Auburn Riverside Student Voice NOV 12, 2014 • VOLUME 20 • ISSUE #2
Respect the beard. See Page 7
Opinion Lunch line crowds unnecessarily chaotic 2
InFlight Nov 12, 2014
Cameron Fairchild Staff Reporter The lunch line is a catastrophe. The line itself is crowded. The kitchen is a disorganized free-for-all. The students that partake in the line often remain inattentive and slow it down further. “The word maelstrom comes to mind,” senior Ben Seligman said, a regular patron of the line. Not only is the line slow and disorganized, but once students reach the kitchen, the layout of the room is designed in a way that breaks down the line and allows students to roam freely. This leads to further crowding and stoppage. The lunch line should be streamlined so that the chaotic kitchen is no longer a problem. Of course there are over 1600 students at our school, and overcrowding—in the hallways, in class, everywhere—is inevitable. The lunch line is no exception. To put it in the simple words of sophomore Mila Ramirez, “It takes too long.” This sentiment is common among students; anyone who
has ever been through the lunch line agrees faster. Many students have argued that the those who buy food at school. Now, not every lunch line at Riverside is with it. Lunch is only a 35 minute period to lunch line is a mess because of the socialall that bad. The student store, with its mulbegin with, having that time get eaten up by izing and lack of focus of lunch line patrons, tiple lanes and relatively smaller number of so that focus should be established among waiting for food adds insult to injury. student customers, is a more So if this is the case, efficient and focused process why are the lunch line for buying food at lunch masses so disorganized? time. Vending machines can “People basically also serve this purpose. These clump together and multiple venues are both far don’t pay attention easier and less chaotic choic[when they’re in line]” es than the lunch line, and Seligman said. until students start speeding The easy fix here is up their orders and focusing obvious. Now, with our on the line, either of these school’s oversized popuvenues are preferable. lation, it’s impossible to The lunch line in the perfectly solve the isCommons is a mess, but it sue of the length of the doesn’t have to be. Students lunch line or the time who regularly buy their it takes to get through lunch from school need to it, but if the students at take charge and start helping least agree to pay atteneach other get through it. tion to the motion of the PHOTO BY CAMERON FAIRCHILD line, the line will move Lunch lines have students looking more like a swarm of unorganized bees than Ravens.
ASB money seemingly exclusive to sports programs Jessica Perez Staff Reporter ASB money is used to benefit the whole school. Well, some of it. Truth is, part of the ASB money, or should I say most of it, is used to pay for sports equipment. I think compared to what clubs get—also known as nothing—is really unequal because the clubs bring more success to this school than sports do. The more equipment the sport needs, the more money they receive for “basic needs.” Clubs have basic needs too; do you see any of them getting money? The sport most invested in is football. Football needs more money than every other sport because they need more pads for safety reasons and they have more players. The clubs fundraise for all of their
money and almost never complain about not having enough money, and most of the time they are in desperate need of new materials. The only clubs that get a little money are the CTE classes. “Part of the ASB money goes to Yearbook, the rest of the clubs fundraise.
PHOTO BY JESSICA PEREZ
InFlight
editor-in-chief Mackenzie Brown business manager Karlee Johnson photographer Dylan Johnston social media editor Jude Hanno cover photo Dylan Johnston adviser Patrick Swenson
staff reporters Mackenzie Brown Cameron Fairchild Jude Hanno Karlee Johnson Dylan Johnston Sara Koenig Jessica Perez Sasha Terry guest reporters Aaron Baker Harrison Maurus Kinsey Miller Alyssa Ferry Tashana Williams
ASB money is spent extravagantly on sports programs, leaving other activities by the wayside.
InFlight policies InFlight is compiled by the student newspaper staff at Auburn Riverside High School, 501 Oravetz Road, Auburn, WA 98092. The InFlight staff strives to maintain accurate and objective reporting for our stories. However, opinion stories are included. Any commentary which is signed by the author accounts for his or her opinion only, and not necessarily that of anyone else on staff. An unsigned editorial reflects the majority opinion of the InFlight staff. InFlight accepts student, faculty, and community members’ letters to the editor,
Part of it goes to sports, and the rest goes to benefit the whole school or for things like ‘Breaking Down the Walls,’” Activities Director Meri Benedict said. I understand things like new carpet are important but wouldn’t it make more sense to have school wide fundraisers to help pay for those? Clubs win awards and money for the school all the time. Wouldn’t it make sense to give them at least a little money for materials? Although fundraising all the money for basic needs is helping at the moment, the clubs never seem to have enough money. According to athletics director Doug Aubert, at one point the school might consider pay to play, or pay to join a club to help with the shortage of money for both. Most teachers would say the sports and clubs are treated equally but tell me this: are the clubs and sports really valued equally if the coaches and supervisors for sports are paid for, but most of the supervisors for clubs are volunteering? The money paying
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those coaches could easily be used to help buy only the necessary materials for clubs. Some club members in different clubs are required to pay for ASB even though they get no benefits from it. For example, Key Club dues are only $15, but in the past, they were required to pay for an ASB card even though the club doesn’t receive any money at all from ASB. Why pay $45 to be in a club where no one benefits from the money that they spend? The district spends 30 thousand dollars on referees alone each year. Yet for clubs, they can’t spare a dime. They also pay for transportation, which to me is the only equality we have between clubs and sports. If they know a club is going to succeed, they will pay for their transportation. Whether or not a sport wins or loses, they get their transportation paid for. It may not be entirely fair, but it looks like that’s as close as we will ever get to being treated as equally as the sports.
