December '06

One Copy Free

The Black & White

Johnston High School Student Paper

December ‘06

Vol 16 No. 5

Gay-Straight Alliance goes to school board

BY LAUREN PROFFITT STAFF WRITER At the next school board meeting, the possibility of a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) will be discussed.

“I thought about starting one for quite a while,” said senior Josh Merritt. “(Junior) Ben Schnurr started this one.”

Schnurr talked to Merritt about a GSA possibly becoming an official club in the school.

Principle Bruce Hukee spoke with Meerritt, who gave him the proposal.

“I indicated to him that my next step (will be) visiting with district

administration about this proposal,” said Hukee.

More students, including senior Cassidy Williams, agreed to help with the formation of a GSA. Schnurr talked to guidance counselor Stephanie Guthrie, who proposed the idea to other staff members, such as Extended Learning Program teacher Sue Cline.

“Some people have the impression that this is not an issue here,” Cline said.

“I think that it’s an issue everywhere.”

Now, the group is waiting for approval from the school board. Merritt wrote out a mission statement that explains when and how often GSA meetings will occur, what members will discuss in meetings

and what it hopes to accomplish.

“Johnston is a very, very conservative town,” Merritt said. “I had to go over the proposal three or four times to make sure they would approve.”

Guthrie and Merritt have taken the group’s mission statement to Hukee, and he sent it to the super-intendant Clay Guthmiller.

“I received correspondence from Mr. Hukee last week. We will be discussing the request when we return from winter break,” Guthmiller said.

According to gsanetwork.org, a GSA is a student-run club, which provides a safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related

to sexual orientation and work to end homophobia. They would also attend Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) conferences within the state.

“I really want to get it established and let people know it’s there,” Merritt said.

Merritt wants the group to provide an open-forum for discussion, where people will not be judged. However, his biggest goal is to have the school change its general harassment policy to include sexuallybased harassment.

“I think there is a bigger amount of people that want to come out but are afraid to because of gang violence,” Schnurr said.

The deciding school board meeting will be held late in January.

GIRL’S BASKETBALL STEPS UP Iowa’s first open-air skate rink

WHAT: a new ice skating rink in downtown Des Moines WHERE: 520 Robert D. Ray Drive on the river across from City Hall

related stories on pages 14

Casey

Gustafson

Lammers

Susan Clausen/BW

Brenton Skating Plaza located next to city hall downtown is the newest portion of the Principal Riverwalk Project.

Sonner

Sunde

In this issue...

Ware

Stratton’s story inspires senior to involve school with Jolly Holiday Lights

BCS viewing guide: what to watch in the upcoming college football championships

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Page 10

Staff writer Drew Houp tells his encounter with security at a Nashville airport Page 12

Church league basketball team has high expectations for season Page 15

BY SUSAN CLAUSEN FEATURE EDITOR A $57 million dollar project called Principal Riverwalk is in full swing with the newest addition of Brenton Skating Plaza.

This is the first open air skating rink in the state. It is slightly larger than the rink in Rockefeller Center in New York City, with a capacity of 200 skaters.

The Thanksgiving opening had expectations of a good public response, but not as much as they did.

“I thought it was going to go over well, but the numbers has surprised us,” General Manager Robbin McClelland said.

Public skating is the majority of the rinks open hours, but other alternatives such as “lunch and learn,” where workers can have an adventurous lunch break, pick-up broomball, family night on Thursdays with a reduced rate for four or more and “Rock the River,” where the music is turned up to attract a youthful crowd.

“We’ve been working on a (broomball) league, but the problem is we are completely dependent on weather,” McClelland said.

The new rink has compressors under the ice to keep the rink cold when the weather can not.

The current focus is on skating, but summer planning is on track as well. Thoughts of beach volleyball, in-line skating and concerts have been talked about, but nothing official has been decided. Fountains with colored lights are already in place for warm months.

B &W 2 Inspired senior ignites involvement at festival NEWS: what’s important December ‘06

BY LARISSA FRENCH NEWS EDITOR Jolly Holiday Lights, a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish foundation of Iowa, is getting student volunteers, thanks to senior Scott Cronin’s efforts to get the school involved.

