Central Focus November 2009

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Gender discrimination limits opportunity p. 8 - H1N1 arguable problem p. 10

Students are faced with many choices for after high school

FRANCIS HOWELL CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL VOLUME 13 ISSUE 3

Mapping out your future

To Mizzo u

Community

Volunteers donate time during Thanksgiving season

11.20.2009

In question Certain “sports” beg clarification

Costs cut

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Focus

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FocalPoints

Simon Cowell surpassed Donald Trump as the top earner on primetime U.S. television, making $75 million last year as opposed to Trump’s $50 mil.

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Youth in Government members pulled in top honors as a result of their work at their annual field trip to Jefferson City.

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The Leonid meteor shower peaked Tuesday.

It happens every 33 years and this year was very bright due to the new moon.

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“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” rocked the gaming world on its November 11th release date.

Popular St. Louis radio station 100.3 “The Beat” was converted to a holiday radio station. Rumors have it that after the holiday season the station will convert to a rock station.

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The new LEGO mp3 player and camera has all the standard features and can even be integrated into your existing LEGO designs. Buy one from thinkgeek.com.

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Hypnotized as Batman, senior Chris Parker attempts to rescue Jackie Kaufman in Mr. Steve Bohning’s psychology class. This day, which is often one of the highlights of the class, took place on Nov. 13.

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Social networking site Hi5, the third most popular social network in the world, is gaining popularity in the U.S.

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Millions of tween girls are giddy with the release of “New Moon,” which hit theaters today.

5

Missouri state senator Scott Rupp visited with Mr. Tom Whelan’s Contemporary Issues classes on Tuesday to discuss the economy and other political issues.

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Letter from the Editor W hile a ham and cheese sandwich might may prefer, is strictly based on the individual. be your preference, I will take peanut

In this issue, the Central Focus staff delves

butter and jelly. You may like hot chocolate, into the concept of universities versus but I’d rather have apple cider. These choices vocational schools. are not unequal in quality; it is a matter of preference.

The staff wants to offer students a glimpse into different education options while seniors are in

A four-year university seems like the obvious the midst of applying to colleges with minds set choice for a high school graduate. Vocational on the future. Awareness is key to success. schools, which are focused on specific careers,

Sincerely,

are often overlooked as potential options. The difference, just like what kind of sandwich one

Kayla Mugler Page designed by Kayla Mugler

Photo by Dallas Tobin

Stylist Becky Hill works on a mannequin during a class at the Academy of Beauty on Highway N. Some students have choosen to follow the path to tech school, or as in Hill’s case, cosmetology school.

H1N1 declared emergency See page 4 | Student loan rates increase See page 5

Wired Helping hands

Volunteers team with organizations to help others

By Brittany Kinealy Staff reporter

With the holidays fast approaching and the economy showing little improvement, many people in the St. Charles area are in need of help. Central students are heeding the call and getting involved. Looking for more than

3

just service hours, these students are making a difference.

Junior Nick Book is an Eagle Scout and has been volunteering for various causes for years now.

He has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, helped out at the Oasis Food Pantry and is also participating in this year’s

Please read more | VOLUNTEER, PAGE 6

Photo by Ryan McPartland

Boys Scouts walk door-to-door, leaving bags so citizens can fill them with canned goods. They worked in conjunction with Eagle Scouts to hand out these bags all over the St. Charles area.

Students ‘Mix-It-Up’ at lunch

By Alaina Babb Wired Editor

On Nov. 12, 2,924 schools nationwide participated in an event known as Mix-It-Up day.

The day is meant to help students break out of their normal cliques and meet new people in their school.

“Students choose to sit at another table with students that they have never met before or never talk to and just spend lunch with them,” said Assistant Principal Dave Stofer, who ran the lunches on Mix-It-Up day.

Each table that was participating

in Mix-It-Up day was decorated with colored tablecloths and candy.

Each place also had a question card with it, equipped with quick and easy conversation fillers.

“They were kind of funny, like, ‘What are your grandparents like?’

That one seemed a little weird,” said freshman Emily Nobs.

Previously, our school has held Mix-It-Up day, and it has been a success. So, administration decided to do the day again.

To help encourage the students to “mix-it-up,” free candy and prizes, such as gift cards to St. Louis Bread Company, were handed out.

“I liked the free candy and prizes.

It made the lunch worthwhile,” said senior Ericka Culbertson, who won a car sticker during 5B lunch.

Many people, like foreign language teacher Ms. Lauren Barth, thought that the day was just as successful as, if not more than, years previous.

“I did it last year and there seem to be more people participating this year,” said Mrs. Barth.

Overall, the great success of the day may lead to more frequent MixIt-Up days in the future, according to Mr. Stofer.

Page designed by Alaina Babb

Photo by Kelci Davis

Juniors Melissa Felps and Tori Politte sit at Mix-It-Up day lunch tables.

They met two new people who they had never met before and enjoyed winning prizes, such as gift cards and decorative car stickers.

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Wired

November 20, 2009

FHCtoday.com

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H1N1 fear spreads Pandemic hits Missouri school districts, may cause school closings

By George Yu Copy editor

Photo by Zac Hebert

A receiver of the swine flu shot winces in pain as R.N. Bea Hubbard injects the vaccine into his left shoulder. Many recipients waited in line at Hollenbeck Middle School on Tuesday, Nov. 17 to get the vaccination, which required a consent form.

Schools have closed for a brief time in the St. Louis area. Not even snow and sleet can force most schools to close for an entire week.

This onset is caused by the H1N1 virus, commonly refered to as swine flu. Swine flu originated in Mexico; it quickly spread to the United States.

Even before swine flu came to the United States, schools in Mexico City had closed down. With CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Director Dr. Thomas Frieden reporting more than 1,000 swine flu deaths in the United States, only 11 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed.

On Oct. 24, President Barack Obama declared swine flu a national emergency.

This declaration gives Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius the power to grant waivers to hospitals and other medical institutions to improve efficiency.

For example, Sebelius has the authority to allow hospitals to establish off-site areas to treat swine flu patients.

Sebelius is also involved in setting priorities for vaccine distribution.

The first occurrence here at FHC was at the end of September. The

school district got their first supply of vaccines in late October. These doses went to pregnant teachers.

The next group to receive the shot was teachers with children under six months of age.

After all of the nurses are vaccinated, the doses were made

“

One day, we were

seeing 100 students.

We sent 20 home. ”

— Nurse Angie Cherven

available to all district employees.

“I think right now [the district] is just waiting on shipments. When they get them, then they’ll figure out how to distribute them,” said Nurse Christy Gerling.

Vaccines are just one instance of preventative measures. “[Custodians] have been doing more cleaning,” said Nurse Angie Cherven. “There are also hand sanitizer dispensers.”

These measures have taken place across the district.

“As a district, we are encouraging people to stay home if they are

sick and to stay home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of medication, cover their cough and wash their hands frequently or use a hand sanitizer,” said District Nurse Coordinator Janet Stiglich.

Swine flu has caused an influx of students to school nurses.

“One day, we were seeing 100 students. We sent 20 of them home, and at least six of those sent home had a fever,” said Mrs. Cherven.

Those that are sent home may never inform the nurses of their illness.

“If they leave here with a fever, we don’t always know why,” said Mrs. Gerling.

The swine flu incidents have dropped school attendance rates.

On its worse day, the attendance was 91 percent. The closing of schools due to swine flu will be determined by Superintendent Dr. Renée Schuster and Mrs. Stiglich.

“We will look at each building individually and make an informed decision based on numerous factors,” said Mrs. Stiglich.

This descision, however, will not need to be made in the Francis Howell School District very soon because as the fall season, along with the worst of the flu season, ends, the higher the attendance rates rise.

Google explores new features

By Megan Berberich BeHeard editor

The name Google has become synonymous with navigating the Internet. “To google” is even a verb in the American Heritage English Dictionary. According to seoconsultants.com, Google has been the most widely used search engine since 2006, and 70.4% of all searches in September of this year were conducted on Google.

These facts show how Google has become such a substantial part of our lives.

Along with the popular search engine, Google has invented “Google Apps.” Google Apps includes 42 applications that span from “iGoogle”, where one can

personalize a homepage, to “Picasa” which is a site meant to upload, edit, and share photos.

One of the newer applications is nicknamed “Google Tunes.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, “it is a music search tool that allows users to stream all or parts of songs from the results page via partnerships with other online Internet music providers.”

Users can type in Owl City’s “Fireflies” and listen to the whole song or pieces of the song using Lala or iLike.

Music related to the search can also be found with links to Rhapsody, Imeem, and Pandora.

Google has found a way to bridge the gap of searching all over the web

for new music.

“The Music One box is a way to improve the search experience for users,” said Google executives.

Users are quick to hop on the Google Tunes train because as recently as October, Google accounted for nearly 30% of the total traffic to music sites, according to market research firm Hitwise. This is five times more than the secondranked Yahoo.

Another application on Google is making other companies such as Microsoft more obsolete, it’s called Google Docs.

Google Docs is a free Webbased word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and form application offered by Google.

According to the official Google Docs Blog, “Google Docs allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in realtime with others.”

Just last month, the Los Angeles City Council switched from Microsoft Office to Google Docs for its 30,000 personnel, which will in turn save the company $7.2 million dollars, according to Chris Buckler, a Director of OptimalWorks.

This is the first major company to rely on the Internet as a source to stay connected among clients, and others are sure to follow.

Documents are easily shared through this application among owner and recipient, and documents can be sent from any computer.

Page designed by Brendan Kinnison

Senior Heather Brown has found that Google Docs is an easy alternative to using a flash drive and dealing with the extra hassle.

“Google Docs is much easier than bringing in a flash drive. The flash drives only work in some computers and it is very inconvenient,” said Brown.

The convenience is one of the main reasons why Brown is continuing to use this program and suggests Google Docs to others.

“I do not have to remember my flash drive and the internet is easy, and accessible,” said Brown.

With numerous applications and easy file sharing, Google may soon see all other competitors sprinting to stay in the online race.