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Opinion
Auburn Riverside High School
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Pants: can’t live with them, can’t live without them Karlee Johnson Staff Reporter
help what they wear? What if that is all they have? What that is doing is making them feel like outsiders, showing to others that can’t fit in or afford what everyone else has. “I think that it does distract, but there is no school uniEven though the controversy hasn’t hit our state as form so they should be able to wear the leggings or yoga much as it has others, the big problem with teenage girls pants as long as it follows the school dress code,” senior Jerright now is their right to wear yoga pants and leggings emiah Gallardo said. to school. Schools shouldn’t have the right to make this Even some parents, who say that they dressed way more decision. provocatively back in their high school years, aren’t okay Recently, girls in certain school districts in different arwith the schools taking away the girls’ rights. eas across the U.S. have been told that they are no longer alThe schools should be folowed to wear leggings, yoga pants or cused on more important probtight jeans. The reason behind it is that lems such as bullying. Why fowhen girls wear these clothing items cus all your time on something it becomes a distraction to others and that isn’t causing more issues it “makes boys focus on something than it resolves when there are other than class work.” There have plenty of opportunities to help been many instances where girls are with the fact that schools hardly sent home for wearing inappropriate ever do anything about bullyclothing. Basically, women are denied ing? a day at school and their education If it doesn’t concern the so that boys don’t get distracted from parents of the students and their education. You don’t have to be a those who attend school with feminist to know that that’s wrong. the girls, then it shouldn’t be a Schools have a dress code that big problem. Put the focus on girls do take under consideration. Almore important issues going though they aren’t breaking the rules on throughout the school disand are following the dress code, trict and take a stand on someschool administrators are now taking thing that you can actually feel away girls’ rights to wear most pantgood about putting your time like clothing. into. Public schools are supposed to Overall, I believe that this have a limited dress code policy and is an issue that was taken way students are supposed to be able to out of proportion and made dress freely as long as it follows the Photo by Mackenzie Brown into some big controversy when rules and doesn’t harm others. Yoga pants and leggings don’t seem to harm In recent months, controversy has come about concerning girls’ right to wear yoga pants in school. The controversy is inane it didn’t need any attention at all. others. They say it distracts, but really, and disrespectful to high school girls. those with “wandering eyes” should be able to control themselves so that there isn’t a problem. At every school, a similar dress code includes all the things you can and can’t wear such as anything having to do with religion, gangs, length of the skirt or dress. Following the dress code for some is a lot harder, but the school shouldn’t be able to take away your rights to wear what your religion tells you to. Schools also shouldn’t ban leggings or tight pants from girls. The issue that pops into my mind is what if they can’t
Students fail to R-E-S-P-E-C-T parents Jude Hanno Staff Reporter For the first 18 years of our lives, our parents try to raise us, feed us, give us shelter, and provide us with enough financial support to live our lives freely and happily. Most students are very appreciative of their parents, and they try their hardest to show that they care. Although this is true, a lot of students don’t treat their parents the way they deserve to be treated. We all hear and see it: from our friends screaming over the phone at their parents to just unkind remarks about those who raised them. It’s immature, sad, and shows nothing but bad character. A lot of teenagers have an issue with bad-mouthing their parents behind their backs. We have all heard or seen students calling their parents words that should never be addressed towards people who love and care for them. Whether it be on social media where their parents can’t see them, or in person. Too many times have I heard “my dad’s an ass” or “my mom just doesn’t understand me, I hate her.” When we talk badly about those who love us, we show others our own low character and selfish inability to see how hard those who love us try. Our parents would do anything to make us happy and they want to be active and involved in our lives. Teenagers
usually don’t want to talk or spend time with those who gave them life. Our parents do so much for us, and when they want to spend a little time with us, we don’t give them the opportunity to. When we do go and spend time with them, we’re too preoccupied with our phones or with our own lives to notice that no one out there will love and care for us as much as our parents do. Sophomore Seth Hillard doesn’t feel like respecting parents is important unless they respect you. “You don’t deserve respect unless you give respect,” Hillard said. Junior Allison Bantigue somewhat agrees. She believes “there should be a mutual trust.” Bantigue also agreed with Hillard and commented that “parents should respect kids too instead of being overbearing.” Bantigue does wish her parents would understand her more, especially when it comes to grades. Teenagers seem to forget that they should speak to their elders kindly. In the words of Aretha Franklin, who sang the popular song “Respect” back in 1967, “all I’m asking is for a little respect when you come home.” Our parents would do anything for us, and it should be a given that they deserve the utmost respect. Although respecting those who have raised us should be a given requirement for a happy family, there are always
unique cases in which your parents aren’t doing their job. There are always cases of abuse or other unfair and inhumane acts of hatred which do not apply to this normal everyday parent/child relationship. In those cases, your situation with your parents isn’t one where they even deserve your respect. We have all, at one point or another, talked back to our parents or made them feel unappreciated. It’s important to know that in those cases, you have wronged people who love and care for you. They do so much for us, the least we can do is show them a little respect. If you are currently in a situation where the person who raised you is disappointed or mad at you, apologize. Let them know you appreciate them, and that your intentions were never to disrespect them. They deserve so much better than teenagers who are too engulfed in their own irrelevant problems to notice their unfair treatment towards the people who have cared for them throughout their entire lives. Freshman Jonathan Tran, who claims to have a great relationship with his parents, believes that our parents deserve all the respect. “They take care of you and provide for you,” he said. “The least you can do is give them respect back.” Be nice to your parents, give them a hug and remind them that you love them. Respect them and don’t talk back to them. They are always trying to do what’s best for you, even if you fail to see it in the moment.