“It’s at Water Works Park, and it’s a light display that people can drive through,” Cronin said. “It’s a part of the Make-A-Wish foundation, and it just helps kids with cancer.”

Cronin decided to involve students for two reasons.

“I know a lot of people have gone to Jolly holiday Lights, and it came up with (associate principal Jerry) Stratton’s niece,” Cronin said.

Stratton’s niece, Elizabeth Stratton, was diagnosed with hepatblstoma, a rare liver cancer, on April 1, 2002 at the age of 9.

“She went to her pediatrics doctor,” Stratton said. “She had kind of a bulge in her stomach, and she was immediately sent to Omaha and was diagnosed. (The doctors) took two-thirds of her liver; they were confident the margins were good.”

The cancer spread to Elizabeth’s ribs, hip, left arm and spine.

“Every time they got it, it would pop back up,” Stratton said.

Elizabeth underwent six surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy, and she also had two halos put on. Halos are apparatuses that hold the head in place, so patients cannot move their head or neck.

Elizabeth needed them since she broke some processes in her neck as a result of the cancer.

“It was always about everyone else . . . When she came out of the liver surgery, we were in the recovery room with her, and she was apologizing (to us) because she was having a hard time staying awake,” Stratton said.

Despite facing numerous surgeries and treatments, in late June, the doctors decided there was nothing more they could do for Elizabeth, according to Stratton.

Elizabeth passed away on Oct. 29, 2006 at the age of 13.

“It’s interesting the things people take for granted about their health,” Stratton said. “We complain about out day-to-day life, when some of the people around us are living unimaginable lives.”

Cronin heard about Elizabeth’s story at the Students Active in Leadership retreat in October. Stratton had visited on Saturday, just three day’s after Elizabeth’s death, and spoke about Elizabeth with the students at the retreat. As a result of Elizabeth’s story, Cronin was inspired to involve Johnston students with the fundraiser Jolly Holiday Lights.

“I think it’s a very nice gesture, and I think it’s for a great cause,” Stratton said. “(Elizabeth) was able to do two Make-A-

The peanut brittle house is apart of the Candyland exhibit. The house is up for auction with tickets available for purchase for $5; all proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish foundation of Iowa.

Wish trips. One was when she first found out (about her cancer), and the second was this spring. They took a family trip to Hawaii. It gave them a chance to laugh and smile as a family; it gives the family a chance to have an escape.”

Stratton was not involved in the planning, organizing or any activity of Jolly Holiday Lights. “(Involvement with the fundraiser is) something (Cronin) came up with, and I’m very touched by it,” Stratton said.

Cronin wanted the school’s involvement with Jolly Holiday Lights to be more of a nice gesture to Stratton, rather than to make Stratton volunteer.

“I think the goal of this is not to get him involved. His first reaction was positive and . . . he was like, ‘Sounds great, sounds great,’” Cronin said.

Jolly Holiday Lights is a Des Moines

tradition with 75 light displays. Viewers pay $9 per car or $45 per bus, and they drive through the park from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. between Nov. 21 and Jan. 1.

According to its website, Jolly Holiday Lights is Iowa’s largest fundraising event, and it has granted the wishes of more than 300 children.

Students have done a variety of activities to aid in the fundraiser.

“We help collect tickets at the front gate,” Cronin said. “We’ve helped in their gift shop, and other people have helped in Candy Land (an exhibit modeled off of the game).”

The volunteer hours also work for the government service-learning project.

Students can contact Cronin or Vickie Cronin in the guidance office if they would like to manage the school’s involvement next year.

NewsBriefs Spring musical encourages actors and singers

Spring Play Script

Scripts for the spring play are available in room 112 for students who are interested in drama and acting. The play “As You Like It,” written by William Shakespeare, is a musical and will be directed by special education associate, Paul Miller.

“It’s a really fun show,” Miller said.

“It’s about people who are twitterpatted. There is singing, dancing and even

some wrestling.”