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FHCtoday.com

November 20, 2009

Private vs. public student loans According to the Department of Education, federal student loans are generally the better option for students seeking money for college tuition due to lower interest rates, tax deductions and the fact that the government can offer lower rates due to subsidization of interest.

Student loans

Grants

Money given to you by the government.

Private bank loan

Parent PLUS

will give you money now, but you repay it during college.

t di e Cr rds ca

give money straight from your bank account that you pay for now.

is a loan for all credit ratings that your parents can pay back.

A government organization, like FAFSA, provides money now and you repay it after college.

Source: U.S. Department of Education

Loan rates on rise

By Kayla Mugler Managing editor

The recently crumbling economy stretched wallets thin and handicapped spending habits of Americans. Paying for college has always been an overbearing burden; now the rise in student loan rates has impeded students’ and parents’ abilities to afford what is considered to be a necessary education.

The interest rate for subsidized student loans is currently six percent, while the rate for unsubsidized loans is 6.8 percent. Most Spartans qualify for the former loan; it accumulates interest through college.

“Most of our students aren’t getting much help,” said guidance counselor Mr. Tim Holmes. “[Their families] make too much money.”

Five to eight years ago, before the recession, loans were consolidated at two percent or even 1.5 percent.

Even the current 6.0 and 6.8 percent federal loan rates do not compare with the 18 percent or more interest rates of private student loans.

“It seems that many college and trade school students are taking out pricey private student loans when they’re eligible for cheaper federal student loans. That’s like throwing money out the window,” said St. Louis Post-Dispatch personal finance columnist Jim Gallagher.

Students have many opportunities for obtaining financial aid and loans for college. The maximum federal student loan is $5,500 per year, but the Parent PLUS program can supply a loan for the rest of the student’s cost of attendance not including other received aid, at a lower interest rate than private bank loans. MOHELA supplies lower-cost loans along with other financial aid options. Some banks allow homeowners to borrow off the home equity to pay for school.

Mr. Holmes advises families to look for the best possible solution.

“Some people put it on a credit card at twenty percent (interest rate) because they’re ignorant. They don’t have any savings,” said Mr. Holmes.

Along with a predicted economic

recovery comes predicted success for individual industries.

“I think because the whole financial situation...ruined this whole industry, too, it will get better,” said Mr. Holmes. “We’re a nation concerned with our students’ education, so we’ll try to help.”

State universities in Missouri did not increase tuition costs this year, for which students can thank Governor Jay Nixon.

“The governor agreed to not cut funding if we didn’t raise tuition, so everyone agreed to that,” said Kathy Elsea, director of financial aid for Truman State University.

The fact that student loan interest rates have risen over four percent in a short period of time can be discouraging, but there are methods to deal with money issues and people to talk to. There will be a FAFSA completion workshop Thursday Feb. 11 in the auditorium.

“Don’t let cost keep you from chasing your dream,” said Mr. Holmes.

Wired

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Baskets offered for Thanksgiving

By Allie Corrier Staff reporter

Holidays are expensive; people have to go out and buy gifts for nearly every occasion. Combined with the food that needs to be provided, Thanksgiving is without a doubt costly.

With the economy in its current state, people are being let go from their jobs. If they are lucky, couples can get by with living off of one income for a while.

However, not all people are this fortunate and that makes big holidays very difficult for them. They stress out over buying gifts and providing food for a Thanksgiving feast the entire family will remember.

With Thanksgiving rolling right around the corner, families fret to figure out a plan on how to celebrate properly. Big, lavish dinners were not a choice for them the past years. This year, a practical one is possible.

National Honor Society and DECA are throwing a fundraiser with the goal of helping those that are less fortunate than others.

They will be picking families who attend Saints Joachim and Ann Parish. From there, they will be putting together gift baskets. The baskets will consist of things like gift cards for turkeys and non-perishable items such as canned and boxed foods.

“Everything you think of that we’re used to,” said DECA sponsor Ms. Lisa Lutz.

The fundraiser kicks off some time mid-November and both clubs are planning on delivering the baskets on the 24th of November.

Although this fundraiser only targets those that are in NHS or DECA, other students can still get involved with donations.

All students do is put together a basket of their own filled with canned foods, gift cards, or other non-perishable items and then drop it off to Ms. Lutz. “[We are] offering it to DECA or NHS members and if any other kids want to get involved they can come talk to me,” said Ms. Lutz.

There are many students who are volunteering just to get the NHS points. Still, others are doing so to help out the needy this time of year.

“As long as they’re [volunteering] with the right intentions, it will turn out well,” said senior Ericka Culbertson.

Culbertson believes that this project will only work as long as students make the baskets with selfless intentions.

Whatever the reason, many people who need help this Thanksgiving holiday season will be receiving it from the NHS and DECA members.

Call Toll Free (636) 978-1953 or at (636) 281-1953

Custom Jewelry and diamond setting

“We Make Quality Affordable”

309 South Main O’Fallon, Mo. 63366

Photo by Chelsea Carroll

Senior Stephany Lebron-Garcia picks out two cans of vegetables for her Thanksgiving basket. National Honor Society and DECA students signed up to create 44 baskets for families this Thanksgiving holiday.

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Wired

November 20, 2009

Volunteer

from page 3

Scouting for Food, in which people are encouraged to donate canned goods, all of which is donated to local food pantries. Book says volunteering can do great things for one’s character.

“It lets you help other people, and it makes you feel better,” said Book. “Knowing that you have made someone’s life better is a feeling most people don’t know, but can be achieved by helping others.”

Besides Eagle Scouts, Book gets involved in other ways.

“Churches are a good way to volunteer,” Book said. “They are always offering opportunities.”

Amanda Leonard, a junior and a Girl Scout, has been helping out in the community for several years now. Not only does she volunteer with her troop, she also helps with the Wentzville Renaissance Faire.

“We’ve got to clean off the stages and fix the stages, and you have to

fix the fences and clear the gravel,” said Leonard in regards to the Renaissance Faire. “It sounds like a whole lot of hard work but it’s people being together and you bond while you’re out there working.” Leonard maintains that volunteering has helped her as a person.

“Even if it’s just simple things like

“

It’s theraputic, being

compassionate for animals. ”

— junior Destiny Pipkin going to the humane society for a weekend or picking up trash every so often, it builds character.”

The St. Charles Humane Society of Missouri is always an option, providing such volunteer opportunities as becoming a “pet pal,” in which participants exercise and socialize the shelter dogs.

Junior Destiny Pipkin volunteers

FHCtoday.com there weekly and says it is a wonderful way to help out.

“I went [to the Humane Society] and saw animals who needed help,” said Pipkin. She got involved to make a difference. “It’s therapeutic, being compassionate for animals... it just makes you feel good about yourself.”

The Humane Society offers volunteer sessions each month for anyone interested in lending a hand.

Rachel Pulley is a senior and has been volunteering with her church for over a year now. She works with the Hope Ministries Food Pantry in O’Fallon.

“Volunteering is fun to do,” said Pulley. “I’d definitely recommend going [to Hope Ministries] because they are always in need of extra help.”

Like many other students, Pulley helps out with local church efforts.

People and even animals are always in need of help. If you are looking for personal fulfillment or just a way to help someone out, St. Charles has more than a few places requiring volunteers this year.

Page designed by Jesse Patch

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Photo by Ryan McPartland

Cub Scout leader Kenny Van Coutren looks over collection routes while collecting canned goods with his pack. The Boy Scouts collected canned goods for families earlier this month.

Censorship reigns at Timberland See page 8 | Swine flu’s affect disputed See page 10

Heard Be

Danger ahead New student drivers neglect responsibilites on the road

By Alli Keisker Staff reporter

7

Any sudden jerk of the wheel or swerve to the left could cause trouble, and a two second brain delay could cause you to realize the car ahead of you is stopping faster than you thought or that the car behind you won’t be able to.

For most teens, turning sixteen and getting a license is a “rite of

Please read more | YOUNG DRIVERS, PAGE 9

Photo by Chelsea Carroll

New teen drivers are creating bad habits on the road. Reckless driving has caused countless accidents outisde of school on Highway N. Texting while driving is now illegal in Missouri if you are operating a car and are under the age of 21.

Chemicals in shots cause concern Swine flu shots reveal serious side affects for some who have recieved it

By Kelci Davis

Staff photographer

As the days become shorter and the temperature drops, we find ourselves walking the slippery line of sickness and

health.

One cough or a simple sneeze seems to send a frenzy of frantic people rushing to the closest doctor’s office, all with one common interest: to get a flu shot and to get it fast.

However, in the hustle and bustle

of a potential virus, we find that we are allowing ourselves to have a mystery serum injected into our gullible veins.

Once the bite of the needle has passed, you take a breath of relief now knowing your body is safe from influenza; all the while, a fatal mix of chemicals is now flowing through the crimson plasma that keeps us alive.

What exactly have you just injected into your body so willingly? As you read into the truth of the magic shot, you may come to realize you have put yourself in a much worse situation

then you had ever been in before.

Personally, I don’t think toxic chemicals and virus strains grown on living tissue and/or genetically modified in sterile laboratories belong in the human body, even when they are packaged in glass vials or nasal inhaler mechanisms and forced into your body by a medical doctor, registered nurse, or licensed pharmacist.

Flu shots have been around for quite some time now, having been created by the United States military in the 1940’s.

Page designed by Megan Berberich

The theory behind the shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is that by injecting your body with an inactivated virus strand, your antibodies will build up immunity to the virus before you are faced with the threat of the flu.

WebMD.com has also stated that “some vaccines are also grown and strained through animal or human tissue like monkey kidney tissue, chicken embryo, embryonic guinea pig cells, calf serum, and human diploid cells (the dissected organs

of aborted human fetuses). Flu vaccines are prepared from the fluids of chicken embryos inoculated with specific types of the influenza virus.”

However, only three strands of influenza are chosen to be used. So you have possible protection from three kinds of influenza. That’s rather encouraging when there are well over 200 strands known to date.

