did manage to worm itself into my heart almost as effectively.

Parks and Recreation is an Emmy award winning NBC comedy that sagas the bureaucratic career of the cheerful Leslie Knope and her coworkers and friends. Leslie is played by the amazing, fantastic and hilarious Amy Poehler who brings her character to life with quirks like a love of waffles and a hatred of public libraries. Other characters include comedian Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford, probably the cockiest man in the state of Indiana, Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins, Leslie’s best friend and confidant, and Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson.

Ron Swanson, in my opinion, makes the show. This deadpan, overtly libertarian director of the Pawnee, Indiana, Parks and Recreations Department constantly strives to make Pawnee’s city hall run as inefficiently as possible. A mustached outdoor enthusiast, Ron Swanson has only cried twice in his entire life. In one episode, he cornrows his hair.

The different, unique and often weird personalities of all of the characters you meet throughout the show are what make Parks and Rec so awesome. They make working in Parks and Rec at a small Indiana town’s city hall seem like fun.

Parks and Rec is a situation comedy that showcases the talent of its actors, producers, and writers alike and is sure to never disappoint. There are way too many words to describe how awesome Parks and Rec is. I could watch and rewatch every episode over and over. And it’s still showing on NBC. Invest in a Hulu account and you can watch even more current episodes than Netflix houses.

Attention “Make A Difference Club” Members

The Character Education Trait of the Month for March is

Dina Wathan Blevins, Marketing, BBA ’04 Media Services Coordinator Kansas City Royals

Tolerance

s r e e r big csta art at Pitt State big value- Flat-rate tuition big selection- More than 150 academic programs big

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The Character Education Trait of the Month for April is

Integrity -- Having Integrity is your gift to yourself and to the world.

Please continue to support the Get Busy Livin’ Foundation by bringing your used shoes to be given to Soles for Souls! www.soles4souls.org

KYLIE WILBER

NANCY CLOSE

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Arts & Entertainment

Macho muchacho jams out Phosphorescent releases seventh album

BY PRISCILA RUIZ ing the tendency to resemThe Booster Redux ble a dream. Like every indie The month of March did not bring very rock band, Phosphorescent many new albums: The lowest I’ve ever is completely different. noticed, in fact. Other than Jimi Hendrix, Most of the songs Vampire Weekend, The Stokes, or David may sound equally alike, Bowie, March mainly contains forgotten but another advantage or rejected bands. The one band that did Phosphorescent has is the happen to stand out to me among the junk ability to completely change was Phosphorescent with their new album, up the style in every indi“Muchacho.” vidual song and overall in I’ve been a fan of the band ever since their albums. one of their songs came along featured in Phosphorescent could be “The Vow.” Phosphorescent is a one member considered a stub band or band: Matthew Houck an indepencomposes and plays the dent band. guitar, piano, ukuele, Being only drums, and bass. He’s Phosphorescent Muchacho a one-man recorded seven albums, band, Houck counting “Muchacho.” has taken Houck gives his indie rock/folk band a dif- Phosphorescent further ferent voice and style from all other music in than most original indie bands go. this genre.

The second soundtrack, “Song for Zula” “Muchacho” starts off with a mellow one was a great start to the album. Houck’s tunminute song that prepares the listeners for neled voice adds an awesome effect to just everything to come. He has a way of harmo- about every song. Song after song, the unique nizing his voice to match the lyrics’ moods sound grabbed my attention. exactly.

The only song that seemed to have broken One song, in particular, “A Charm/A the chain is “Terror in the Canyons.” It had an Blade,” uses a lot of repetition to suck you in. awkward twist of country to it. I skipped it, but It’s extremely catchy and is likely to stay in I picked the mood back up on the next song. your mind all day.

“A Charm/A Blade” was such a surprise.

Most of Houck’s songs are very surreal, hav-

The Booster Redux

COURTESY PHOTO It starts off as a slow, mellow song, but ends up being fast paced.

Much of the album is like this, which is why I enjoyed it so much. “Muchacho” overall, is so unexpecting. I will most likely continue to listen to this for a while.

I could probably write on and on about the influence of each song to me, but that would just take the beauty of it away. I would recommend playing Phosphorescent’s entire “Muchacho” album the next time you sit to work on hours of homework.

New Tomb Raider game hits the market Tomb Raider

BY PARKER MATTHEWS

D

The Booster Redux

ozens of ships and airplanes have mysteriously disappeared while sailing or flying in the region known as the Bermuda Triangle.