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Opinion
InFlight Nov 12, 2014
The pros and cons of jailbreaking your iDevice Dylan Johnston Staff Reporter To jailbreak or not to jailbreak, that is the question. The act of jailbreaking gives your iDevice root access, which means that you have the ability to do whatever you want with that device. Contrary to popular belief, it is not illegal to jailbreak your device; however, there are certain boundaries to what you can do. As of right now, there is only one way to actually jailbreak. Nothing else will work. You have to download the program Pangu, which is completely free and costs nothing at all. You have to plug in your device to the computer and boot up Pangu. The process takes about five to ten minutes at the most. After that, the world is your litter box. One of the apps that is installed when you jailbreak your device is Cydia. This is essentially like the app store. You can find tweaks, themes, and annoyance fixers to improve or make your device look cool. This allows you to add some flair and make your device look unique. One of my favorite tweaks is called F.lux. This changes the brightness of your screen at different times of the day, which helps reduce eye strain when using the de-
vice for extended periods of time. One of my favorite themes is Benzene, which makes all of the icons look like hexagons, and it is very colorful. It adds a breath of fresh air from the boring and dark looking default icons. As of Oct. 10, there are jailbreaks for iOS 8.1 all the way down to 5.1.1. The untethered jailbreak for iOS 8.1 came out recently and most of the tweaks and themes will not work for it right away. This is because the mobile substrate is not compatible with the older content. There is no set development team that works on trying to find exploits to jailbreak the system, it is actually an entire community that works on trying to get jailbreaks for any new iOS update that might come through. Sometimes they will wait to release the exploit because Apple might patch it before another update comes out. There are truly only two cons to jailbreaking, and that would be a void in your warranty and the small chance of breaking your device. Still, the pros heavily outweigh the cons and it is definitely worthwhile to jailbreak your device. Keep in mind that only half of things that you can do in Cydia are actually legal, and whatever you decide to use your device for is up to you.
PHOTOS BY DYLAN JOHNSTON
On the left is an example of the theme Benzene and the tweak Barrel. On the right is the Cydia Store.
Test room conditions for taking SAT: cold, uncomfortable Mackenzie Brown Editor-in-Chief
thing can upset the entire test, and can make or break you and set you off track for your idea post-secondary choice. One factor that definitely doesn’t help anyone’s score is the testing environment, and for this year’s seniors, taking it in the gym did not help. Taking the SAT is important, and students should not have to take it in somewhere like the gym. There are so many things that can go
into how well you can focus. The gym is cold, large, and kind of loud. Every scratch of a pencil, sniffle of a nose, and squeak of As college application deadlines apa chair is enough to distract you for a good proach, students begin to gather their final half a minute. It’s already a timed test, you grades and SAT scores. Although grades are don’t need to lose time. important, you have an entire semester to “It’s just a very uncomfortable test takdetermine your final results. ing environment,” senior Cameron Balli SAT scores, on the other hand, are the said. product of one test, seven hours. Any small Students might talk during the test, count down with the clock, or do whatever they can to distract you. Sure, the annoying people you have to endure during a test can come no matter where you are. But with 6-7 teachers covering a room of 300+ kids, no one’s exactly going to tell a kid like that to shut up. There are so many available classrooms in the school, easily enough to allow the seniors to take their SAT tests. But instead, freshman, sophomores, and juniors dominate the classrooms for a test that’s simply practice. Even with all the things wrong with taking the SATs in the gym, the worst part is the chairs. The chairs are atrocious. They’re uncomfortable, they sink when you sit in them, they PHOTO BY MACKENZIE BROWN The senior class takes a break during the SAT after working on a few consecutive sections of the test. Many students squeak with every small movement... They’re terrible. This year choose to snack or rest for the short time, while others socialized and moved around the room.
I took the liberty of bringing my own chair, and it was worth it. I could fidget any which way I wanted with no noise and at the end of the test, my butt didn’t hurt. I understand that our school tries to make the best of what they have to work with. There are some things that are hard to control. Getting desks is an example. I imagine it is pretty hard to get a hold of enough desks for every student to take the SAT. The desks used were in poor condition, but we were supplied with paper to put under the tests to make writing easier. They tried. An easy fix is changing the location, and I think that those taking the SAT should get first priority at locations like classrooms where it’s generally quieter, warmer, and more comfortable. Another fix is to maybe change the test date to a Saturday or a time that would be easier for students to find emptier classrooms. Messing up on the SAT can be detrimental to the rest of your college life. It’s a big deal and it would be very annoying and depressing if you somehow got a bad score due to crappy testing conditions that you cannot control. If a test matters so much, the school should be working to make sure students are in the best conditions to take it. For the next class of seniors, I hope changes are made to ensure nothing stops them from getting the good scores that they deserve.
Auburn Riverside High School
Core 24 arrives 2015 Harrison Maurus Guest Reporter
Core 24 is a set of requirements that the incoming freshman and every class thereafter will have to meet throughout their high school career to graduate. Although it changes a few things, it doesn’t change much. The main part to it is that the freshman starting next year cannot fail a class. Having the grade of a D would still technically be passing and enough to allow them to graduate. Essentially, students don’t want to get an F. Instead of the normal 22.5 credits needed, the freshmen are expected to gather 24 credits, which is meant to help students get into 4 year colleges. The new requirement of 24 credits sounds like a lot to some students. The future freshmen will have to consider this and act accordingly. “Some students will [meet them], some won’t,” freshman Gabe Biddulph said. The State Board of Education also stated how students could make up the credits in case they failed a class. The districts will need to help the students recover lost credits by the normal methods, such as extra classes, extending the school day, providing summer school, and providing online classes, to name a few. According to the state board, several of the objectives of this program are to help students plan and prepare to enter a four year college and provide a course that will align requirements to “meet the expectations of the 21st century Workforce” while still being flexible around students’ needs and what field of study they want to go into. The main goal for Core 24 is to “provide students with a strong academic foundation, and the flexibility to prepare them for whatever path they choose—whether that’s the workforce, an apprenticeship in the trades, or a community or four-year college.”
News
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ASB prepares for winter Jessica Perez Staff Reporter
kind of like a food drive. Another thing coming up this month is The Veteran’s Day assembly, although according to Summer Ramirez that is run by the music programs, not the ASB. ASB is focusing on one project at a time and dedicating their time to each project individually. According to senior Kristi Nguyen, this month is mainly going to be a chance for ASB to brainstorm new ideas and get prepared for Winter Wishes coming up in December.