Now let’s not forget that dead viruses are not the only thing to be found into the mystifying elixir. If you have ever found yourself reading Please read more | FLU SHOTS, PAGE 9

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BeHeard

November 20, 2009

FHCtoday.com

Censorship hinders student expression

Staff cartoon by Zac Hebert

Staff editorial: Gender equality

Equality should encompass all citizens choices

O

pportunities for education appear to be constrained by society’s discrimination.

There has always been a limit in regards to what a woman can do versus what a man can do.

Because of the heavy emphasis placed on gender, women and men alike are forced to settle for a career or education that they don’t exactly love.

Instead of attending an emergency medical training school or a technology school, a woman might go to a university, because men traditionally take on those careers.

The military proves to be a great example of gender-specific jobs.

Families in America commonly show great support for the tradition of many military roles being taken on by a man rather than a woman.

When a man tells his parents that he will be joining the military, parents are generally proud and supportive of their son.

When a woman tells her parents that she is joining the military, however, parents say, “We just don’t want our little girl to get hurt.”

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Although women have been allowed to be permanent members of the armed forces since the late 1940s, the jobs women can do are still more limited than those that men can do.

While women are taught to fight and carry weapons, they are not allowed to serve on the front lines of battle.

Women are not technically allowed in combat, but still see combat to its fullest extent, such as being a turret gunner.

The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal.

It seems that America thinks that “men” refers to gender, while that is not the case. The true meaning of “men” is simply any and every human being.

Putting limits on a career based on gender is the same as putting limits based on race; it is discrimination.

While one race is different from another, they are still equal.

If a woman can prove to do the same work just as well, if not better, than a man, then she should be allowed to do that job.

“The Wolf ’s Howl” is the newspaper at Timberland High School in Wentzville.

In its last issue,

By Brenden Kinnison the Wolf ’s Howl Staff reporter ran a page that included ads and a story on tattoos.

Subsequently, the whole page was pulled by the school’s principal, Mr. Winston Rogers.

“When the initial spread was pulled by Rogers, he refused to give the staff an explanation, claiming it was ‘the principal’s discretion,’ “ said Ms. Joanna Brenner from the Student Press Law Center.

This action caused the paper to lose money and an uproar within the production staff was caused due to the flimsy reasoning.

According to published reports, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Nikki McGee, was angered the page was pulled and confused as to why.

Such changes to the paper are fundamentally against our natural rights.

A principal cannot change a page unless they give proper reasoning and go through an appeal process, depending on the school district.

They cannot just pull a page on a whim. Later, the explanation was that the page fell under the “drugs, alcohol, etc.” category. Such a reason is too broad and has no real base behind it.

With these broad rules, principals try to find loopholes and give very poor reasoning.

Unfortunately, the First Amendment is not extended to its full extent in public schools.

In schools, students are allowed to be censored, but only to a certain extent. In response to this infringement upon our rights, students and advisers across the country are joining together and protesting in support of Timberland.

“The newspaper staff hosted a Coffee Party Protest — its version of political tea party protests — at a local Starbucks Oct. 23 to protest what is happening and to discuss taking further action,” said Brenner.

“In addition to getting local press attention, McGee said high school advisers statewide are showing support for Timberland’s fight against the censorship, and even going as far to discuss proposing a Student Free Expression bill

for Missouri, to prevent the prior review that was made lawful by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1988 case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.”

Schools are now banding together to fight against oppression. Censorship in America is a prevalent problem, and students and citizens alike are rising up to stop such acts.

I can understand how the principal does not want drugs and alcohol to be encouraged by papers, but censorship is not okay; we do have rights, and such rights should not be violated.

Tattoos are nowhere near being related to drugs or alcohol, and therefore should not be treated in the same manner. We have a right to talk about the things students want to hear. If they want to read or write about tattoos, then so be it!

The Student Free Expression Bill is a new bill trying to be passed that keeps a student paper from being censored.

I believe the Student Free Expression Bill is a step forward, students will no longer be chained down as to what they can or cannot write about. If it is news, it is news; I will report it no matter what the subject is.

Letters to the editor All have right to opinions

First off, I (including many others) highly disagree with the article “Political Opinions Are Getting Out of Hand.” I have talked to many of my other peers, and they all agree with me.

Basically, that article said we shouldn’t have the right to think and speak for ourselves. Why does it matter that we can’t vote? We all have the right to our own opinions, and if that includes politics then what gives you the right to tell us to basically ‘shut up’?

Some people at our school are well informed about politics and have well formed opinions about such things as what our government is up to (shenanigans). Are we not supposed to have an opinion? Are we supposed to sit here and be a

gigantic flock of sheep?

Some of the things people say about our government are true, factual, not “ignorant.” If anyone is ignorant, it is the author of this article saying that we shouldn’t bother forming political opinions because we ‘don’t know what we are talking about’ and it won’t matter anyways.

I hope that this sort of writing is frowned upon and won’t happen anymore.

Good day to you.

Best regards, Mike Arnold

Other options available

I believe that focusing on college is a good idea, but I believe that for those that feel they don’t “belong” in college you should discuss other options so they don’t feel a GED or just ending

Page designed by Megan Berberich

education is their only option.

Options you could explore: beauty school, mechanic school, culinary arts, fashion design schools, etc. Being a cosmetologist is a very lucrative job and there is always a demand for workers in that industry.

Maybe some kids don’t understand that doing hair and makeup is a job or they think they won’t make enough money. They may also be afraid they won’t succeed.

These are all common fears regarding vocational schools. Please explore this idea. Maybe one paper has a column on cosmetology, and the next a column on culinary arts, etc.

This will give other ideas to students besides college and it will make those who are going to a vocational school feel like their work is important and worth recognition.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely, Sami Haberkorn

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FHCtoday.com

HOT BOX LOVE IT 1. Black Friday Sales 2. Thanksgiving break 3. Charity donations

4. “12 Angry Jurors”

LIKE IT 1. Warm weather 2. College Basketball Season 3. Youth In Government

4. $1.95 Deli Line

Young drivers from page 7

passage” and puts them one step closer to becoming an adult. Others would just abuse the privilege of getting a car to come and go when they please and become less responsible than ever before.

When most adults picture teenagers driving, they see a stressful and hazardous thing, but who could blame them? At our school we’ve had numerous accidents in the parking lot and on Highway N this year alone. Getting into a handful of accidents gives teenagers a terrible image.

A lot of kids just expect to get a car for their sixteenth birthday. A study done by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia claims that those who are handed a car at age sixteen are twice as likely to get into automobile accidents compared to those who share a car with a family member.

Accidents aren’t a joke. They really

Flu shots from page 7

LEAVE IT 1. UGG boots 2. Censorship at Timberland HS 3. School illnesses

4. “Twilight” insanity

Web Poll

Did you participate in National Mix it up Day?

53.3% “No, it did not appeal to me.”

reading a box of Pop Tarts, I’m sure you have noticed they have a list of all the ingredients for the toaster pastries. However, it seems to be an impossible task to find exactly what is in a flu shot. The strains of the flu virus are inactivated using formaldehyde, a known cancercausing agent, and are then preserved with Thimerosal.

According to the CDC, “Thimerosal contains approximately 49% ethyl mercury.” Mercury is a toxic substance, and in 2004 the World Health Organization found that once it has entered your body, it will never entirely leave. It is well known that mercury causes countless health problems, including heart disease, brain damage, autoimmune disease, and neuron degeneration.

This is not to mention you will also find ethylene glycol in the vaccination, more commonly known as antifreeze, phenol (used in dyes, also known as carbolic acid), and aluminum, which is known to cause Alzheimer’s disease and seizures and had caused many lab rats to develop cancer.

According to pediatrics.com, patients, especially children, have also been found to have allergic reactions to the vaccine constituents Neomycin and Streptomycin.

It has also been found by Dr. Ben Kim, an oncologist in Salt Lake City, that flu vaccinations have led one

November 20, 2009 do happen and can be very serious.

If you goof around when you’re out and about on the streets, you could cause serious damage to yourself or someone else. If you share cars with someone, you don’t have as much responsibility over it. The little things like offering to pay for insurance and not always having to pay for gas add up. I’d rather share a car and have things paid for me than have my own car and have to worry about having a job that makes enough money for car payments, repairs and what I want to do that weekend.

Another problem is texting while driving. I won’t ever really understand why people text and drive. More than half of the accidents drivers get into are cell phone related. If you don’t know where you’re going, stop the car and call someone for directions.

Driving around with your phone attached to your ear makes you look foolish, especially if you’re just driving around in circles. I don’t use my phone while I’m driving because I know if I did I wouldn’t be focused completely on the road and what’s person out of a million to develop Guillain-Barré syndrome. This disease causes the body to damage its own nerve cells, specifically those around the brain and spinal cord.

This causes muscle weakness and can result in paralysis or even death.

Even if the flu vaccinations contained ingredients that were safe, I think I’d know better than to spend my money on something that cannot be proven to work. A study in 2006 was performed by medical students at Harvard University who

around me; I’m not going to risk it.

I could name a handful of people who do the same as I do, but I could name even more who don’t.

There are so many people that don’t wear a seat belt while driving.

I’m not really sure why they wouldn’t want to. It’s not a big deal to wear a seat belt. It’s there to protect you.

Imagine driving 50 to 60 mph on the highway when the people ahead of you start jamming on the breaks and the person behind you doesn’t react fast enough. Soon enough you’re smashing through the windshield and having a major face plant across the highway. Graphic, yes, but it’s what could happen. Why not save the trouble of totaling your car and injuring or killing yourself and wear your seat belt? It takes two seconds to buckle up but ten seconds to end your life without it. Irresponsibility is a problem. I’d rather total my car and stay alive than fly through my windshield and skid across the pavement.

Drinking and driving is also a problem with teenagers these days.

It really should be common sense were hoping to unravel the mysteries of the placebo effect. It was found there was no difference between the patients who received the flu shot and those who received blank shots.