Requirements for the auditions including telling a favorite joke or riddle and memorizing lines from roles and characters the student may be interested in. Auditions will be held sometime after the first of the semester. “As You Like It” will be held on May 3,4 and 5 at 7 p.m.

compiled by Allison Kane

[] John Kennedy/BW

Elizabeth Mae Stratton (May 12, 1992-Oct. 29, 2006) -Battled hepatblastoma, a rare liver cancer, for fourand-a-half years

-Her immediate family: parents Joe and Sami Stratton, sisters Jessica, 12, Abigail, 8 and Kaylie, 3

-Had an origami crane collection, inspired by the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr Provided/Jerry Stratton

Academic Decathlon

State of Iowa Scholars

The academic decathlon is a fun team activity to learn new material based on an annual theme; the theme for this year is China. The competitions consist of ten activities including a 3-4 minute speech, a brief interview and short multiple choice exams. At state competition students must compile an essay.

“It does take a special kid to play, because the multiple choice tests aren’t fun to take,” ELP teacher Sue Cline said.

At each level of competition, awards will be given for first, second and third place for each grade level. Cline will be taking two teams: a junior and senior team. Each team is categorized into honors GPA 3.75 and up, scholastic 3.0-3.74 and varsity below 3.0. So far, Johnston has made it to state every year, and both teams hope to follow this path again during the 2007 competition.

“The real sweetness is at state,” Cline said. “It’s interesting when you get all nerdy people together.”

The State of Iowa recognizes top academic students by naming State of Iowa Scholars. It is not a financial award, but is instead a recognition.

To be eligible, students must be in the top 15 percent of the class with a cumulative GPA of 3.65 or higher, and they must have taken the ACT by October 2006.

Students can see guidance counselor Curt Larkin for more information on how to apply.

Corrections and Clarifications The Black and White would like to correct an error made in the last issue. In the “In this issue” on page one, Brian Lutter’s name was misspelled.

The Black and White strives to be both accurate and fair. Readers who believe the paper has printed an error should call 515-278-0449.

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NEWS: what’s important December ‘06

B &W

New math classes to begin next year

BY SAM LEAHY OPINION EDITOR Four new math courses which were approved for the new curriculum beginning in the fall of 2007 school year was introduced at the school board meeting on Nov.13 to the public.

“We thought it was time to revaluate the current classes being offered because we felt we could do a better job of meeting the kid’s needs in the upper math level courses,” math teacher Vickie Borich said. “We also felt with the state of Iowa highly recommending three years of math to graduate we better prepare our department for the new change as well.”

One of the numerous changes being made the math department is the splitting of the Algebra II classes.

Currently, Algebra II covers review for roughly two weeks, according to Borich. However with the new system in place, the Algebra II/ Trig course will spend little to no time reviewing and will have the first four chapters completed in the first two weeks of school.

“It will be a very rigorous course and much more advanced than the other option,” Borich said.

To be eligible for the Algebra II/trig course, a student must have an A or B in both Algebra I and Geometry and a letter of recommendation from a math teacher.

“This doesn’t guarantee you a spot either. It will be a very selective class because of how hard it will be,” Borich said.

The other option being offered is Algebra II, which will spend roughly the same amount of time reviewing as it does currently. The course will cover little trigonometry.

“We recommend that kids who are planning to go to college but not (major) in the field of math to take this course,” math teacher Rich Brooks said.

With the new Algebra II classes in place, Pre-Calculus will also go farther into the book, completing more chapters and covering more information.

“Hopefully this will help our current problems we have with kids in pre-calculus who barely remember the basic math foundations covered in Algebra I and the kids who remember everything,” Brooks said. “This will hopefully bridge the gap between the amounts of math knowledge kids have.”

Another new math class that will be offered is Trigonometry. This is a class for kids who take Algebra II, and decide to pursue Calculus. This class would fulfill eligibility requirements. It can also be counted as a third year of math.

An additional offering to the math department will be Tech Math I and II. They will be counted as DMACC

vocational credit.

“The credit you will receive can transfer to a vocational school, but not to any major four-year college,” Borich said.