ASB worked hard on all things Homecoming last month. This included spirit week, the Homecoming assembly, and the half time show at the game. Now that Homecoming is over, they’re ready to get down to some less serious business. This month is going to be a break for our ASB members and a chance for them to prepare for all things coming up in December. Still, a few things are coming up this month. “We are dedicated this month to making Riverside look the best it’s ever looked before,” senior June Uiki said. “We’re also connected with Key Club through Juliet Yu and Mrs. Jensen, so we’ll sometimes partner up with them on projects.” The ASB is working with Key Club on things like the Winterize project and the We Scare Hunger campaign. The Winterize project is where students decorate local shops and places in Auburn to make our city look more beautiful PHOTO BY DYLAN JOHNSTON and in the spirit of winter. This year’s ASB features a variety of new faces as well as experienced leaders. They will use this month The We Scare Hunger camto focus on next month’s holiday season. paign is meant to provide food for those in need; it’s
Senior Portfolio information update School threat causes alarm Mackenzie Brown Editor-in-Chief For the 2015 graduating classes in the Auburn School District, a change has recently been made that changes the requirements for the Senior Cumulative Portfolio. These changes include making the five artifacts optional and the final check-off a parent conference rather than a conference with senior advisers. Still, the portfolio will need to contain a self reflection paper, transition plan documents, post secondary plan paper, transcripts from the first semester of senior year, the Raven service plan document, and reflection questions. Every transition plan document will need to contain a senior biographical form, a personal resume, and two letters of recommendation. Depending on plans after high school, whether it be a four year college, university, or military academy, a two year community college, technical college, a career school, military enlistment, an apprenticeship, or moving directly to work, students might need to add college and scholarship applications, a completed college application, a letter of acceptance, an employment application, a cover letter, an apprenticeship application, entrance tests or an employment application. The entire process has been cut down this year, with plans to eliminate the entire portfolio in the future. The decision was decided by the Auburn School Board and will apply to all schools. Documents completed freshman year are to be re-done for the final portfolio.
Students have been assigned a portfolio adviser that will help in the completion of the portfolio by deadline. The next advisory day will be held in February. More information about the portfolio update is located on the Auburn Riverside website under the Resources tab.
PHOTO BY MACKENZIE BROWN
The senior portfolio must be presented in a one inch, solid colored binder. The cover needs to include the student’s name and “ARHS Senior Culminating Portfolio.” Inside the portfolio there needs to be plastic sheets for documents and dividers for different sections.
Jude Hanno Staff Reporter
Aaron Baker Guest Reporter
An unsubstantiated shooting threat that was to take place on Oct. 30 was found written in the boys bathroom several weeks ago, prompting administration to take extra steps to keep the school safe. According to Assistant Principal Shawna Leonard, the security at the school was increased. There was a modified lockdown where most of the exterior doors were locked. Extra police officers were on duty all around campus to ensure the safety of students and staff. According to Principal Dave Halford, the toughest part of the investigation was the presence of social media. “Gossip spread like wildfire through social media. Everyone thought something was one way but it ended up being another. It was a mess.” On the Thursday the shooting was expected, there was nothing substantial to indicate there were guns on campus. Since no substantiated evidence was found indicating that any shooting was going to occur, no student or staff member was ever at risk of being harmed. Many parents wouldn’t let their children come to school that day due to the threat. All three administrators with kids who attended Riverside let their children come. “It’s important not to let fear rule us,” Leonard said. According to both Halford and Leonard, it was very commendable of the entire staff to be here.
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Feature
InFlight Nov 12, 2014
Peer pressure pushes students to have sex Sara Koenig Staff Reporter Peer pressure: we don’t realize that we’re the ones being pressured as much as we don’t realize we’re the ones pressuring. A constant stress. The media, the TV shows we watch, the movies we favor, and the articles about celebrities in TMZ. Our friends, bragging about boyfriends, girlfriends, talking about dates, discussing parties, or discussing sex. Even just our date for the night, not meaning to, but pushing that kiss just a little too far. Drugs, alcohol, sex. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back. It’s called your virginity. Society will ostracize us whether we have it or whether we’ve lost it. It’s one of those universal no-win situations. Often, people peer pressure others without even realizing they’re doing it. “If they’re dating someone and they want to stay together they might think ‘okay let’s have sex,’” freshman Aubrie Baylor said. Third party peer pressure is increasingly common. A person hears two others discussing it and begins to think that everyone is doing it. Peer pressure prone decisions are often met with regrets, Baylor said, “because of the effect it may have in the short term. Because it no longer feels like you want to, it feels like you have to.” According to the Canadian Lung Association, “my friends smoke” and “I thought it was cool” are two of the main reasons that minors between the ages of 12 and 17 start smoking. Based off of that reasoning, you can rightfully assume that minors have sex for similar reasons.
In fact, out of 1,854 subjects between ages 15 and 17, 23 percent of girls feel peer pressure to have sex and a shocking one third of boys, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Most people don’t recognize peer pressure for what it is. According to NHS choices there are three main types of peer pressure. There’s the “obvious peer pressure such as: ‘Everyone’s doing it, so should you.’” There’s “underhand peer pressure such as: ‘You’re a virgin, you wouldn’t understand.’” And there’s “controlling peer pressure, such as: ‘you would do it if you loved me.’” The number one reason why teens have sex is because they believe “everyone else is doing it.” According to a survey released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, one in five teens reported having sex before 15. One in seven sexually active 14-year-olds also said that they have been pregnant one or more times. Other research is not as bleak when referring to teen sexuality. Some studies have shown that teens were 5.7 percent less sexually active in the 1990s than decades before. Going off of this information, we can conclude that while peer pressure may be low about sex, the pressure that we put on ourselves about sex is significantly high. When people make rash decisions about sex, they end up regretting it most of the time.