“Gaining protection in this mucusal tissue is really the first line of defense. Therefore, vaccines that can be swallowed or inhaled are going to work better than those that enter the body through the bloodstream,” said Dennis Metzger, Ph.D., professor and Theobald Smith alumni chair and director for the Center for

BeHeard

9

to not do that. For one, if you’re drinking at our age, it’s illegal. If you got pulled over for underage drinking, you could get into some serious trouble. You’ll get your license suspended for six or more months, a $500 minimum fee, and a police record. I don’t see how that’s really worth risking when it takes getting pulled over one time for you to lose your license, $500 and a clean police record.

People our age take the luxury of having a car for granted. It’s not worth the risk of getting into accidents and totaling your car just to use your cell phone or to drink and drive. It’s not worth it at all and it’s overly irresponsible. It’s not hard to do the right thing. Act as if the car you’re driving isn’t yours. If it really isn’t yours, then make sure you’re not doing stupid things with it! It takes one instant for you or someone else to get hurt, to total your car, to get a police record, to lose someone’s trust, etc. By acting responsibly, you’ll get a car to drive. It’s the simple little things you do that will keep you and others safe.

Immunology and Microbial Disease at Albany Medical College.

So if you do feel the need to get medical protection against the flu, an inhaled medication is the better route to go.

All in all, if you want to risk your health, life and well being to avoid a stuffy nose and a few days out of school, go right ahead. You may as well save some money and make your own flu shot. All you need is some color dyes, thermometers, dead frogs, antifreeze, and aluminum.

Photo by Jessica DiMariano

A shot is a common precaution to defend against the flu. However, some people have had extreme side effects after receiving the flu shot.

Page designed by Kayla Boone

10

BeHeard: PointCounterPoint

FHCtoday.com

November 20, 2009

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Flu strains minds of teenagers Crisis is unavoidable Bryan McCreary Sweat editor

When I hear the word pandemic, I rarely think of something good.

Malaria and the black plague are commonly referred to as crippling diseases. I can’t recall the last time I, or anyone at all, laughed at something referred to in such a grim light.

In the same respect, the onset of swine flu has crept into the world and is quickly becoming a big problem.

So far, in the United States alone, 37.5 percent of the people tested for H1N1 have tested positive according to the Center for Disease Control.

Out of the 44,555 estimated cases, there have been more than 1,100 deaths. I completely agree: 1,000 deaths is not a problem, right?

Even President Barack Obama has rendered swine flu a “national emergency,” and as far as I know, when president Obama says something, people listen.

Let’s localize this a bit. As I’ve mentioned, the United States is being plagued just as bad, if not worse, than any other country in the world.

Out of the 50 states and the five major territories of the United States, Illinois ranks in the top three of most infected areas. This is our

backyard; swine flu is knocking at our door, and it is not a problem?

According to nurse Angie Cherven, the number of students coming to her with a fever has risen significantly. She noted that on one day, ten people reported with swine flu.

The growing pandemic is only getting worse. With cases in almost every country in the world, no one is safe. The newly created vaccine seems to be effective thus far, but there are too few of these vaccines for the budding problem.

There are only an estimated 28 million vaccines: less than one onehundredth of the population of America, let alone the world.

There have been 43 children who have died from the swine flu since August 30.

According to NYtimes.com, this number is roughly the same as that of the number of deaths in an entire flu season in years previous.

While people sit around thinking that the swine flu is never going to attack their perfect immune systems, thousands of people are suffering, and even dying from the virus. I am not going to take any chances. So be my guest. Throw caution to the wind, but if you’re asking me; I am first in line to get the vaccine and last to think that I am 100 percent safe.

Editors and staff

Kayla Mugler Ted Noelker Zac Hebert Alaina Babb Megan Berberich Bryan McCreary Katie Schlimpert Margaret Borgmeyer Brett Story Cory Schmitt George Yu Kayla Boone Allie Corrier Hannah Ibos Alli Keisker Brittany Kinealy Brendan Kinnison Kyle Kofron Damiana McGraw Jesse Patch Morgan Vetter Kelci Davis Jessica DiMariano Chelsea Carroll

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Ryan McPartland Dallas Tobin Mr. Matthew Schott

Bryan McCreary

People are overreacting

By Damiana McGraw Staff reporter

Bryan thinks H1N1 is a huge problem worldwide.

H1N1: Is the virus really a problem?

Damiana McGraw

Damiana thinks H1N1 is being exaggerated by the media.

Staff photographer Staff photographer Adviser

The Central Focus is produced monthly as an integral part of the Newspaper Production class at Francis Howell Central High School. Students learn all aspects of printed media production and are responsible for contributing to each issue.

The Central Focus is a public forum for the students at Francis Howell Central High School. The staff ’s editorial policy is available in Room 139.

The staff welcomes comments and suggestions from the student body. All letters to the editor must be typed and no more than 300 words. Names must be included with the submission of the letter, but may be withheld at the request of the author. The staff reserves the right to withhold content at its discretion.

Schools are closing down, students are getting sick, and people are dying. H1N1 is a problem, a problem that is spreading around the world. But even for that, the situation has been blown out of proportion.

Media everywhere is having an absolute field day: CNN has scrambled to quote the World Health Organization director saying that “the virus is not stoppable.”

Everybody who is anybody, and then some, is handing out numbers of people who have caught it and how many people have died. They are asking where the vaccines are, whether they are more dangerous than the disease, and if there will be enough — every single way it could be scary has been exploited and beaten to death.

It is true H1N1 is a pandemic; it is true thousands of people have caught it. The death toll continues to rise, but the death toll and the number of people who have gotten it are very different numbers, and the former is much smaller than the latter.

But, just like almost any other disease, including things as commonplace and mild as pneumonia or chicken pox, its

mortality is relevant to age and health: very old people, very young people, and those who are already weakened by other conditions, such as pregnancy or life-threatening diseases, are the segment of the population truly at risk.

That segment of the population is at risk for many diseases and strange conditions. The swine flu is no exception.

The CDC’s website (which, as a side-note, is not very easy to navigate,) barely even distinguishes between H1N1 and the other two noteworthy flu strains making the rounds this year, which are not as infectious or as deadly.

Looking at it from the CDC’s perspective, it is better to overreact than to underreact, in this case.

However, that is unproductive, and is just not fair to the people.

Vaccination supplies are limited, and the public is scrambling to get pricked; fear is driving people who don’t really need it to demand it, and causes people who do need it to be shorted.

In order to react correctly, the public needs to be given the correct information. Though the masses do not necessarily react appropriately to the straight truth, manipulating the masses yields similarly inappropriate results.

Who won this month’s PointCounterPoint? Go to FHCtoday.com to vote!

The results of last month’s PointCounterpoint about Mac vs. PC:

Francis Howell Central High School 5199 Highway N St. Charles, Mo., 63304 Phone: 636.851.5636 Fax: 636.851.4111

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Kayla Boone’s PC argument won the FHCtoday.com web poll with 55.5% of votes.

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FHCtoday.com

November 20, 2009

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InFocus

November 20, 2009

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Photo by Dallas Tobin

Laughing at another stylist, Leigha Fyler combs her mannequin’s hair. She used it to practice styling.

Alumni Shawn Buescher and Ryan Rosenmiller go through training at EMT school. They were

Beauty of opportunity

By Damiana McGraw Staff reporter

Anatomy and physiology, business, electricity, chemistry and microbiology: this is an average class list for a student at the Academy of Beauty, a hair stylist training facility on Highway N. While science and business classes are normally taken at a university, they are also offered to students at the Academy.

Beauty schools are an alternative offered to students who choose a vocational school rather than a fouryear university.

Emily Migneron, 25, is a senior at the school. She spent a year at Lindenwood for business and marketing, but she has now transferred to the Academy of Beauty. She enjoys the independence offered in the style trade.

“In this industry, you can talk to people in different ways, and you are your own professional,” said Migneron.

The owner of the campus, Cassie Kohr, believes that there is a need for studious people in the hairstyling industry, not just at universities.

“The hair industry needs intelligent, well-rounded, well-read individuals, too,” said Kohr. “Do you think your hairdresser is stupid? And if you do, why do you let them come at your scalp with a pair of shears?”

When Migneron finishes at the school, she hopes to spend a year at a salon and then become a saleswoman for Redken. This will mean lots of travel, and she may even do runway hair (for fashion shows).

Sophomores Holly Wallace (19), Becky LePage (21), and Sarah Leonard (20), can be found working on the floor, looking forward to changing the world one haircut at a time.

Wallace said that working in a salon can be just as influential as working

behind a desk.

“You can do just as much good in the world,” said Wallace. “You make them look good on the outside, and you talk to them, make them feel good on the inside.”

According to Lepage, doing hair is a very fulfilling job.

“You can see someone being selfconscious of themselves, and you do one thing to their hair and it makes them so happy,” said Lepage with a note of enthusiasm. “Nowadays you think you have to go to a four-year college just to get a job, and then you get here and in 10 months you’re done and you get a job, and you’re just as prepared as you would be with a degree.”

Hairstyling will always be a necessary field; people will always need their hair cut. Quality hairdressers are in demand, according to the 2007 Job Demand Survey for Missouri.

“Salons in Missouri plan to hire 7,546 new employees in the next twelve months … More importantly, 74% of Missouri salon owners who attempted to hire new employees in 2006 said they were unable to find properlytrained applicants. This means the job will be immediately available for salon professionals,” said the survey.

It’s a different experience from college: in and out in less than two years, hands-on learning and the broad range of student ages.

Migneron said that there are students there from ages 18-50.

“It’s nice, it’s not so catty as regular college,” said Migneron.

“I know I hated school, but this is hands-on. There’s never a dull moment.”

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November 20, 2009

InFocus

13

EMT school provides ‘first-hand experience’

By Bryan McCreary Sweat editor

Photos by Chelsea Carroll

both previously students at Francis Howell Central.

ades

College: the turning point of one’s life, the closing of the high school chapter, and moving on to new things.

The critical decisions of where to go to school and what to study shape a person’s life. When it comes to making this decision, is it always best to attend a university?