To be eligible for these courses, students must take Algebra I. The passing of Tech Math I is required for a student interested in Tech Math II. The decision to change the classes came from

countless meetings and communication between the math department.

“It takes time to make a change this big because there is a lot of work involved in it,” Brooks said.

“We know will have growing pains, but it is to be expected,” Borich said. “I believe this will be a great change for our school and also a great opportunity for the students.”

Site visit proves helpful with improvements to school Juniors Michael Lunn and Mirza Muhamedagic talk to the workers from the site visit. “It was very informative,” Muhamedagic said.

“We learned about our school and what other people think about our school.”

BY SHAWNA POLEN STAFF WRITER Every five years, schools around Iowa welcome a group of people from the Iowa Department of Education; this is also known as a “site” visit.

It is the workers job to evaluate the schools to see if it is practicing the right methods of teaching, and in the process, gave some helpful tips that can be used to make a better district.

Teachers are asked about their methods of teaching and what they would like to see the school doing for them. With this information, the department workers, send their findings to their superiors, then in about 45 days, the report becomes public. The schools then try to fix their struggling areas, in a goal to make themselves a better district.

When the reports were made final in 2002, the schools made many changes to the way it ran things.

There were many things that was praised, the last time the department was here.

“We’re good at interpreting data with goal setting,” Principal Bruce Hukee said. “Good at catching up with students who had graduated so we could see what classes to add and what we needed to add to the curriculum.

We were also told that we have a really good avenue of communication. It was also then that we had started to look more closely for highly qualified teachers.”

Even though many things were good, there were some categories that needed work.

“Some of the things we need to work on were addressing more with technology and having a reliable way for teachers to have direct information in front of them. Another struggle was to get the entire staff to the teacher meetings, improve career development of the students, work character counts into the curriculum and to eliminate pull-outs (drop-outs),” Hukee said.

John Kennedy/BW

In five years time, there have been many changes made, all of them to make things better.

“Since the site visit, we’ve bettered our technology, made it easier for parents and students to see their grades on K-12 Planet, which we try to keep updated often. We’ve make sure that when hiring, more reference checks are made, their qualification meets our needs, and have the correct licensing. More class options, more career planning data analysis and getting all of the staff to the meetings,” Hukee said.

With all the changes made, there were still stuff to

be fixed.

“We could still work on working character counts into the curriculum, bullying, updating K-12 more often than now, and work on getting more career opportunities,” Hukee said.

Over the past five years, the principals have focused on accomplishing one main goal.

“In the five years, our biggest improvement was understanding data, like graduation information, student (test) scores . . . the Iowa youth survey, ACT, AP courses and survey information.” Hukee said.

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B &W

OPINION: what they think December ‘06

miniature Lack of world history leads to little OPINIONS things we care about

ignorance

HANA KAJTAZOVIC STAFF WRITER

chanel. $1,280 lala’s. $45

Lala’s Handbags, know them

Tucked away on the corner of Douglas and 69th St., overlooked by many because of its size and lack of flamboyancy on the outside, is Lala’s Handbags. When one ventures inside, you will find a world that feels like all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and none of the price tags. Conveniently priced to your liking, Lala’s sells replicas of designer handbags such as Coach, Prada, Chanel, and many others. It’s pretty difficult to tell the difference between these bags and the real deal. No bigger than most of our classrooms, Lala’s has an intimate feel. In addition to the hottest purses, they also sell cute accessories, and the casual service is very friendly. Surprisingly, not to many of you know about this hidden treasure. It’s a great place to go when you feel like rewarding yourself, and with their prices, you can afford to treat yourself every season.

The Black and White Editorial

Out of the three and one half credits of social studies needed to graduate high school, only one credit comes from world history. The remaining of the required credits are related to the history of the United States.

The US is not an isolated country.

Therefore, it is important for those living in the US to avoid ignorance of the rest of the world. Ignorance causes a country to appear under-educated.

“I don’t know if (world history) is more important now,” Advanced Placement World History teacher Jason Jauron said.

“But because we are now involved militarily with another nation, it is sad when students go ‘Iraq?’ and they just do not know anything about it.”

The current war with Iraq highlights the need to know more about the world.