PHOTO BY SARA KOENIG
Teens are constantly in uncomfortable situtations with the increased pressure to be in relationships and push boundaries.
Blowdart Game
84% Students share their opinion on current topics and pop culture
Lunchline Procedure
76%
Most Ravens aren’t enjoying the way the lunchline is being run. It’s too crowded and too much of a hassle for people to go through.
Halford’s Beard
84%
This year, Principal Halford has been rocking a new style, and it’s obvious that the Ravens are digging it.
They tried to make this game happen. It’s not going to happen. Falling down in the hallways and having someone touch your ear to get back up is too childish and immature, and Ravens don’t like it.
Greek Yogurt
78%
IPhone 6
57%
Most students find this different and healthy alternative to regular yogurt quite tasty!
Apple came out with their brand new device and there has been so much hate towards it. “Can I bend your iPhone?” is a constant question iPhone users get on a daily basis.
Leggings/Yoga Pants
87%
A comfortable favorite of girls all around campus. They make you look good and people of all genders enjoy them.
Feature 7
Auburn Riverside High School
Principal Halford sprouts beard Dylan Johnston Staff Reporter There are many great men with even greater beards in the world: Walter White, Gandalf, Dumbledore, Hulk Hogan, and now Principal Dave Halford. That’s right, students may have noticed that Riverside wasn’t the only thing that changed as we entered our 2015 school year. One of our school’s biggest changes, maybe even improvements, was Principal Halford’s new beard. Now the biggest question is, what caused the change? Due to the loss of his brother, Halford went on a trip across the southern parts of the U.S. this summer to collect his brother’s belongings and take them back to his mom in Tampa Bay. The only thing that could not fit on the moving van was his blue Harley Davidson. “Most bikers have beards and it makes them look a bit more tough, so I thought that I should grow out some scruff to look more tough,” principal Dave Halford said. “I wanted to show my wife the beard. My daughter said that it looked scruffy and horrible, my son said I looked more laid back. Then I thought that my co-workers and friends would also want to see it, so I decided to keep the beard. I will be participating in No-Shave November, and after
that I will shave it off.” He drove this motorcycle all the way to Tampa Bay. One of the places he visited was the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. “The most memorable spot on my trip was the Cadillac Ranch. My brother had also visited this spot. It was a very cool destination,” Halford said. It consists of old or junked Cadillacs representing a number of evolutions of the car. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels. He also visited Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. With a big change comes a big response. Although it is quite a different look for the principal we have grown to love, students and teachers have decided the change is good. “I think it makes him look more distinguished,” language arts teacher Tim Wright said. “It’s like wearing glasses: it raises your IQ.” “When I walked in I thought that I had seen Santa Claus,” senior Ryan Rogers said. While a majority of the school likes Principal Halford’s beard, it will not be here forever and will disappear after No-Shave November. On a cross-country tour taken this summer after the loss of his younger brother, Principal Halford grew out his beard, and has stuck with it since.
PHOTO COURTESY DAVE HALFORD
Ebola outbreak inspires media exaggeration, warped perceptions Aaron Baker Guest Reporter Over the summer of 2014, the world was stricken with a devastating breakout of Ebola. The Ebola crisis has spread fear throughout the world over the course of the last few months. With new outbreaks in the United States, national media has had a heyday of sorts, causing much distortion regarding the actual disease as opposed to people’s perception of it. Some students believe that the media coverage regarding Ebola has been sensationalized, going so far as to call into question its importance as a news story. “Ebola isn’t that big of a deal,” freshman Savannah Cranson said. “There are bigger things in the world that we should worry about.” According to the FDA, Ebola is the cause of a viral hemorrhagic fever disease. This causes blood to not clot properly and can lead to internal bleeding and death. While there are currently no FDA approved vaccines or treatments for Ebola, the disease does not pose a significant threat to the U.S. public. Despite this, a recent student survey suggests that as much as 37 percent of the student population fears contracting Ebola in the U.S.
While junior Jessica Willform does not fear contracting Ebola, she does believe that the hype surrounding the disease is all due to the U.S. government trying to scare the public. “Everything I know about Ebola is because of the government,” Willform said. “If it weren’t for the government, I wouldn’t know what Ebola is.” Willform believes that the crisis is also being sensationalized by students at school, referencing a host of jokes on social media. “A bunch of students are cracking stupid jokes on Twitter [about Ebola].” Even though some students are allegedly exaggerating the effects of Ebola, the student survey suggests that these exaggerations have had minimal effects on the actual knowledge students have about the disease. About 93 percent of students feel as though they have a good understanding of the disease, even with its exacerbation by social media. Freshman Gabriella Reichel thinks that the exaggeration of the effects of the disease stretches past social media, explaining how her friends joke about Ebola. “If someone so much as coughs, everyone cracks up about how they have Ebola,” Reichel said. “Literally everyone in school is talking about it. ” Our school’s nurse, Beth Hilton, is approaching the Ebola situation cautiously.
She has posted information about Ebola, which has guidelines to solve public health issues. If a case of the disease happened during school, “we would contact the health department and they would tell us how to
handle the problem.” Despite common fears of contracting Ebola among the student population, all data suggests that the chances of contracting the disease in the U.S. are infinitesimal.
PHOTO BY DYLAN JOHNSTON
Science teacher Phil Myka “catches” Ebola . . . in a less contagious and more contained way than those who contract the actual disease.