For many, the answer to this question is not easy to answer, because there are

qu ir em en ts ille Tech,” re . lying to Nashv for a university of going to ols ho sc h s. “I’m thinking ec “T who le op pe of t lo require I know a generally score of 19 o Linn.” ing an ACT nd te at g in er id placement is not cons and in-house olfe. said Mr. W y. seven tests,” or x make si to in t t si t want to ey still wan “Th & is inimum “[At L ew u have the m said Starnes. t to sure yo ge I s; tests are as cl e e os on Th . e sit in only writing ability ACT.” intense as the I want to do.” ided not as ov pr ce tech schools en of ri y et pe ri ands-on ex There is a va of at th s. milar to s & Clark is si different career at ction is for ra te in of students th ct le re di ools. This “I get a coup ge sa ts as en m ud t The st ng abou in universities. me to me aski co ne “O ed . rm fe fo Mr. Wol lark are in ng L ewis & C erapy,” said th [a l ve ca gi ni ey ch at is th attend te ortunities to mponent of th r co fo ic gh bl hi pu e aduate from yone in th s after they gr massage] to an ve ha n ca ts uden ced price.” St . of uating a redu ad gr ty school free e au th be of a t at eir hair cut r to 6 percen e th th th ch bo te s fit ar a two-ye ange bene arge. This exch will go on to t ch en ud st om e fr e Th m e student. udents co stomer and th l. Most of the st cu ill w e at nc th da ce ui ogram. G le experien gaining valuab ewis & Clark pr . ates that is st fe ol ly to his career W ct re r applied di selor Trevo be n school, ke ch an te R a choice is students leave n he W most popular sted tablished for . Those intere have a job es ay m ey nical College th ing placement will take a nurs hools have job ld sc fie ch al ic Te . ed em m th he unity plan their harles Comm help students C . at th St s at al ci am offi gr ter a education. irements to en reer after their ca lege. The requ e th an th ss stringent h school are le

by Brett Story

alternatives provided.

Trade schools provide education for specified fields and offer certain educational opportunities that universities cannot provide.

When it came to making his career choice, class of 2008 graduate Shawn Buescher made the decision to attend a trade school, one that presents the chance to learn what it takes to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Buescher’s conclusion to turn away from the standard university option was one that was not made easily.

“I didn’t honestly know what I wanted to do,” said Buescher. “I did really well in high school, and I was worried that attending a trade school would sell myself short, but it has been surprisingly challenging for me, and I feel I made the right decision.”

There is a lot that goes into becoming an EMT, according to Buescher. The depiction of what people view college as does not generally apply to trade schools.

“There are a lot more hands-on activities in my class,” said Buescher. “It offers a completely different experience than a standard university because we are actually doing the work that we are studying to do, not just learning it.”

Ryan Rosenmiller, Francis Howell Central class of 2008, also attends EMT school. He has a different reason for attending. He knew what he wanted to do, but he found that a university was much more expensive than a trade school for a virtually equal education.

“I knew that I wanted to be an EMT, but going to a college didn’t seem reasonable for the money,” said Rosenmiller. “Trade school was cheaper, and it is more specific to my field. That is why I made the decision to go.”

Instructor of the Emergency Medical Technician training class Dan Grizard feels trade schools offer a more versatile way of schooling. According to Grizard, trade school students are anywhere from straight out of high school to adults who have already had a college experience. He noted that trade schools give students the ability to be in a real world situation with their studies.

“We have all of our students travel with our own ambulance crews, so they get what it really is like to be an EMT and get that firsthand experience,” said Grizard.

Grizard takes it as his responsibility to educate his students on the core skills needed to do a profession. The direct feedback that he receives from the ambulance crews allows him to correct the mistakes made by his students and also to all-around better inform them of the correct ways to effectively do their trade, giving them every chance they have to excel in their skill.

14

InFocus

FHCtoday.com

November 20, 2009

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Students settle for universities not a school where you learn how to cook, or learn how to cut and color someone’s hair.

This is the ideology that often leaves vocational schools out of consideration, which isn’t fair to students who are more talented in hands-on fields like cosmetology and culinary arts. This oftentimes leaves them settling for a different route because they don’t know what to do to get into technical schools.

Even some teachers, such as English teacher Jason Becker, are left in the

dust in regards to the requirements of technical schools.

“I don’t know what requirements there might be. Maybe that points to a failure to educate us as teachers,” said Becker. “We rely on guidance for that stuff.”

If the teachers students know and trust aren’t aware of the requirements of technical schools as opposed to universities, the only way one can receive information on these schools is through guidance. Guidance counselor Linda Johnson thinks

that students are well prepared to decide for themselves what school is right for them.

“We give students as much information as possible. We talk about their future plans and help them select classes that fit their interests,” said Ms. Johnson. “We’re trying to get students to think outside of high school. We want them to select classes that will help them later on in life and want them to be prepared to further their education, wherever they decide to go.”

Photo by Dallas Tobin

Adjusting the angle of the mannequin, Becky Hill smiles as another stylist makes a joke. Hill, a student of the Academy of Beauty, chose to attend beauty school instead of a university, which the majority choose.

By Kayla Boone Staff reporter

Seniors are in graduation mode now that cap and gown orders have been placed. The class of 2010 is scrambling to turn in those last minute college applications and working on getting scholarships to ensure that they can go to the college of their choice, like they have been taught since they first walked through the doors of school.

For some students, though, a university is not the best option;

because an emphasis is being placed on attending universities, they don’t get a lot of the information they need about attending technical schools unless they go searching for it, so they are forced to join the struggle to get into four year colleges and universities.

“I think that is just the way society looks at it,” said guidance counselor Trevor Wolfe.

Students have this idea that a college is a school where you sit down, study hard, and take tests,

DEFENd

AGAINST CHOCONOGO P r e p a r e f o r b a t t l e . Te x t C H O C O t o 7 4 6 4 2 .

Standard text and data rates apply.

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Brothers make their marks See page 16 | Training through the winter See page 17

Sweat Matter of opinion Training, practice determine what defines a sport

By Margaret Borgmeyer Communications editor

For many activities, there is no debate as to whether or not they are a sport. Although many of the controversial activites include intense physical training and practice, the requirements for the official title of “sport” remain unclear.

15

One of the most controversial physical activities is cheerleading.

Competitive cheerleading goes beyond simply raising pom-poms to get a crowd going.

While cheerleading does center around keeping a crowd pleased and entertained, it takes large amounts of training and practice to succeed in this activity.

Please read more | OPINION, PAGE 17

Photo by Crystal Thompson

Senior flyer Kristine Gibson is thrown into the air by a host of other Central cheerleaders. Some have argued that cheerleading should be considered a sport because of the hard work, physical strain, athleticism and dedication required to succeed.

Ending four years of Spartan tradition

By Cory Schmitt Copy editor

Four years of hard work, triumph, let down and experience leave high school athletes with an uncountable number of memories that last a lifetime.

All will remember those electrifying victories and stunning defeats.

Senior Paul Haluszczak, who has played on the varsity soccer team all four years of high school, remembers going from seven wins his freshman

year to winning districts and sectionals during his junior year.

“Winning districts and sectionals last year was probably my favorite memory,” said Haluszczak.

Haluszczak plans to attend North Carolina State University in Raleigh and wants to play intramural soccer or try out for a club team on campus.

The varsity football team has had its ups and downs over the past seasons.

Senior Zack DeGrande

remembers the unfortunate two seasons in a row when the team struggled.

“We only won two games my sophomore and junior year,” said DeGrande.

His best high school memory was senior year when the varsity team defeated Vianney High after being down by 20 points.

DeGrande plans on playing football at a Division II or Division III school. However, he is not yet sure where he is going to attend.

“I have been looking at a few schools, but I’m not really sure where I want to go yet,” said DeGrande.

Senior Sarah Shanika ended her high school softball career on a sour note, losing the last game of her senior season against Fort Zumwalt South.

“My pitches weren’t working like I wanted them to, and I ended up giving a home run,” said Shanika.

Shanika also remembers the nicer memories of high school softball.

Page designed by Bryan McCreary

Going to state her junior year topped her high school experience. Shanika plans to play collegiate softball at a university in Texas. She too has yet to decide a school.

Haluszczak, DeGrande and Shanika agree that the underclassmen need to make the most of their time in high school sports because it goes by way too quickly and comes to an end unexpectedly.

“Just believe in yourself. If you think you can do it, you can,” said Shanika.

16

Sweat

November 20, 2009

FHCtoday.com

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Two wrestlers, one goal The brothers who have left their permanent marks throughout the halls of Francis Howell Central enter yet another exciting season. Careers that started for fun have led them to so much they never dreamed of.

Photos by Chelsea Carroll

Swift, stealthy meets big, brash Y

ounger and less experienced, shorter but faster, the silent leader. The brother who has taken Francis Howell Central by storm has made a name for himself and is slowly becoming a Howell Central great.

Junior Terrell Wilbourn has been wrestling for 11 years, starting around the same time his brother did, and starting for the same reason: fun. As he slowly began to excel, and grow as a wrestler, Terrell knew that he would be wrestling for a long time to come.

“I loved it when I was little and I kept getting better, so I was pretty sure that I would be wrestling for a long time,” said Terrell.

Entering his third full season on the varsity squad, he has already made a lasting impression on the school. During his second season, Terrell brought home a first place state finish for only the second time

in the schools existence.

“When I won, I was really excited,” said Terrell. “I always had winning a state championship as a goal, but never dreamed that it could actually happen.”

Already having made such a statement in his high school wrestling career, Terrell is anxious to try to prove that he can be even better, and continue to excel in everything that he does.

“I already won a state championship, and that was my goal when it happened,” said Terrell. “Now I want to do even better. It’s important to not let everyone down.”

Only a junior, Terrell is being looked at already by a few Division I schools, including Michigan and the University of Missouri, but he remains focused on the task at hand: continuing a great tradition as a great wrestler.

By Bryan McCreary Sweat editor

O

lder and wiser, taller and stronger, vocally a leader. The brother who first made his mark on Francis Howell Central’s wrestling program has molded himself into a division I athlete, and he has led his team for three successful years. He is looking for a fourth.

Senior Brandon Wilbourn has been wrestling since he was young.