Just as the Bermuda Triangle, the Dragon Triangle in the new game Tomb Raider is infamous for ship and plane crashes alike. While on a treasure hunt, Lara Croft and her crew travel into the Dragon

COURTESY PHOTO

Best GPU for you

Defining your gaming experience

BY EVAN RAJOTTE The Booster Redux

Warning, this gets really geeky.

Todays computer gamers pay close attention to graphics and the detail put into each design of any object.

Nvidia came out with a new Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) that can handle the most strenuous graphics, such as the Crysis 3 graphics. The new GPU is called GeForce GTX TITAN, which seems like a suitable name since it’s the top-of-the-line graphics card.

When looking for a new GPU, most newbies don’t know where to start. Some people just compare the integrated memory. That’s one of the things you want to look at, but it’s not the most important when comparing.

The most important is the clock speed, which is the frequency rate at which the GPU processes information.

The second thing to look at is how many cores the GPU has, for example, if a GPU has a frequency rate of 500 Megahertz (Mhz) with 1000 cores, that means that the GPU processes 500,000 Mhz (500Ghz) per second.

According to geforce.com, the TITAN has 2,688 cores with a frequency rate of 876 at the best with a display output of 2,354,688 Mhz. The TITAN has six gigabytes of GDDR5 memory, supports up to four display monitors at a maximum resolution of 4096x2160, and uses PCIExpress 3.0. The TITAN has the ability to connect to three other GPU via SLI connectivity.

However, the TITAN is a dual slot GPU so it takes up a bit of room in a desktop. The TITAN also supports full 3D gaming, photos, and movies.

Almost every computer has a GPU integrated into the Central Processing Unit (CPU), so if you are just the kind of person that watches movies on your computer or editing photos, then adding a GPU is pointless. The TITAN is made for the most prestige, hardcore gamers that like the detail put into PC games. However, it is a hefty 1000 dollars, but is well worth it if you are a hardcore gamer and do not want to upgrade your GPU for the next ten years.

Perks of paying for online gaming

BY CADEN YANTIS

Back and better than ever ★★★★★

Friday, March 29, 2013

Comparison between free and paid for networking

★★★★★

Triangle region, unaware of the number of mishaps.

After their ship is caught in a storm at sea and unfortunately struck by lightning, Lara and the crew are stranded on what seems to be an abandoned island.

Separated from the rest of the crew, Lara searches for a way back to them, unbeknownst of the impending danger waiting for her.

She is taken hostage by a man who seems to be a cannibal; many bodies hang from the ceiling of the cave, wrapped in potato sacks and dripping with blood.

Lara manages to escape her entrapment, as well as another encounter with her

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assaulter and a cave-in. After escaping the cave, Lara meets up with the crew and begins her quest to escape the island.

From climbing a radio tower and successfully calling in an S.O.S. to fighting off a group of islanders armed to the teeth with munitions of all kinds, Lara is terrorized. Luckily Lara has some thorough training in shooting firearms of all kinds- as well as being a marksman bow, is able to scale mountains with only a single pickaxe, and consume bullet, arrow, fire, or any other type of damage. Bringing back the beloved bow and arrow supplements stealth-needed tactics with a fun, almost primitive way to take out the enemy quietly. Every game is unbelievable in its’ own ways, which is what makes them so fun. Tomb Raider offers a chance to become a killing machine, able to take on an entire army, not to mention an ancient army of samurai warriors sworn to protect their forsaken queen.

In many aspects, Tomb Raider is similar to the new hit game Far Cry. The main character is suddenly stranded on an island, becomes the closest thing to an all around ninja and killing machine, stricken with the task of saving his or her friends, all the while a group of bloodthirsty maniacs are hunting themnot a task many average people could walk away from with their life. Along with plot similarities, the two games offer the player the chance to roam around the island on their own to tend to other tasks, which satisfy many gamers due to the remodeled role playing game experience, yet a specific story line is still implemented.

As games go, Tomb Raider sticks with the big dogs for graphics and gameplay, it also boasts a surprisingly enjoying online game play. Albeit a few game types are available to play, the old-fashioned team death match is extremely enjoyable as the level progress offers new weapons and equipment while salvage is sought after to spend on weapon upgrades and skills.

Tomb Raider supplies a solid and thrill-enticing story line, an enjoyable and unique multiplayer, and a great way to kill some time. Overall, Tomb Raider offers everything gamers love, amateur or experienced.