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InFlight Nov 12, 2014
Superstitions unnerve students Alyssa Ferry Guest Reporter Black cats, ladders, and mirrors have an undeniable impact on some people; these superstitions are found around every corner and have evolved into different modern day beliefs. Sports are a large contributor to superstitions. “In New Mexico [my soccer team] would do the same warm-up routines because if we didn’t then we believed we would lose,” freshman Preston Green said. Athletes have a myriad of quirky routines in place to assure a victory. “On race days, when we do warm ups, we don’t cross the finish line to prevent the possibility of us having a bad race,” junior Tommy Broch said. “One year I broke a mirror and every year after that I hurt myself or broke a bone.” Musicians and performers have superstitions tied to their craft, from actors’ “break a leg” to a dancer’s use of the word “Merde” so as not to jinx a performance. “Previously, [Marching Band] would make sure that all of our buttons would be closed before a performance, and say ‘buttons!’” senior Erica Russaw said. “But I have other superstitions too. I make sure not to open umbrellas inside, or walk by black cats.” Other ways people prevent bad luck include routines to assure that they are safe when doing even the most mediocre and ordinary of actions. “I have to touch the outside of the
plane before I go in it,” freshman Kobe Middlebrooks said. careful when avoiding unseen forces and historic folklore. “I think it will prevent it from crashing.” Evading broken mirrors, walking under ladders, and crossAccording to a recent student poll, 61 percent of peo- ing the path of black cats is the only foreseeable way to get ple have superstitions. This may include knocking on wood around bad luck and negative karma. to reverse bad luck or picking up a penny when it is face up. Numbers have been tied to superstitions for many years. From 7 to 13 they each have their own origins. Triskaidekaphobics, those who fear the number 13, have a special disliking against the number, believing that it will cause death, despair, and an unlucky ending to any or all who encounter it. The number seven is found in famous superstitions, such as the number of years of bad luck is associated with mirror breaking. Other common superstitions include holding onto a rabbit’s foot for good luck, and not breathing while walking past a cemetery so as not to disrespect those who have passed on. The most popular include black cats bringing bad luck and ladders PHOTO BY MACKENZIE BROWN being a gate to hell due to their historic Christian ties. Mirror breakage supposedly bestows seven years of bad luck upon the breaker, but Nevertheless, one can never be too only time will tell.
New safe search blocks students Tashana Williams Guest Reporter
have safe search,” Principal Dave Halford said. “It’s not my choice to have the program, it’s a requirement.” Since safe search uses key words, some websites aren’t accessible even if the website is appropriate. Thirty-seven percent of students say that safe search did affect what they were doing academically. Along with safe search, there is YouTube safe search. This year is the first full year of YouTube accessibility. To access YouTube, you would have to log into your Google Chrome account. The amount of results are adjustable; however, the default number of videos per page is nine. The highest is 48 and the lowest is six. Comments are not available; only an HTML (hypertext markup language) is shown. Seventy percent of students like being able to use YouTube at school. “YouTube is a valuable learning source,” Halford said. “It provides a different way of learning.” Even though YouTube is entitled to student learning, it’s not always used for those purposes. “I do play on the Chromebooks,” sophomore Erik Hamilton, admits. “But I’m sure everyone has at some point in time.” Inside of trying websites, students can watch YouTube videos. Even though it’s on safe search, they still can enjoy the ones that are Photo By dylan johnston available.
Finally, you have some free time in Algebra. Logging into a computer, you type in your favorite website that you haven’t used since last year. The screen begins to load and a small smile forms on your lips. “Page Blocked.” The smile is slowly wiped off your face and you become irritated. You try another site. “Page Blocked.” You try another and another. This happens because the safe search program is different from last year. The program this year is called IBoss. IBoss picks up on key words and blocks anything that is seen as inappropriate. The program used last year had most websites open.The District Institution would go through and block sites that they don’t want seen by students. IBoss is the opposite. “The websites are mostly blocked,” Institutional Technology Support Specialist Toni Dudley said. “We have to go in and unblock what we want available. We haven’t gone through all of it. That’s why some websites are blocked that weren’t blocked last year.” In a recent survey of students, 44 percent agree with the need of safe search, 36 percent disagree and 20 percent don’t care. “The Feds give e-money to Typing certain negative words into Google activates the IBoss filter and blocks all the results.
InFlight is online! arhsinflight.com
Auburn Riverside High School
Arts & Entertainment
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Nightcrawler creates 2014’s greatest monster Cameron Fairchild Staff Reporter Nightcrawler, the flagship directorial effort of writer-director Dan Gilroy, crafts a strong story around its endlessly watchable lead performance. Nightcrawler follows the exploits of Lou Bloom ( Jake Gyllenhaal), a desperate, proactive young man who breaks into the business of gathering D.I.Y. footage of late night crime. If it bleeds, it leads, and Bloom’s videographer aspirations soon lead him to manipulate his subjects—and the truth—for greater profit. For all of the thrown-together horror premises (Ouija) and desperate attempts at iconic monsters (Annabelle) that have been put on screen in the last month, Lou Bloom, the centerpiece of Gilroy’s film, is the greatest monster put to film in 2014. Gyllenhaal, sans 20 pounds, possesses the
character with a desperate intensity. Movie villains too often know exactly what their next move is; Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, plays his as an improviser. Bloom is frantic, always scrambling to make more money and manipulate others. A servant to his endless self-improvement mantras (“If you want to win the lottery, you have to make the money to buy a ticket,” he chirps early in the film), Bloom is both a symbol for the pursuit of the American Dream gone terribly wrong and a straight-up psychopath completely detached from any conceivable reality. Gyllenhaal’s performance and Gilroy’s script blend together perfectly to create one of the most transfixing characters put to film this year. The rest of the film isn’t quite as exquisite as Bloom—Rene Russo plays a very FayeDunaway-in-Network type well enough, but adds little to the archetype of sensationalist journalist, and more than once lines that could’ve been thrown away over-emphasize
the film’s fixation on media exploitation. On the technical side of things, the cinematography is good enough, really shining when Bloom goes out at night to collect footage with his assistant Rick (Riz Ahmed). In those moments, Bloom’s camera lens is often in focus, everything surrounding it a blur. Bloom doesn’t live in the real world, it reminds us. He lives in one he creates. Movies often place their villains behind bars, separate from the protagonist, at a distance from the audience. Nightcrawler is a blunt, claustrophobic ride that traps you in the passenger seat next to its terrifying creation, never going less than 80 miles an hour.