Twelve years after beginning a career in the sport, Brandon is excelling in every sense of the word. According to him, wrestling has always been one of his passions. When he was growing up, wrestling was simply something that he did for fun.

“When I first started wrestling, I didn’t see it taking me as far as it has,” said Brandon. “I just did it because it was a lot of fun.”

Brandon has wrestled on the varsity team since he was a freshman.

As a freshman, Brandon took third

Page designed by Bryan McCreary

in state. This was the start of a career that has taken Brandon to great heights.

In his second season on the team, he improved and found himself on the second-place podium at state, but last year he faltered a bit, taking sixth after injuring his knee. This year, Brandon is looking forward to doing what he can to improve upon his marks left in years previous.

Brandon has gotten many offers from division I schools to attend on scholarships to wrestle. After being targeted by the University of Missouri, Old Dominion, Iowa State, and many more, Brandon recently signed with the University of Nebraska.

Looking for a great season this year, Wilbourn says he is focused on being a team leader and trying to make everyone around him better through his leadership.

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FHCtoday.com

November 20, 2009

Sweat

17

Winter training maintains fitness Photo by Breannah Warren

Members of the cross country team run together during the offseason to keep themselves in shape for next year. Many athletes say training in the offseason is vital to their success.

Athletes find methods to stay active during winter

By Cory Schmitt Copy editor

The short, cold days of winter keep many athletes on the couch in the warm confines of their homes, but undesirable weather does not prohibit some athletes from training and staying conditioned during the months between seasons.

Junior pitchers Jimmy McGrath and Andrew Maxey and many other baseball players dedicate the winter to conditioning: lifting weights, running and practicing batting.

“Conditioning during the winter keeps me in shape and keeps my skills sharp,” said McGrath, who also practices the long toss throw in order to keep his pitching up to par.

Opinion from page 15

Sophomore Lydia Smotherman is a strong believer in cheerleading being a sport.

“We practice just as much as any other sport,” said Smotherman.

The average competitive cheerleading team will practice five

McGrath and other baseball players at school practice at Ballsn-Strikes in O’Fallon during the offseason to work on batting and receive individual and group lessons from baseball instructors in order to improve their skills.

Junior softball shortstop Elizabeth Leath participates in the Excel training program during the winter in order to stay prepared for year-round play for school and club.

“I work out during the winter to stay in shape for softball. I am not slow when it starts back up,” said Leath.

The Excel program sees dozens of athletes throughout the year. The nearest location is located at 5055

Highway N, down the street from school.

Excel focuses on physical and hand therapy, athletic enhancement, sports medicine and health programs for athletes.

Many choose the Excel program

to six days a week during the school year.

“Cheerleading means a lot to a lot of people,” said Smotherman.

Although cheerleading continually gets a bad reputation for being too “peppy” to be a sport, fans of cheerleading consider the activity to be harder than most other sports.

Table tennis, often confused with the game “ping-pong,” is an Olympic sport.

The table tennis team takes every match very seriously.

During a set of matches, a player was heard saying “ping-pong.”

Immediately after, most every other player around corrected the player by saying “table tennis.”

While ping pong is something played in a basement with a few friends, table tennis requires great skill and focus.

With the right training, a player

“

Conditioning

during the winter keeps me in shape.”

— Jimmy McGrath

in order to keep in top physical condition, and to get personalized training with a trainer in order to inprove their endurance and health.

However, some students find the cost of such athletic training programs too much to afford, so they turn to other forms of conditioning such as the playing of other sports.

“During my offseason, I play baseball to stay in shape for wrestling,” said junior Terrell Wilbourn.

Others choose to run outside during the winter in order to keep fit and build stamina.

“I run about three days a week during the winter so I don’t get out of shape,” said junior runner can hit a ball up to 70 mph, with varying amounts of spin.

Even though table tennis is an Olympic sport, some still consider it to be just a game that can be played professionally.

Marching band, an activity where music is played while marching in set formations, is another controversial activity in high schools.

For every band, there are intense practice schedules. Marching band

Page designed by Kayla Boone and Bryan McCreary

Anna Ferris.

However, the unpredictability of the weather forces Ferris to alter locations of her training.

“When it’s cold I will run on a treadmill instead of running outdoors,” said Ferris.

Though running on a treadmill is not the same as running in the elements, the energy and time spent still help build endurance, and keeps the athlete in shape.

Winter training involves different locations, activities and time commitments, but all who train during the winter set the common goal of staying prepared and improving skills for the coming season. practices five days a week for three hours and competes on Saturdays. They are often at school late into the night.

Like other activites, marching band has seasons. Anyone who is or has been a part of marching band in some way considers it a sport.

Although there are many “definitions” as to what a sport truly is, many activities still remain in the dark when it comes to fitting all of the qualifications.

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Sweat: Editorials

November 20, 2009

FHCtoday.com

Roller Coaster

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The BCS

The National Football League has been a complete emotional rollercoaster for me this year. One week I am on top of the world and the next I am laying

By Bryan down crying.

McCreary Sweat editor For instance, the Denver Broncos had a 6-0 start for the first time since the John Elway era; then they lose three games in a row, and now aren’t even looking like a playoff team. Or the once upon a time 3-0 New York Jets who have since fallen in five of their last six games and stand with a record of 4-5 and sit third in the division.

Then we take a look at the team that hurts me the most: the Atlanta Falcons. Every week they play like a completely different team. I never know what to expect. One week it’s the team that beats the San Francisco 49’ers 41-10, and then a few weeks later it’s the team that falls to the lowly Carolina Panthers 28-19. Why is it that the only teams that you can ever count on to play well are the Colts and the Saints?

The fact of the matter is that you should never expect a win (unless you are a Colts or Saints fan). Go in each week just hoping, because I’ve found that that is truly the best you can do.

With only a few weeks to go until the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) selects this year’s bowl matchups, a huge problem is blaring

By Cory Schmitt into the face of the BCS: too many Copy editor good teams.

For years since its inception in 1998, the system has come under fire. Its computing and polls that match up the two ‘best’ teams always seem unfair. True, both of these selected teams are great teams, but an argument can be made that other teams are just as good or even better.

This year is even worse; six teams are undefeated. That number will at least dwindle to five by the time the BCS makes its selections due to Florida and Alabama matching up in the SEC conference championship game, but that is still possibly five undefeated teams. All of those teams have a legitimate claim to the title game.

This season is just case in point as to how unfair the BCS system is; two schools will be satisfied, while the other three will be left in the cold.

The NCAA needs to adopt a playoff system for the top teams in the country and let a champion be found this way.

That is the only fair way.

Running outside the spotlight H e a r t thundering.

Legs fatigued.

Lungs gasping for air.

The rain from the last few

By Ted Noelker Multimedia editor days has left the ground littered with slick patches of mud. The cold nips at exposed faces. A profound tiredness gradually washes over the body until the limbs, heart and mind will all become fatigued.

Quite frankly, nothing is more alluring than the desire to stop running, lie down on the side of the course and submit to the sweet release of death. But it doesn’t matter.

Suck it up. The race isn’t over.

I’ve been running cross country for six years. Thinking back, I’m really not quite sure exactly how I got started.

I somehow got involved in the cross country intramural program in the fall of my sixth grade year, which led to a camp, which led to summer running; I suppose I was intrigued because that summer I forever

said goodbye to sleeping in during summer break and hello to the world of running.

Granted, that first year I was pretty much the only middle school student to constantly show up and run in the mornings with the summer running club, which was mostly made up of the high school runners, but I kept doing it.

Starting with that summer going into my seventh grade year and every summer since, five days a week, I’ve been up at 8 a.m. to run.

Naturally, I came out for the cross country team my freshman year, and thanks to all that training I was able to run several varsity races as a freshman. Now a junior finishing essentially my sixth year with the team, it’s amazing to look back at how far running has taken me.

Last summer, I was pleased to complete my first half marathon. In total, I’ve covered hundreds of miles running in these last few years.

There are always those pessimistic people who will ask, “Why do you run? What’s the point? What are you running from?” I can’t really attribute

it to any solitary reason. At this point, I suppose it’s because it has become ingrained in me. Having run since I was about eleven, stopping would seem almost foreign. Running is just a part of who I am now.

To be successful in cross country, you have to be willing to endure inexplicable pain. It is not so much a test of physical skill and ability like most other sports as it is a test of mentality.

When you are in the middle of a race, you reach a point where every piece of common sense just tells you to stop subjecting yourself to this pain. To someone who has never experienced the sense of gratification of a well-run race, it seems pointless, which I suppose it is if you don’t reach that sense of gratification which comes from the completion of a well-run race.

The feeling is just amazing. It’s this great feeling of accomplishment, fulfillment and pure joy. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced with any other sport.

I’m not going to say that football and soccer and whatever else aren’t

Page designed by Cory Schmitt

tough sports; they are in their own sense, but many don’t realize cross country requires a true toughness of its own. I suppose it’s overlooked because it’s not a major contact sport and doesn’t lend itself to spectators as much.

Sports like cross country and swimming aren’t recognized to the same degree because they lack the sensationalized effect of diving catches and miracle shots.

Plus, they fail to deliver the excitement of man-to-man play.

Rather, runners and swimmers are constantly in a cold war. The challenge is always pushing to catch the guy ahead of you and hold off the one on your tail, no matter what.

In a race, there is no halftime, no timeout, no substitution, no stoppage for injury; you suck it up and give it everything you’ve got until you cross the finish line.

Everything inside you is poured into a race: physical energy, mental stamina, emotional strength. To run a race well, you push your body to its absolute limit. But from it, you get that wonderful feeling of sheer bliss.

Some attribute it as runner’s high.

Certainly, when you pour yourself into a sport like that, you get something back. That something is the glorification of success.

For me, running is a year-round sport. Winter, summer, spring, fall, snow, heat, rain, cold: I’m out there training my body and my mind to be better.

In running, your success lies solely on your shoulders. Sure, there is a team element to it, but when it comes down to it, it’s just you out there on that course.

People can yell and cheer themselves hoarse, but that’s all the aid you can get. There’s no passing the ball off or holding out for a break.

And so I tell myself.