Among modern-day video gamers, gaming consoles and the perks they offer play a big role when the gamer encounters that moment where they decide what console they want to get. For the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 (PS3) consoles, gamers often find themselves having spent their money on the games, accessories, and online content the consoles offer. In order to play online games and to be able to access certain online content on Xbox, gamers have to pay a certain amount of money depending on how long they want to play online while PS3 allows the same content for free. Between both of these popular consoles, there are certain pros and cons that come with the online gaming.

In order to play online, Xbox 360 requires that you buy a Xbox Live membership which can often be costly. Xbox Live is the membership that allows you to play online and access online content for a fee. A full year membership to play online on Xbox is 60 dollars, a 3 month membership is 25 dollars, and a 1 month is only 5 dollars. It is worth paying the money for playing online in my opinion, because Xbox is a more secure network with fewer hacks which lets you feel safe about having all your financial information online.

Even though the Xbox Live memberships may often burn a hole in your pocket, there are many perks that come with it, all of which benefit you in the long run. Xbox Live allows you to be able to create Parties, which are these groups where you get to talk to your friends all the time whether your in game or on the Xbox dashboard. Sometimes when you are in the middle of a online game on Xbox, the network lags and it may take seconds or even minutes for the game to start up again. Also, in order to purchase bonus content for your avatar, game add ons, map packs, etc, you have to buy Microsoft points first. Microsoft points is the digital currency on Xbox which you buy with real money. Xbox requires that you have these Microsoft points in order to download certain things such as map packs, download avatar and game content, etc, on your console which can often be irritating.

As for the PS3 console, it is more of an expensive buy compared to the Xbox console, but the online gaming is free which saves you money for future games and accessories that you buy. When the PS3 was under development, developers included built in wi-fi in the consoles unlike the early models of the Xbox 360s that were released. Sadly for PS3 gamers, PS3 does not allow you to be able to cross-game chat with friends due to the RAM shortage in the PS3 hardware which PS3 developers failed to realized before release of the console.

One major downfall for the PS3 network however, is that it can be relatively easy to hack into. This proved to be true because in 2011 between April 17th and April 19th, Hackers broke into the entire infrastructure of PS3 and got personal details from over 77 million accounts around the world. Every single user’s account was stolen and it prevented the PS3 users from playing online for a period of time. Needless to say, with every console that is released there are usually many cons that comes with the online gaming. Hopefully with each new next generation console that is released, they will be worth spending more money on in the future.

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New classes available next year Electives, required classes have more options

BY MORGAN PLANK The Booster Redux

Seniors Taylor Cronister, Brady Fleck and Dakota Taylor examine a crayfish found while students were completing a bugcollecting activity. The crayfish was caught by a pitfall trap. Field Ecology is a new class this year. PHOTO BY MACY FRASCO

Creepy crawling onto desks The new field ecology class begins its spring project

BY PARKER MATTHEWS The Booster Redux

F

or the first time in history, students will be given the opportunity to contribute to a worldwide insect database.

The field ecology class has set out this spring with the sole objective to collect insects to help aid this phylogenetic study of these creepy crawlers.

The mission of this project is to extract DNA from insects, in a process known as DNA barcoding, just as scientists did in the movie Jurassic Park. Once the DNA has been extracted it will be sequenced and sent in to a worldwide database and create a phylogenetic tree tracking the evolution of arthropods.

Funded by the USD 250 grant

and led by science teacher Stuart Perez, this project could have only been possible in the spring because of the influx of insects in that particular season. Due to recent weather implications, insect species have yet to fluctuate as they usually do at the beginning of spring.

“We tried to catch insects with some pitfall traps. I think I caught a spider-cricket, and Jeremiah Jones caught like six beetles,” senior Brady Fleck said. “Perez says that bugs really come out in mid April, so that’s when the project will take off.”

Along with learning about DNA barcoding, students gain some work in the field, learn about different insects, are taught how to classifying

insects, and gain presentation skills.

“This project is a good opportunity for students to do actual fieldwork and participate in a data collection,” Perez said.

“After they’re done with the process, [students] will make an actual scientific poster, not just a poster board, but a professional poster, which is another good experience for them.”

Field Ecology is a new class this year, so the DNA extraction project is new as well.

“Perez is one of my favorite teachers and field ecology is a new class which that spurred my interests,” senior Taylor Cronister said. “The opportunity to get some hands-on activity also interested me.”

Different teaching styles for different learners

BY ABBI EPPERSON The Booster Redux

From worksheets to lecturing to hands-on projects, teachers attempt to spread their knowledge to students through many different forms of teaching.

Many teachers feel that students learn best by getting hands-on experience with the subject, such as teaching science through labs or history through art projects.