Jake Gyllenhaal
Murder kills fall TV Jude Hanno Staff Reporter What makes TV shows successful are the cliffhangers and the suspense, and those are both two very evident components found in the new show, How to Get Away with Murder. Students all across the school are constantly looking for new and exciting shows to fill their free time and potentially distract them from everything that’s generally more important. When something interesting comes on, our Twitter feeds are filled with live tweets about all that’s happening in the excitement that we watch. A show that hasn’t been but should be talked about by the masses is How to Get away with Murder. It has about the same intensity and enjoyment levels as shows like American Horror Story, Breaking Bad, and Orange is the New Black. If you’re interested in other shows with murder, mystery, and thriller, I suggest you watch this one. The plot centers around a group of law students who enroll themselves in a criminal law class with a professor who is nothing short of brilliant. She takes them to real life court cases where they are instructed to investigate to make their defendant not guilty. The professor, Annalise Keating, tells them that the truth won’t win them out in court, and sometimes manipulation and control
are important tactics correlating with how to win in the court room. In the course of their investigations, the law students find themselves in their own murder mystery case. The show takes the students on a journey from attempting to be top of the class to trying to cover up the tracks of a possible murder currently unknown to any of the viewers. The attorney and professor in this show, Keating is played by Viola Davis, who has been nominated for two Oscars and starred in highly popular films such as The Help and Ender’s Game. The true intentions of the show are always difficult to decipher until the last few minutes of every episode due to the plot twists that are the best things about this show. The 40 minute episodes are like a puzzle where all the pieces find themselves fitting perfectly at the end with just enough missing spots to make us incredibly anxious anticipating for the next episode. This is one of those shows where you wish it was older so you could just binge watch all the episodes instead of waiting for them every week. If you’re looking for something exciting to watch that will gradually and inevitably take over your life with every minute of every episode, I suggest you obsess over the new ABC hit TV show, How to Get Away with Murder.
Artist of the Issue: Dallas Smith Karlee Johnson Staff Reporter
5 songs you should know:
1. What Kind of Love 2. If It Gets You Where You Wanna Go 3. Somebody Somewhere 4. A Girl Like You 5. Wastin’ Gas
A local upcoming country singersongwriter Dallas Smith is slowly making his debut. Smith was best known for being the lead singer of an alternative rock band Default. As of 2011 he went solo and released his very first country album, Jumped Right In, which was released in 2012. His band, Default, was very popular in their hometown of Langley, which is located in British Columbia, Canada. The band was discovered by the lead singer of Nickelback, Chad Kroeger. On this album, most of the songs that I heard are actually really great! My favorites are “Wastin’ Gas,” “What Kind of Love,” “A Girl Like You,” and the song that the album was named after, “Jumped Right In.” His album, Jumped Right In, is a huge hit. Since its release in 2012, it has sold over 100,000 digital singles. By the end of 2012, Smith was named the most played Canadian Country act by Mediabase. He is very talented and he has received a lot of recognition from music award corporations such as the Juno awards. I recommend his music to anyone who enjoys country.
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Arts and Entertainment
InFlight Nov 12, 2014
The Flash
NEW TV for FALL Red Band Society This brand-new uniquely profound comedy-drama will make you want to laugh, cry, and feel every little nuance of emotion. It’s called Red Band Society. The actors are phenomenal, the plot is unique, it’s unlike every soap opera you have ever seen, and it’s narrated by a kid in a coma. Charlie Hutchison is a young comatose patient whose past and future have yet to be revealed. He is also the narrator of the story. Dena Jackson is the nurse in the hospital’s pediatric ward. She’s basically that teacher that you absolutely hate from elementary school, except she cares about her patients. Jordi, a patient newly admitted to the pediatrics ward, is diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. His friend and veteran of the ward is Leo, a patient with osteosarcoma who’s lost his leg. Emma is an intelligent and polite anorexia patient and Kara is a cruel and rude cheerleader with an enlarged heart. The cast makes the show, which is one of the best of the fall season.
Sarah Koenig Staff Reporter
FOX
Jane the Virgin Now, I don’t think anyone, not even the producers, expected Jane the Virgin to be good. Your doctor accidentally artificially inseminates you? Really? That is an insult to doctors. This show is the epitome of the tragic soap opera that everyone makes fun of. The estranged father, screw-up mother, and her two-year fiance whom she hasn’t had sex with. Don’t even get me started on the father of the baby! His wife is a gold digger who says she still loves him but she is cheating on her husband with his ex-convict best friend whom is in league with a psychopathic drug dealer. He’s also got anger issues and is seriously violent but dies for some reason, probably murder, at the end of the second episode. When did the affair happen? When the father of the baby was in chemo because he had cancer, duh! Who is the doctor who accidentally artificially inseminated the girl? The father of the baby’s sister, who is lesbian and whose
A to Z
CW
NBC
I hate that I love this TV show. It’s called A to Z and it’s such a soap opera, the characters are stereotyped and the relationships are ridiculously frustrating; but there’s something about it that hooked me unlike any other soap opera I’ve watched before. Perhaps it’s the naive best friend, maybe it’s the unfortunate script, possibly it’s the predictable plot, but for some reason I like it. The way that they make you speculate about the ending, does one of them die? Do they break up? Do they get married? There are some similarities to How I Met Your Mother. The way I keep thinking how horrible a couple they are but how I love to hate them, especially the way that the characters have like negative one billion chemistry. I love the girl but I hate her name. Zelda. The producers are trying too hard to be cool, why not the name Zoe? Or name the girl Amanda and the guy Zeke or Zach or even Zed. A to Z is a mess, but like a trainwreck, you can’t look away. It’s brief, easy to digest, and pleasant enough, but it’s also terrible.