It doesn’t matter that I’m running up a muddy hill. It doesn’t matter that my legs are getting tired and my breathing more labored. It doesn’t matter that I’m pushing my body into pain. I push through it. I don’t slow down.

I look up at the guy ahead of me and start fighting to catch him.

Stars discovered on YouTube.com See page 20 | Artists give back See page 21

Scene The

Cheap feast Holiday meals done cheap provide more food for less

By Hannah Ibos Staff reporter

When someone mentions Thanksgiving, there are a lot of things that immediately come to mind. There is one word especially that goes along with the holiday, lurking in the back of your mind,

19

keeping you from having a truly carefree day: expensive.

In fact, a basic Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, sides and dessert) can cost around $70, almost twice what it would cost the average family of four to eat dinner at

Please read more | THANKSGIVING, PAGE 23

Photo by Dallas Tobin

Coupons, which can be found online at coupons.com, in weekly ads and at Schnucks and other grocery stores, cut the cost of what is often-times an expensive Thanksgiving dinner. Staff reporter Hannah Ibos researched the prices of Thanksgiving food and found the coupon dinner to be $40 less than the dinner without any coupons.

New technology to be on ‘watch’ for Watch phones by LG, Samsung deliver new era of wristwear to consumers

By Jesse Patch Staff reporter

Have you always wanted to be a spy, but haven’t quite had the good fortune that others like James Bond and Agent Cody Banks have had?

Now, there’s good news for you. As everyone knows, the most important

aspect of spydom is the gadgets, and now, one of these fantastic gadgets can be yours.

Samsung and LG, among other competitors, have had watch phones in the making for some time now.

Senior Deanna Susek thinks that this “amazing” accessory is too good to be true.

When asked if she was going to buy the new watch phone, Susek said, “Does that even exist?”

This watch phone does exist. Get ready for the next generation of phones and watches.

Not only can you make calls with this watch, it comes loaded with many other features that people have

come to expect with their phones.

According to ces.cnet.com, some of these features include an MP3 player, camera, and even texting.

With all this technology it might seem like the watch phone is a little bigger than your average wristwear.

Luckily, the companies have cut down on the bulk to make it 12 mm

Page designed by Kayla Mugler and Margaret Borgmeyer

thick, while still having a 1.76 inch touch screen.

“I can’t wait for it to come out. I’ve always wanted to have spy gadgets,” said sophomore Rachel Jordan.

The watch phone will be released first in Europe and cost around $650 says gizmodo.com, but it won’t be too long before it arrives here.

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November 20, 2009

tune in volume my style delish

Photo by Chelsea Carroll

Senior Aliya Waldman and junior Malcolm Switzer film a video for YouTube. Waldman and Switzer produced different videos, such as personal blogs and music videos.

YouTube stars shine through

By Alli Keisker Staff reporter

YouTube allows users to upload videos ranging from music, dance, comedy, etc. onto their own “channels,” and nearly anyone who has access to the Internet can view them.

Channels are viewed for their frequency of updating, video content, popularity and many other things.

Most-visited channels are considered to be “YouTube stars.”

“They are YouTube stars because people find them funny, talented and some even have good dancing skills,” said sophomore Madison Mendel.

“Oh, and if there’s a hot guy in the video, that’s nice too. It’d catch my attention.”

A YouTube star could be anyone

who has created videos of himself, posted them on YouTube and had those videos viewed often.

Students such as senior Aliya Waldman and junior Malcolm Switzer, create their own videos in their spare time and post them onto YouTube. Waldman, also known as fromjrock2elvis, creates videos of herself, and sometimes others, and edits them into what she uploads.

“I take a lot of time on my videos and I use the best editing program, Final Cut Express,” said Waldman.

Waldman currently has 150 videos posted on her channel and 300 subscribers.

She believes if she got new guest stars, worked on her camera angling and/or bought a tripod, then her

videos would be much better. “[A YouTube star] should want to be catching people’s attention, and putting in either all or nothing in their work,” said Waldman.

While Waldman mostly focuses on her editing skills, Switzer, also known as CaptainMal098, began posting videos of his own personal life and the comics that he’s posted on his Facebook page.

“My videos are usually just rants about whatever I feel like talking about, which can be pretty funny sometimes,” said Switzer.

Most of his videos are just of him, but junior Ian Vaughan has been seen guest-starring on his show.

He doesn’t update very often, but plans to start doing that this year.

“I definitely am going to make more videos soon,” said Switzer. “I plan on calling my next video ‘10 Reasons Why Ex-Girlfriends Hate Us.’ ” While video makers like Waldman and Switzer are not well known,popular names on YouTube are Mitchell Davis, also known as Livelavalive; Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, also known as Smosh; and Lucas Cruikshank, also known as Fred.

Mitchell Davis is currently ranked #31 most subscribed on YouTube.

Some of his popular videos are “You’re awesome,” “Usher /MCMB” and “Happy Birthday.” His videos are edited to be “choppy” and feature him rambling about whatever he feels like talking about at the time.

Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox

are two 21-year-old guys who create videos together in their spare time.

They are famous for writing, filming, acting and editing in their own skits and “music videos” and are currently the third most subscribed on YouTube. Some of their popular videos are “Beef n’ Go,” “Mortal Kombat Theme” and “License test.”

A YouTube star can be defined by a handful of things, but mainly by the number of viewers and/or subscriptions that the channel has. Like the big named YouTube stars, Waldman and Switzer also enjoy posting videos, but are not well known.

They might not be considered YouTube stars yet, but who knows what the stars might have in store for themselves in the future.

Want to see more?

Watch their videos:

Aliya Waldman www.youtube.com/user/fromjrock2elvis Photo by Chelsea Carroll

Senior Aliya Waldman edits her videos using Final Cut Express. Waldman has posted 150 videos to her YouTube channel.

Malcolm Switzer www.youtube.com/user/CaptainMal098 Page designed by Alli Keisker

Photo by Chelsea Carroll

Senior Aliya Waldman uses her camcorder to record videos for her YouTube channel. Waldman also used a Gaffing mic to capture good sound for her videos.

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November 20, 2009

tune in volume my style delish Switchfoot Cage the Elephant Janus Relient K Chris Martin Green Day

Jay-Z Elvis Costello No Doubt Wolfmother Kenny Chesney U2 The Killers Martina McBride Switchfoot Cage the Elephant Janus Relient K Chris Martin Green Day

Jay-Z Elvis Costello No Doubt Wolfmother Kenny Chesney U2 The Killers Martina McBride

Fall concerts for causes Proceeds used to benefit Toys for Tots, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America

By Brendan Kinnison Staff Reporter

Many bands are now trying to give back to the audience with concerts that serve a purpose.

These shows are designed to draw a modest amount of people and raise money for their cause. Most recently, 105.7 The Point had a concert for Crohn’s disease. The concert took place on Nov. 16 and featured Cage the Elephant and Janus. The price to get in was $10.57 in advance, and all the money went to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready has Crohn’s disease and has donated many signed guitars and posters to concerts and to the foundation.

At the Concert for Crohns, a signed guitar was given out, as well as a signed poster.

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Main symptoms are cramps, fever, fatigue and diarrhea.

Not much is known about Crohn’s disease, and no substantial cure or cause has been found. Also, the disease is mainly concentrated in the United States and Europe.

“The inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue.Like ulcerative colitis,another

Online

music reviews

common IBD, Crohn’s disease can be both painful and debilitating and sometimes may lead to lifethreatening complications,” said mayoclinic.com.

It is concerts like these that help raise money for research to develop treatments and a cure for diseases.

These concerts are not only used to raise money for disease research, but also to help others.

At the Scottrade Center, a concert will be put on to raise money for others less fortunate.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is having a concert Dec. 12 in which a portion of the proceeds is donated to Toys for Tots.

Toys for Tots is a fundraiser run by the United States Marine Core, in which they collect money and toys for children less fortunate.

“The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help less fortunate children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas, to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable resources — our children, to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future,” said toysfortots.org.

Ten Songs

For A Cause

By Brendan Kinnison

1. “I Will Survive” - Gloria Gaynor

2. “Just Stand Up” - Various Artists 3. “Heal the World” - Michael Jackson 4. “Prayer of the Refugee“ - Rise Against 5. “Four Becomes One“ - Hawthorne Heights 6. “All You Need Is Love“ - The Beatles 7. “War“ - Barret Strong 8. “How Far We’ve Come“ - Matchbox 20 9. “Meant To Live“ - Switchfoot 10. “American Idiot“ - Green Day

Upcoming local shows 11/21

All Time Low @ The Pageant “Travels with myself and another”

“Hello Hurricane”

by Switchfoot

“Alter the Ending”

by Dashboard Confessional

by Future of the Left

See full reviews on our website, FHCtoday.com Page designed by Brendan Kinnison

11/27

Cavo @ The Pageant

12/12

Trans-Siberian @ TheSavvis Center

12/8

Jinglefest @ The Family Arena

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November 20, 2009

tune in volume my style delish

Winter fashion heats up

By Margaret Borgmeyer Communications editor

With the winter temperatures coming, teens are breaking out their warm clothes.

Charissa Stone, a junior at FHC adds layers to her typical summer and fall wear to get a warm, yet fashionable look.

Many “fads” have returned this year, such as leggings and Ugg Boots.

With celebrities such as Megan Fox sporting

wear rich and neutral colors to achieve a more mature look. u Lose the uni-colored jump suit. Mixing and matching colors is in this season. u Stick to loose-fitted clothing this year. Skin tight shirts aren’t so flattering. u Colored skinny jeans, at left, have got to go — while they might be worn by many, the pants give an odd-looking figure to many.

and guys in the USA since the early 2000’s.

While Uggs have been considered a trend for years, many think that the trend should end.

Sophmore Jordan Wills thinks that Ugg’s should never be worn for any occasion.

“Uggs just look weird,” said Wills. “They feel like cardboard and look fake — like they’re just going to fall apart.”

Celebrity stylist Zoe Lem places Uggs at the bottom of her fashion list.