“I think it is important for the students to be engaged whether that’s class discussion or hands on projects,” social science teacher

Marjorie Giffin said. “I decide, based on the topic, what we should do and just try to pick something that I think will get students interested.”

For some subjects, such as math, teachers feel that the best way to teach is just to individualize the learning process to the specific student to help them better understand.

“I’m not big on lectures,” math teacher Kris Mengarelli said. “I think I can better reach students if I have them in small groups and can help them individually.”

For some students, learning specifically from only one method

USD 250 Foundation funding for success Organization uses donations to benefit district

BY REECE BURNS The Booster Redux

The USD 250 Foundation has been present for Pittsburg schools since 2001. The Foundation was formed to allow private donors to contribute to Pittsburg schools more easily. Main contributions, which are invested initially, go towards a Southeast Kansas Community foundation which involves the greater Kansas City area whom gives USD 250 an interest rate so that programs such as the yearly scholarships are able to be funded every year.

“A lot of people wanted to donate to the schools and there wasn’t really a way for them to do that,” said USD 250 Foundation Committee chair holder Koeta Bryant. “There was emphasis when they first started to redo the football stadium, but it’s hard for people to just give money to a school district.”

Donors can also give for strictly purposes of renovations or program funding around the district.

The track renovations and the auditorium upgrades at the high school were funded by private donor money that was designated by the Foundation Committee as well as some money directly from the district.

The Committee can also designate funds towards mini grants that are given to teachers for what the district lacks in such as field trips, elementary school instruments, and other programs sponsored by teachers around the district.

Darin Kelley received a grant this year for a machine that simulates a variation of four-square; ‘9-Square in the Air.’ “I had to fill out an application to be selected and approved for a grant,” Kelley said. “I also had to include how it would be used and how many kids it would affect; it was an easy process.”

For people wishing to donate money to USD 250 schools, the Foundation makes it an easier process.

According to Bryant, all you need to do is contact the President of the Foundation (Carol Wimmer) or Superintendent Destry Brown or even go through the Foundation’s web or Facebook page.

can be beneficial. Other students may require multiple forms of learning or a mixture of different types of teaching and assignments.

“I enjoy a mixture of hands-on and lectures,” senior Luis Hernandez said. “Through lectures, you get the knowledge and through handson, you get to use and apply that knowledge.”

Students and teachers have many different preferences for teaching and learning, however, it all comes down to whether or not the students have gained the applicable information they need.

When students began enrolling for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year, they should have noticed a difference in the number of courses offered. An additional five classes and one revised class were included in the list of electives for students to choose from.

They range from Driver’s Ed to Photojournalism. Among these include: World Area Studies (Modern Middle East), ACT Prep, Editorial Leadership, and AP US Government These educational courses will give students the opportunity to excel in the classroom.

World Area Studies (Modern Middle East) will help students understand how America becomes involved in foreign affairs with the Middle East. With that being said, it requires some prior knowledge of this region and outcomes of the events that have resulted in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, and the overthrow of dictators. Students will learn about the people, lifestyle, and art that embody the Middle East. The class will be taught by Ms. White.

One class to really help students reach their full academic potential is the ACT Prep course. This class will be a semester long class focusing on English, Math and Science. Students will first receive a pre test to be submitted. Once the data is recorded, the teachers will be able to see how each student did in each subject. Students will have six weeks to concentrate on those areas in which they can improve.

“It will be beneficial to me cause it will help me improve my score and with a higher score, more scholarships will be available for me,” junior Joshua Allmon said.

They will also be able to take mini timed tests during the day to prepare for the actual ACT. “I am excited for it. I think people will see a benefit quickly,” guidance counselor Burl Powell said. “It will raise test scores.”

AP U.S. Government has been bumped up to a yearlong course.

Students enrolled in this class must pass both semesters in order to earn the credits essential for graduation. Mr. Wolgamott will be teaching this course.

The years that Driver’s Ed has been offered to students, it has been conducted in the summer. This year that will be changing.

Driver’s Ed is now going to be available as a class during the school day. This new addition will save those needing to take an instructional driving course class hundreds of dollars compared to other programs. The class will be taught both in the classroom and outside the classroom on the road. To complete the course students must pass the final and driving assessment. The classroom instruction includes: discussion of basic car control, driving principles, the factors of driving, and the rules of the road.