CW
wife cheated on her with a man, and the woman she was supposed to artificially inseminate was her sister-in-law. Her ex-lover is a lawyer who she calls and she’s kind of still in love with but her ex-lover is married to her father because she is also a gold digger and a trophy wife. But wait there’s more: the main character’s fiancé is a cop who is after the psychopathic drug dealer and finds out about the affair, forcing the wife to break it off. That same night the best friend is impaled on an ice sculpture at a private party where none other than Jane is waitressing at the father of the babies hotel. Meanwhile, Jane’s estranged father, who is an international movie star that Jane, her mother, and her grandmother all watch on TV, is hooking up with her mother in the back room of their immaculate house that two women on minimum wage, one of whom is in college and both of whom are supporting the Latina grandmother, supposedly pay for. And the whole time you’re gagging because not one person on the entire planet would actually be like any of these charactors.
Everyone loves superheroes. Or at least I do, with their unattainable super powers. At least they have an excuse for being perfect. The Flash is no exception. Their real-people problems that they encounter without their facade just make me love them more. Superman had relationship issues! Yay I’m not alone in the world! The Flash is a normal everyday young adult, until he gets hit with the ricocheting beams from a particle accelerator during a killer storm. That is, if normal everyday young adults are practically orphans, with their mother dead and their father locked up for killing her, and their cop friend taking him in and adopting him. Or they are super-scientists that can tell what car made an imprint just by looking at the tires before they get super powers. Basically he wakes up after nine months in an energy-sucking coma inside of a quarantined facility with a pariah doctor and his two ostracized assistants. The Flash is a strong pilot and has delivered on its premise in its season so far. As superhero media becomes more and more commonplace, The Flash stands out, even in the shadow of its parent series, Arrow.
Scorpion
CBS
The new show Scorpion is about a crime-fighting team of super geniuses with a combined IQ of over 700. Each member has a special skill: a self-proclaimed genius super-hacker who hacked NASA as a ten-year-old, a genius behaviorist who can read people like they’re books and has a gambling issue, a female mechanical engineer who can fix absolutely anything, a statistical guru who has a serious case of OCD and anxiety, and finally, the completely ordinary girl, a single mother of a nine-year-old boy who is thought to have autism but is secretly a genius like the rest of the group. Even though it’s a procedural, Scorpion succeeds on the strength of its writing, original premise, unique situations, and chemistry between its ensemble performers. The characters are all well drawn and warrant viewers’ weekly return to the show.
Sports
Auburn Riverside High School
FALL SPORTS The regular fall sports season is coming to a close as many student athletes head to postseason competitions. The Volleyball team is a special highlight, heading into the postseason undefeated, winning all 14 conference games this season. The Varsity Boys Tennis team is a standout as well, winning 14-0 in conference matches and losing only one match that was not counted in the league. Colby Tong, a freshman, will progress to the state competition. Another team with a good shot at State is the Girls’ Soccer team, heading into the competition 12-2 and second in the 3A League. Dax Tate and Corey Brinkman will head to State representing Cross Country. Third in the 3A League, Girls Golf retains a 9-3 win-loss record, with standout Jennifer Kim progressing into the postseason. Girls Swim has a solid 3-4 record as their season wraps up. Boys Water Polo has also had a strong season and will compete in regionals in the postseason. Boys Golf pull behind their female counterparts as the season comes to an end with a 3-9 record. Football came out of a difficult season 0-7 in conference games after facing a tough roster of 3A opponents. PHOTOS BY CAMERON FAIRCHILD
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Sports
InFlight Nov 12, 2014
Varsity volleyball leaders score college positions Kinsey Miller Guest Reporter Seniors Carson Heilborn and Roxy King have been playing volleyball since middle school, and with their experience they led the Ravens to an undefeated regular season and into the post-season tournament. Both play on club teams outside of school and plan on signing letters of intent on Nov. 18 to play college volleyball.
Seniors Carson Heilborn and Roxy King, #4 and #12 on the varsity team, have both signed on to college teams for next year.
Heilborn, a setter, plans on signing with the University of New Mexico. During her sophomore year, Heilborn was contacted after a club tournament. “Coaches walk around during club tournaments and watch you play. Then they’ll contact you if they’re interested,” Heilborn said, who will be receiving a full scholarship to play for the Lobos. Heilborn has visited the campus twice, and loved the team, coaches and program. Although she is excited to go to college, Heilborn is going to miss her family and friends when she leaves. While Heilborn will be staying on the west coast, King, a hitter, will be attending Minot State University in North Dakota. She has visited the school three times and said, “It’s tiny and that’s perfect for me.” King, who has always wanted to be a collegiate volleyball player, was invited to a camp hosted by the school. After performing well, she was contacted her sophomore year. She will be receiving a partial scholarship to attend Minot and is planning on majoring in Athletic Training. The undefeated Raven volleyball team was ranked number one in the 3A league and they have lived up to their ranking. They finished the season with a fourteen game winning streak and only lost one set all season to Auburn Mountainview. The team goes into the post-season with hopes of playing for the 3A state title. “I really hope we go
Carson Heilborn
Roxy King PHOTOS BY CAMERON FAIRCHILD
to State,” Heilborn said. With Heilborn and King leading the team, the future looks bright. Both girls look forward to college, but they want to end the season with the state title. In a recent student poll, 56 percent of students do not plan on being recruited for college sports. “When students go to college for sports, more scouting happens and it makes the school look good,” principal Dave Halford said. Although Halford has no role in the process, coaches have a major role in the process of recruiting. Some coaches use their connections with colleges to have players seen. With Heilborn and King going to play for universities, it opens the door to more recruiting and more athletes at Auburn Riverside to be seen by recruiters. Heilborn and King’s years of hard work and dedication to volleyball have clearly paid off.