“Ugg boots have become so popular through celebs … wearing them but they make the ankles look fat and are just hideous. I don’t get them at all,” said Lem in an interview on myfashionlife.com.

It seems that the only hope for Uggs to be fully liked is for them to be properly worn.

While walking through a mall or highschool, you’ll see Uggs worn with pajama pants and sweat shirts.

To wear Uggs in the least “ugly” fashion, pair them with a pair of tucked in skinny jeans.

Always remember that if it is warm enough outside to wear shorts — then it is too warm to wear Uggs.

While the temperatures continue to fall, don’t fall back on the lazy, grungy look. Keep a fashionably, comfortable look this season.

u Fitted leather jackets look

What looks hot

What should be trashed

u Avoid poppy colors;

leggings this year, leggings have found their way back into the closets of many.

“I’ve seen lots of leggings [being worn],” said Stone. “They were big last year, but are still in [this year].”

With many ways to wear and layer leggings, they have become a big hit. Glam.com, a style site, leads readers to sites with helpful hints on the dos and don’ts of leggings.

The biggest legging don’t is wearing leggings in place of pants.

Leggings are meant to be worn with a shirt that covers a person’s rear. The simplest way to guarantee leggings are worn right is to wear them with a tunic or dress that goes to the top of the knee.

By wearing leggings in different colors and patterns, one can diversify a once dull or boring outfit.

Avoid wearing leggings with a tight shirt or skirt; because leggings are so tight, they look better paired with something that flows away from the body.

Probably the biggest battle in fashion this year is the Ugg boot.

These Australian boots have been a craze for girls

good when paired with a loose, flowing shirt. u Floral tunics are a necessary item for any teen this winter. u Bangled jewelry is a musthave, but don’t overload an arm with too many bangles. u Invest in a colored peacoat; black isn’t the only color that’s sophisticated anymore. u Purple is proving to be the “color” of the season. But don’t buy everything purple; simple accessories will do.

Photo by Margaret Borgmeyer

Photo by MCT Campus

Page designed by Allison Corrier and Margaret Borgmeyer

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November 20, 2009

tune in volume my style delish

Thanksgiving from page 19

dinner does not have to be this expensive. By making just a few changes to the menu, Thanksgiving dinner can be brought down to a much more reasonable price. There are certain parts of the meal that are more expensive than others, and that is where the most money can be saved.

“The turkey is the single most expensive part of the meal,” said Mrs. Kathryn McGuire, a Family and Consumer Science teacher.

“However, the side items, when you add them all up, are pretty costly.”

One of the parts of the holiday feast that really contributes to the heavy price is the cost of the individual

items needed to make side dishes, dessert and stuffing. An easy way to save here is by purchasing mixes that include the basic ingredients. By using stuffing mix instead of making it from scratch, you can save more than $5. Another $9 can be saved just by buying a pre-made pumpkin pie instead of buying all the separate ingredients, and almost $3 can be cut by using a mashed potato mix. Just by using already assembled dishes, $17 can be saved, and there are still other ways to cut costs.

“Making your own stock to put in with the stuffing instead of buying stock is a quick way to save money,” said Mrs. McGuire. “You can also

buy cheaper cuts of meat and save a lot there. Also, buying fruits and vegetables that are in season will help you save.”

Saving money on Thanksgiving dinner can start before Turkey Day even arrives. Checking the newspaper, mail and internet for coupons is a great way to significantly cut the cost of holiday cooking. There are many internet sites that have a huge selection of coupons that can be printed at home and redeemed at most grocery stores. Such sites include coupons.com, which offers coupons for food and serving-ware, and grocerycouponnetwork.com.

Also, most food brands offer coupons on their sites if you are looking for a specific brand item. All together, these sites have hundreds of coupons, many of which can greatly help cover the cost of Thanksgiving. However,

using coupons is not the only way to save money at the store.

“Buying a generic brand turkey is a good thing. They are a lot cheaper and are equally as good,” said Mrs. McGuire.

Buying generic can be a good idea, and that goes for any item needed to make the meal. Using off brands instead of major labels can cost half as much, and the products are essentially equal. However, there is still another way to save money at the store.

The week of Thanksgiving, especially the day before, many stores run sales on popular Thanksgiving foods, including turkeys. This is a great way to save money just by shopping at the right time. However, there is a drawback to waiting until the last minute to purchase all the food, as the store may sell out of

some of the more popular items, or a specific brand or item you might need. There is one more important way to save that especially applies to large dinner parties.

“One important thing to remember is portion control. Don’t cook for more people than you have coming over,” said Mrs. McGuire.

Cooking less is a good way to save money if there are a lot of people coming over. Another way to save money, if you are having a large amount of people over, is to have a sort of potluck dinner. If there are multiple people or families coming to dinner, have each one bring a side or dessert, and the host can serve the turkey. This will not only save money, but a lot of valuable prep time as well, leaving you with more time to really enjoy the holiday and reflect on all there is to be thankful for.

Money-saving alternatives create less-stress Thanksgiving meal Regular Dinner (from Schnucks): u Butterball Turkey (17 lb.): $25.33

For stuffing: u Schnucks Plain Bread Crumbs: $1.29 u Medium yellow onion: $0.62 u Bag of celery sticks (12): $3.49 u Durkee Ground Sage: $1.99 u Swanson Chicken Broth (14 oz.): $0.94 u For mashed potatoes with gravy: u Bag of potatoes (2 lb.): $2.99 u Durkee Brown Gravy Mix: $0.99 For sweet potatoes: u Four sweet potatoes: $3.21 u Schnucks Mini Marshmallows (10.5 oz.): $1.32 For green bean casserole: u Schnucks Cut Green Beans (14 oz.): $0.74 u French’s French Fried Onions (6 oz.): $3.23 u Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup (11 oz.): $0.92

For pumpkin pie: u C&H Granulated Sugar (1 lb.): $1.79 u Durkee Ground Cinnamon: $1.99 u Durkee Ground Ginger: $3.99 u Durkee Ground Cloves: $2.99 u Eggs: $1.44 u Libby’s Canned Pumpkin (15 oz.): $1.59 u Schnuck’s Evaporated Milk (12 oz.): $0.75 u Schnuck’s Pie Shell: $1.25 u Kraft Cool Whip (8 oz.): $1.73 Extras: u Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls: $2.58 u Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce: $1.38 u Durkee Turkey Gravy Mix: $0.50 Total=$69.04

Money Saving Dinner (food from Schnucks,

coupons from coupons.com): u Schnuck’s Frozen Turkey (17 lb., during Thanksgiving sale): $6.63 u Pepperidge Farm Cube Stuffing (16 oz.): $2.69 u Betty Crocker Mashed Potatoes (with coupon): $0.85 u Durkee Brown Gravy Mix: $0.99 u Mrs. Smith’s Sweet Potato Pie: $3.50 u Schnucks Cut Green Beans (14 oz.): $0.74 u French’s French Fried Onions (6 oz., with coupon): $2.23 u Schnucks Cream of Mushroom Soup (10.5 oz.): $0.74 u Schnuck’s Bakery 10’’ Pumpkin Pie: $6.99 u Schnucks Whipped Topping (8 oz.): $1.00 u Schnucks Crescent Rolls: $1.59 u Schnucks Cranberry Sauce: $1.00 u Durkee Turkey Gravy Mix: $0.50 Total= $29.45 Total Savings= $39.59

Photo by Dallas Tobin

New Wendy’s fails to impress customers

By Kayla Boone Staff reporter

One of my favorite memories about being little was when my grandma would take me to Illinois to see my great grandma. We would always stop by the Wendy’s on the way, and get food and Frosties. It never failed to impress me. It was such a positive environment, the workers were friendly, and I had a lot of memories at that Wendy’s that I will never forget.

When I was told about a Wendy’s opening on Mid River’s, I was excited and wanted to try it out.

Unfortunately, I found that it paled in comparison to the Wendy’s I had grown up loving.

The first thing my boyfriend and I were greeted with when we walked into the new Wendy’s on Mid Rivers was a very odd smell. I am not entirely sure if it was just that “new building” smell, but it was atrocious enough to make us debate whether or not we

even wanted to stay. Because we had nothing better to do, we decided to go on with our visit and give them the benefit of the doubt.

As we waited in line, I had time to check out the employees and the managers, and my boyfriend looked at the menu. One manager was impatiently waiting for a customer to check her order, and asked, in an irritated tone of voice, “Is it right, or what?”

The cashier was not much better. I

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ordered a chocolate Frosty (why else would you go to Wendy’s?), and she proceeded to tell me they were out.

I told her she could give me vanilla with chocolate syrup on it, and she then gave me a chocolate Frosty like I had orignally ordered. She was just too lazy to go get it until she thought I was going to complain.

After that, she only gave us my boyfriend’s food and we had to go back up to get mine. I was already unimpressed because the food was

overpriced and the customer service was lacking; the search for a table made it even worse.

Most of the tables looked like they had not ever been wiped off, and, as a fast food worker, I was appalled. I would get fired if I was working lobby and the lobby looked that disgusting.

My experience with Wendy’s was not one I enjoyed, and I do not plan on going back. I give the Mid River’s Wendy’s a D+.

C F

FHCtoday.com

November 20, 2009

Aperture

24

NHS, DECA fill need Student organization members create baskets for families in need

Senior Stephany Lebron-Garcia glances over her list of items, checking off two cans of cranberry sauce. Lebron-Garcia shopped at Aldi and Walmart to fill her Thanksgiving basket.

Lebron-Garcia picks out a pie crust to complete the dessert items for her basket. She bought apple pie ingredients so the family could bake its own dessert.

Lebron-Garcia compares the size of plastic totes to hold all of her food.

Baskets came in various sizes.

Senior Tori Schneider selects a second box of mashed potatoes. The list that was provided by NHS and DECA sponsors also included stuffing and gravy mix for the Thanksgiving baskets.

Schneider grabs a can of green beans. Students were required to pick two cans of vegetables and cranberry sauce.

Schneider reacts to how much money she saved. She was able to complete most of the list for her basket at Deals and saved about $20 overall.

Photos and page design by Chelsea Carroll