“What has happened in the last 50 years to make America a target for terrorists?” Jauron said. “That has to involve world history.”

Current events show us that the United States does not live in isolation and world history emphasizes this. “(September 11) was kind of a really easy example that we need to pay attention to the world,” world studies teacher

Alicia Rollison said.

World history also allows one to better understand the relationships between the United States and other countries.

Pointing fingers gets people nowhere, and it is highly likely that the reason another country is not on the best terms with the US is because of past conflicts.

“We need to understand our relationships with other countries from the beginning,” Jauron said. “We are clueless in that and that really hurts us.”

People need to be aware of conflicts that do not concern the US alone.

“There are global issues, like AIDS, and global ideas, like human rights, and it really takes the whole world to combat these problems,” world studies teacher Audrey Bell said.

By taking more world history, students would become increasingly aware of the viewpoint of other countries.

“I think we sometimes tend to dwell on the US perspective,” US history teacher Kelly Coleman said.

Dwelling too much on the US perspective causes students to be more biased than they would be if they understood the views of other countries.

There is room in the high school cur-

riculum for more world history. During freshman year, students only take one semester of social studies. Another semester could be added and made into a type of world history class. On the other hand, according to principal Bruce Hukee, adding another required social studies credit would not only affect the social studies department, it would possibly impact other departments.

Another way to fit in more world history would be through electives.

“I know all of the government teachers try to talk about current events, but I think you could argue that it would be beneficial to have an individual class that studies the United States’ role in world issues,” Rollison said.

However, there is the problem of funding for more classes.

“In a perfect world, where we did not have to worry about budget concerns, it would be nice for someone to come to Johnston and say, ‘well look, there are three, four, five world history electives’,” Jauron said.

Although funding may prove to be a setback, it is crucial that the school looks into all possibilities for increasing the amount of world history offered.

Carefully choosing colleges compensates

BY TINA LI STAFF WRITER

According to The Princeton Review, the happiest students go to Brown University and Princeton University. So what do these universities have that others don’t? And what is that factor that ensures happy students?

The answer is that there isn’t one- the phrase “what’s one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” applies to colleges as well. This is why students need to carefully research what universities they want to go to. But first, they need to find out what they want, even with less significant factors such as local atmosphere or how many students attend the school.

It is especially important to consider what you want to do later in life. If possible, decide what you want to major in before choosing a college. Daniel Kurns, a former JHS student and a freshman at the University of Iowa, decided to transfer to Iowa State University (ISU) because ISU had a better computer science program. Transferring is a good option, but it’s best to avoid this if possible.

“I’ve had experiences with kids who go to great colleges, absolutely fabulous schools, and hate it to death because they

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things to consider when choosing a college

were doing something they didn’t enjoy,” guidance counselor Curt Larkin said. “If you enjoy something and you explore that path, it gives you a lot of options and it opens the doors to hopefully situations you feel good about, that you then will have success in, no matter what that area is.” But there still are a few factors that should be important to everyone.

“A lot of times, if people can make connections on the campus, whether it’s with professors, roommates, classmates, then it’s a little easier to stay on campus,” Susan Baker, student counselor, said. Larkin emphasizes paying attention to cost and whether there’s a good student-faculty relationship.

Student can use a variety of ways to research and find potential schools. The Princeton Review offers a “CounselorO-Matic”, which is a search engine that finds college matches someone based on certain factors. The Princeton Review and CollegeProwler offer rankings for universities in specific areas. When you find a university, look at their website.

Last, visit prospective colleges. Explore the campus, look in at classes and ask the faculty and the students questions. Go look at the surrounding city.

Academics Does it have a good program for my major? Are the professors good teachers? What is the class size?

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Cost Can you afford it?

How good are the financial packages? Cost of living?

Activities Does this college offer activities you want to do, e.g., internships, studying abroad?

It’s a lot of work to find a college, but you’re going to have to spend your next four years there, and you might as well be happy. And happiness on a campus means more success.