The driving time will be scheduled in one-hour block periods on a one-on-one basis and is outside the classroom. An instruction permit is necessary for the course but those who do who have not obtained one already, the instructor of the course will help the students apply for one at the beginning of the class. The students accepted is limited and older students will be given priority for the class. When students successfully complete the class they will be able to obtain a Kansas Driver’s License if they are 16, while those 15 years of age can receive their restrictive license along with completing their 50 hours of supervised driving.

The prerequisite to apply for the photojournalism class includes an application and interview, instructor approval, and summer participation. This course will teach students technical skills to produce quality images and will receive instruction to learn the trade of photojournalism, how to publish photos, and create a portfolio. This class will require an outside of the classroom time commitment. To enroll for this class the following semester the students must receive a C or better.

Members of the student publications staff will be able to enroll in Editorial Leadership class with approval of the instructor. This course gives students the opportunity to develop leadership and management skills and will include the design and completion of a collaborative project. A C average must be maintained to enroll for the second semester.

Overall, students will have the opportunity to broaden their horizons and take that extra step to getting a head start on their career path.

Keep off the sidewalks and between the lines Seatbelt usage by teens on the rise

BY ALLI BADEN The Booster Redux

With car accidents being the number one leading cause in death of teenagers, people are trying to uncover if teen driving is really where it should be.

It is still unclear whether teenage driving has improved over the past couple years but resource officer Mike Reese believes it has.

“I think [the improvement] probably has to do in part to the way they changed the drivers license.” Reese said. “ It used to be that once you were 14 you got your learners permit, 15 you were able to drive to and from school, and 16 you were good to go. There wasn’t a lot of drive time and getting experience.”

Today, according to Kansas laws, to obtain a non-restricted drivers license you have to take the full driving, vision, and written test, or you can complete a drivers education course. You must also complete 50 hours of parent supervised driving with 10 being at night. Some statistics also suggest that the driving has gotten better in some aspects. One way it has improved is in seat belt usage.

The Seat belts Are For Everyone (SAFE) program goes to schools and surveys how many people are wearing their seat belts. 88 schools and 38 countries participate in the SAFE program. In the 20112012 school year, over 83% of all participating schools experienced a positive change in the number of seat belts users. Pittsburg High school has had an 8% increase of students wearing their seat belts. Now 85% of students wear their seat belts at Pittsburg High School.

Although many agree that teen driving has improved, some disagree.

“I really don’t think it has improved.” Benny Bernhardt said. “Teenagers haven’t gotten the instruction that they used to. It used to be all of our students would go through a drivers Ed program here

at the high school. And now some of them go through drivers schools and get a lot less training than they used to.”

However, both agree that something all teenagers lack when it comes to driving is experience.

“Some new drivers are so cautious because they lack experience that they create a hazard.” Bernhardt said.

To help improve driving, Bernhardt has one tip for teen drivers.

“Take driving seriously,” Bernhardt said. “And realize they are behind the wheel of a 2,000 pound vehicle t h a t can cause injury and damage to property in matters in fractions of a second.”

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Preparing a cake in Bake Shop, Ena Linares and her translator communicate instructions from a cake box. They use different forms of communication such as pictures and gestures throughout the day to understand one another. Normally signing in the Spanish form of sign language, Linares is having to adjust to the English version. PHOTO BY MIRANDA MOORE

Signing transports student to a new world

BY MORGAN PLANK

“She’s enjoying them. She likes being, working, talking with different people. It’s something different,” Zollars said.

Sign language is for all ages. It is never too early or too A typical school day, for most students, revolves around hearing the normal everyday school sounds throughout late to start learning the language. Special Education teacher the day, listening to the teacher lecture, and socializing Tom Burns has taken advantage of this opportunity. He is in with friends. For deaf students, they have a different way of the process of completing a signed English class at Labette Community College. His son has also decided to join him as communicating with the world.

This year, two deaf students became a part of Pittsburg well.

The main reason Burns High School’s student body, Ena Linares and Brittany Everitt. Linares moved from El Salvador and Everitt attended decided to partake in the Pittsburg Community Middle School before coming to PHS. learning of the language Linares is sixteen and has been a student at PHS for seven was for his student, Brittany weeks now. For the first month Linares was here, she didn’t Everitt. Everitt is visually have a permanent translator to sign with. She had only a impaired and what she limited amount of time each day with the sign language can see is very limited.

Yet, she can see enough to teacher.

During the one month gap, Spanish and ESOL teacher understand signs.

Unlike Zollars and Regina Winemiller took the initiative to help Ena. She gave herself a crash course and quickly learned the language. To Linares, Burns and Everitt make things easier, for both her and Ena, they used iPads to communicate using signed English along with ASL. pair vocabulary with pictures.

“We had a deaf education “If it had an audio option I had to find a way to turn that off and turn the words on. It was challenging, but we got teacher sign to us for our new student when through it,” Winemiller she came this said.

“Just like you can paint a picture When Linares’s with words, you can paint a picture year,” Burns said. “Based translator, Sarai Zollars, with signs. It’s a very beautiful on where our first arrived it was language.” student was at difficult to find a happy the beginning medium between the - SARAI ZOLLARS of the year two because Linares when we got only knew Spanish sign language and Zollars only knew American Sign Language her, we thought it would (ASL), but learned Spanish in high school. In addition, this is be better use of the deaf Zollars first year of translating and Linares is the first student education teacher’s time to teach my staff and I sign she has worked with.

“It’s very difficult. That is the challenge we face. We use language.”

When Burns and his a lot of pictures. I describe in as many words as I can use, then I show pictures. It’s just many, many, many pictures. staff had a comfortable Repeating again and again and again. Pairing words with understanding of the language they began to signs,” Zollars said.

Zollars and Linares have been working together for teach their students.

“We crammed as much five weeks. Zollars feels that being a translator is a very knowledge as we could into rewarding job.

“Every time she gets something it makes me so happy. I our heads in a short amount of time because we only had don’t know how to explain it,” Zollars said.

Zollars was first exposed to sign language at a young age. the deaf education teacher Her father and sister learned sign language from deaf people for a limited amount of in their community. They had a deaf school in their town time,” Burns said.

Once the deaf education where they lived. Zollars picked up some of the basics from teacher had left, Burns wanted to keep learning so he then her father and sister when they were learning.

“It’s a beautiful language. It’s very visual. To see it, it’s so decided to take classes for signed English.

“I’m really enjoying it. I’m planning on taking it up to the pretty to watch. There is a lot of meaning that goes with the sign language,” Zollars said.”Just like you can paint a picture intermediate level,” Burns said.

Although signed English and ASL are similar they have their with words, you can paint a picture with signs.”

Winemiller along with the administration and some of there differences.

“Signed English uses a lot of the same signs as ASL, but signed Ena’s other team thought it would be a good idea to enroll English has a sign for merely every word, where ASL may use her in a hands-on course.

“She is in bake shop, adaptive art, and classes with one sign and it has multiple meanings and then you just have Hendrickson where they go out in the community and get to understand the context that they’re using in order to figure it to set tables and go to ALDI’S, so she gets used to the culture out,” Burns said.” Signed language uses connective speech like “and”, and “the” where ASL leaves most of that stuff out.” and society,” Winemiller said.”

Linares is really enjoying her new classes The Booster Redux

Although Brittany is the only one of Burns’ students that uses sign language, some of his other students have started to pick up on the language.

“One of the biggest benefits that I’ve got is that my other students are seeing us use sign language with Brittany and they are actually learning the signs,” Burns said. “A lot of them aren’t very good readers so their vocabularies are not strong. We are pairing signs with vocabulary words to help them increase their sight vocabulary.”

With Everitt, Burns uses lots of pictures and objects. They have even made flashcards to help with her vocabulary.

“She loves to look at ads in the newspaper so we take advantage of that,” Burns said. “We find pictures of things she likes and then we teach her the signs.”

Burns is very pleased with Everitt’s progress.

When Burns is teaching Everitt signs he makes sure that the concept is understood as well as the sign.

“That’s a huge thing,” Burns said. “Making sure the concept is understood.”

Burns also feels that it is very important to give his students the chance to show him what their abilities are.

“That’s one of the things we try to really be careful about and make sure that we provide the opportunity to let them show us what they can do and then we just try to keep building on that,” Burns said.

American Sign Language (ASL) has been around since the early 1600’s, and today has become the fourth most used language in the United States.

A recent trend that is becoming more popular is parents are teaching their babies sign language. There are many benefits to teaching the language early on. It helps the development of language skills, decreases frustration, develops understanding, and increases creativity and early literacy skills. It may also increase IQ levels.

“It’s always good to be able to have more people around that communicate with each other,” Burns said. “Even if it’s just to say “Hi” and “How are you?”and things like that.

It makes them feel good and it makes you feel good too.”

Secrets, deceit and exclusion: how to avoid the wrath of frenemies

BY KATIE PHALEN The Booster Redux

Every high school student will probably agree with the idea that there are several different types of friends. Some are better than others, treat you differently, and may react to certain situations differently.