Staff

Editor-in-Chief Mike Slusark Managing Editor Kari Dockum News Editor Larissa French Opinion Editor Sam Leahy Feature Editor Susan Clausen Sports Editor Torey Robinson Doubletruck Editor Amanda Lower Review Editor Bryan Lippincott Backpage Editor Cicely Gordon Photo Editor Dan Haight Distribution Editor John Kennedy Ideas Editor Veronica Roshek Staff Writers: Christopher Ajluni, Caro-

line Byrd, Emily Conn, Brittany Deal, Nels Engblom, Alexander Guns, Kyle Hanson, Drew Houp, Kelsey Hyde, Stephanie Ivankovich, Hana Kajitazovic, Allison Kane, Tina Li, Amy Lovejoy, Chelsea Nelson, Shawna Polen, Lauren Profitt, Dawn Wilkens, Jenna Willson

Y S

College matchmaker Academics Massachusetts

Institute of Technology

Athletics University of

Southern California

Greek Life Wake Forest University

C

Local Atmosphere

Fashion Institute of Technology

Diversity

Stanford University

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}

Demographics Is it diverse?

What kind of students go here?

How many students are there?

Location Do you like the climate? Is the place urban or rural? How far away from home is it? Is it boring?

The Black and White is a publication produced solely by the newspaper staff. Its goal is to inform, enlighten and entertain the Johnston students, faculty and community. It is an open forum. In accordance with Iowa law, students assign and edit material. Publications are released monthly during the school year.

The paper will print nothing libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. The law does not require parental permission to use student quotes. Ethically, we believe students can speak for themselves.

Staff editorials represent the opinion of a majority of the editorial board. Editorial and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the adviser, school officials or the district.

Letters to the editor must be signed. Grammatical and spelling errors may be corrected and length edited. Like all material, letters may not be libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. Bring letters to room 413 within one week after publication to be considered for the next issue.

The Black and White strives to report accurate and timely information. If you believe that an error has been printed, please contact the Editor at michaeljohn48@aol.com or contact the school via phone at 515-278-0449.

The Black and White is a member of CSPA, NSPA, Quill & Scroll, and IHSPA. Recent issues of the Black and White earned these honors: Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist, National Scholastic Press Association AllAmerican, Quill & Scroll Gallup Award, IHSPA State Champion, IHSPA First Place Photography Second Place Layout/Design and Honorable Mention Writing.

B &W 6 Government service-learning project OPINION: what they think December ‘06

Service learning makes students grateful for what they have

PRO v. CON

Insignificant activities undermine project’s value

BY EMILY CONN STAFF WRITER

BY LARISSA FRENCH NEWS EDITOR

I parked my car outside of the St. Joseph’s homeless shelter on 11th Street, double-locked my car and rang the doorbell. Nobody answered, so I just walked inside.

As I walked in, I heard babies crying, kids screaming and running around and parents doing everything they can to try and calm them down.

Living in Johnston, this is definitely not something I see on an everyday basis, but for the five families who in the St. Joseph’s shelter, this is their life. My heart sunk when I realized that most of the people in this shelter were children. I immediately felt guilty for driving my nice car there, carrying my brand new Coach purse and wearing brand name clothing. I didn’t want them to see me like that. I thought they would think I thought I was better then them.

I felt even worse when I realized that I only gave up a couple of hours to help because of the government service-learning project. When I heard we had to volunteer 30 hours, I thought it was too much to ask, but now I know it isn’t.

If people don’t start volunteering now, who will?

Too many people today are too worried about money and getting rewarded for what they do with something other than personal satisfaction, but we don’t realize that sometimes, that’s all you need.

I made spaghetti to bring them for dinner and I’ve never seen anyone get so excited over some spaghetti.

The 30 hours of volunteering was well worth it when Paige, a nine-year old girl at the shelter, gave me a hug before I left and said thank you for the food I brought.

She begged her mom for me to stay and help her read her book so I did.

The so-called service-learning project fails at its goal to get students involved in helping their community. The idea is that students are to be doing worthwhile activities that both benefit the community and involve them in the area, but this is clearly not happening when students can get away with doing insignificant activities.