Say you tell four of your friends that you broke up with your boyfriend. One friend may make a huge scene and draw a lot of attention to you when you tell her. One might only turn the conversation back to her own problems. Another only makes you feel worse by seeing the glass half-empty. The fourth listens intently to your story, but then runs off to tell someone else all the secrets you just spilled to her. Though you have been friends with these four girls for years, you know something is wrong; this is not exactly friendly behavior.

These toxic friends or “frenemies” are common in society today. Frenemies can not only be annoying and frustrating, but they can also stress you out and wear down your self-confidence. It is important to try to avoid frenemies as much as possible, but this can be hard if you have been close with this person for a long time. How do you just stop hanging around with someone you have known for years? And how can you be sure that they are a true frenemy?

“Look for the qualities in your friends

that you truly love and make sure that they for a long time is never easy, and you almost are honest not only with themselves but never receive an explanation. It is just a part you no matter what,” senior Kylie Wilber of life. said. “Don’t compromise on choosing “Distance yourself emotionally from that friends because you should be surrounding person. You don’t need to physically distance yourself with people who encourage and love you so that you can do the same for them.”

The most common form of frenemies “You don’t is the “excluder” or look as fat as you “isolator”. This is typically someone did yesterday.” that is trusted and you have known for “Thanks, I a very long time, but think. But that one day, they just do wasn’t really a not wish to be your compliment.” friend anymore.

Slowly, they start leaving you out of things, stop inviting you to sit with If your friend tries them at lunch, and to bring you down, don’t typically replace you, let it get to you. Keep your leaving you feeling head held high and don’t insignificant and confused. Losing look back. someone that you have been close with

What to do if your friend says...

yourself because that person still needs a friend. But, when they constantly ignore you or exclude you, you are emotionally prepared for the situation and come out on the better side of the deal.” Wilber said.

Another common case of frenemy is the “gossiper.” You will almost inevitably run into this throughout high school because almost everyone, boy or girl, gossips in some fashion. These are hard to pick out because the frenemy acts like a sympathetic friend when you are venting your problems to them, but you do not see them when they gossip about you later behind your back.

Teenagers gossip because it is fun, and knowing what is going on in other people’s lives makes them feel involved and in the loop. When choosing your friends, look for the one’s who do not spend their free time in class gossiping with the people around them. Trust and honesty are both important in building a solid, happy friendship. If you can not trust them with your deepest secrets, then they are not truly your friend.

“If someone is friends with someone who is constantly doing that, then maybe it’s time to find new ones,” senior Emily Commons said. “Honestly ignoring the person who gossips about you is the best route. The person that gossips wants the attention so confronting them is just giving them the attention that they want.”

Sports

SECTION D

BOOSTER REDUX Friday, March 29, 2013

■ Page 8D

Moving on to Matlock New coach looks to exceed expectations

55 career wins

BY PARKER MATTHEWS The Booster Redux

Between new jerseys and a new practice field, the baseball team is also gaining a new coach. The baseball team is leaning on Keith Matlock to lead to a promising season.

Along with being the new baseball coach, Keith Matlock is new to teaching at USD 250. He accepted a job teaching A+ and Visual Prescriptive Learning at Elm Acres, as well as coaching the freshman boys basketball team at PHS. After graduating from Chanute High School, where he varied between pitcher and outfielder for the Comets, Matlock went on to Pittsburg State University where he pitched. He coached previously at Girard High School, where he won 55 games in the span of five seasons. The Trojans won eight postseason games in those five season, with a state appearance in 2009; however, they lost in the first round to Topeka Hayden- went on to win state. Along with his love of baseball, Matlock accepted the coaching job for numerous reasons.

“Being in the community the last 15 years, along with competing against [Pittsburg] in high school,

“We return a great group of core seniors from last year’s team... our seniors will teach the young kids what it means to be a PHS baseball player ” - KEITH MATLOCK

I knew of the rich tradition and history of their program,” Matlock said. “It has been a strong program, and the community truly cares and supports baseball.”

The players have already taken a liking to the new coach and his hands-on coaching techniques.

Many feel a bond that players often want with their coaches.

“I like how [Matlock] works with the players individually. You get the full effect of a coaching, and I think a lot of people learn better that way, at least I do,” sophomore outfielder Jeremy Lawson said.

Along with repetition and youthfulness, players appreciate the new tempo of practices.

“I like the more intense pace at practices, they help imbed what Matlock teaches us,” senior Spencer Bernhardt said.

Matlock took the reins from science teacher Mike Wilbert.

Wilbert retired after finishing last year’s season as co-champions of the SEK. As any coach strives to accomplish, Matlock looks to win the SEK this season and then some.

“Our expectations are to put a highly competitive “Our expectations are to put a highly team on the field, [one that] plays competitive team on the field... ” the game right,” - KEITH MATLOCK Matlock said.

“We return a great group of Veteran players, as well as the core seniors from last year‘s relatively newer additions to the team. We have some talented team, are already used to the young players that we will Matlock’s coaching method, even fill right in with this group. so early in the season.

Our seniors will teach the “Matlock is a more physical young kids what it means coach. I like that he is young and to be a PHS baseball energetic,” senior Todd Keller player. And hopefully said. “[He emphasizes] repetition all this will combine is the key to success. Once you to make for a highly get it down into your head it’s just successful season.” automatic.”

A new home for student athletes Renovations and building of fields and the track create excitement among the athletes

BY RYAN TAYLOR

The Booster Redux

Spring athletes will be competing on a new home this season as construction for the new track, softball field and renovations to the baseball field comes to a close.

“About 12 years ago when I first came here, we sat down with all the coaches and sponsors and kind of made out a list of what all our needs were,” Athletic director Doug Hitchcock said. “We had a list and from that period, the last 12 years, we’ve been chipping away at those.”

The track facility and soccer field were one of the big items on the list.

“I love it. It’s nice that we can actually have a home track meet our senior year,” senior thrower Kyle Untereker said.

Both the track and soccer field were completed last May. “The planning part of it took us probably about a year, maybe even a little more than a year because we went and viewed a lot of tracks,” Hitchcock said.

Hitchcock and other interested parties traveled to Tulsa, Wichita and Kansas City to view more than a dozen tracks before construction started. “[We] kind of found what we could take from each of those and make our facility one of the nicer ones of the area,” Hitchcock said.

The first track meet for the new track will be a middle school meet held on April 1. It will be followed by a junior varsity meet the next day and the first varsity meet on May 9.

After the track was completed, focus shifted to the construction of a softball facility at the high school. The planning process, which included viewing other fields and meeting with architects, took around a year.

“We got a lot of ideas from PSU [Pittsburg State University] and then getting the community patrons to help finance. The district helped quite a bit but we couldn’t cover it all,” Hitchcock said.

As for construction, workers are on the dugout phase of the

facility, which Hitchcock hopes to have completed so that games could be played as soon as this season. However, the field will not have lights until next season, forcing the girls to start their games earlier.

Baseball is the only spring sport that will not have a home field at the high school. The team travels to Jaycee Baseball Complex for home games.

“It’s such a nice field with the turf and the city is nice to work with there so I would imagine that we would stay there,” Hitchcock said.

However the boys will continue to practice on their newly renovated field, which includes new dirt and a grass infield.

Games, track meets and outside practice came to a halt this week due to the recent snow and cold weather.

For future projects, Hitchcock is hoping to build six tennis courts on the west side of the high school.

Currently there is discussion with PSU on having a collaborate effort for the project.

Preparing to shine at the Shrine Bowl

BY RYAN TAYLOR

The Booster Redux

With the football and cross country seasons coming to a close months ago, two seniors were recently given a chance to compete at the high-school level one last time before graduation.

Cross country member Jeremiah Jones and football player Spencer Bernhardt were both selected to represent Pittsburg in the annual Shrine Bowl, which will be held in Topeka.

The Shrine Bowl consists of a two-mile race for the cross country runners. The runners will end the race in the stadium, which will follow with a football game consisting of the state’s top football players. During halftime, Jones will be recognized along with all the other runners.

“It feels really good,” Jones said. “I didn’t even think I’d qualified for making it. There are going to be some really good runners there.”

Jones first started cross country two years ago as a junior after a former student suggested it. It was not long before Jones developed a passion for running and earned a spot on the varsity team.

“It’s a huge honor, not only do they look at you sports-wise, they look at you academicwise and the type of person you are in school before they even nominate you,” Jones said.

“Plus it’s for an amazing cause,” The Shrine Bowl is a charity event put on to benefit the Shriners Hospital. The athletes are given a chance to visit the hospital and speak with some of the children and doctors before they compete.

Unlike Jones who basically just started his sport, Bernhardt has been playing football for 10 years and was the varsity quarterback, defensive back and punter, helping the team to a 5-4 record.

“I didn’t know I was selected until signing day and being able to sign just added on to it,” Bernhardt said. “It’s just a great honor. I grew up watching all the people from our school go there and rooting for them and hopefully kids will look up to me like that and just continue the tradition.”