The problem is that some worthwhile activities, like Animal Rescue League (ARL), are forced to only be worth 10 hours, when students need 30 to complete the project. When students are not able to count all of the hours volunteered at meaningful projects, it encourages them to focus on activities where the time counts for a full 30 hours, even if that activity is trivial.

With ARL, the time is only worth 10 hours because the focus of the service-learning project is based on how much human interaction is involved, rather than how much of an impact the project has on the community.

“One of the things that’s important with the projects is being with human beings in some kind of setting, and while ARL has some kind of noble purpose, we wanted (students) to have a community experience,” government teacher Jackie Norris said.

This means that students can do frivolous things, like cut pies for Thanksgiving at a church or chain gang at football games.

This just isn’t logical. ARL’s purpose is to “reduce the number of homeless pets by fostering positive relationships with people and animals,” according to arliowa.org, but that only counts for 10 hours of volunteer work, while my passing out marshmallows on sticks for Halloween at Living History Farms counts for a full 30 hours. If someone volunteered for ARL, she or he would have been doing activities like collecting donations for homeless animals and making educational posters about pet safety, which obviously has more of a real impact than my volunteer effort.

Reggie’s Sleep-out was also a worthy cause, raising awareness about homelessness, yet students spent 12 hours out in the cold, only to obtain 10 hours actually for their service-learning project. This is the result of the regulations of the project, which states that 20 or more hours can be spent at one main place, but no more than 10 hours at a secondary place. If the time had counted for a full 12 hours, more students may have been convinced to spend their time at a valuable cause.

The service-learning projects need renovations.

Teachers need to better regulate the relevance of projects, by basing the project on the relevant impact of the volunteer activity on the community rather than how much time is spent with other people.

Students’ service-learning projects

Provided/Amy Sassatelli

(Above) Senior Amy Sassatelli reads to a patient in a coma at the Comprehensive Inpatient Brain Injury and Neurological Rehabilitation Center.

1 Jolly Holiday Lights 7 Bell ringing 2 Tutoring 8 Homeless shelters 3 Chain ganging 9 Living History Farms 10 Animal Rescue League 4 Church work 5 Reggie’s Sleep-out 11 Mentoring 6 Political campaigns 12 Nursing Homes

(Left) Senior Chase Baumgartner sits with Mason Rumpf, 13, who has cerebral palsy.

Provided/Chase Baumgartner

Thoughts on the Sunshine State in all its glory The sun doesn’t set in South Florida. It was evident as I gazed out the small elliptical window of the airplane, soaring just below the clouds, right off the coast. The small yellow lights created a fluorescent blanket without holes, stretching to the horizon.

They reflected off the haze that was perhaps s w a m p gas from the Everglades but more likely auto exhaust from the asphalt streams crisscrossing the peninsula, teeming with cars. The sky took on an orange glow.

I traveled to Miami with my family for my cousin’s wedding, her family living in Boca Raton, FL. After landing at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International and gathering our luggage, I crossed the threshold of the automatic doors to the outside and was immediately consumed

Death OR Glory

Michael J Slusark

by the thick air on the outside. We often complain about humidity but I’ll always maintain that no Iowa humidity can compare to the saturation of the shore states.

The taxi ride along the highway greeted the eye with hundreds of indiscriminate cement buildings, devoid of any kind of architectural aesthetics. Billboards lined the road. It’s interesting how we’re capable of taking paradise and turning it in to Urbandale.

As it approached the coast, the highway rose and snaked around the buildings, a few stories off the ground. The roads were jammed with BMWs, Mercedes, and even a few Bentley’s (no joke).

The huge resorts that lined the beach rose high enough to touch the orange glow. Excess reigned supreme.

After entering the hotel lobby, we were greeted enthusiastically by the members of my extended family, each of them taking time to marvel and remark about how old I look. I should explain that the my mom’s side (which who was at the wedding) is fairly large and spread

throughout the country, from Washington state to Florida to Connecticut, and several different places in between. Family reunions are few and far between, and I hadn’t seen many of them for a good 6 years or so. People tend to change a bit between 12 and 18.

However, there was no awkwardness with these people that should be little more than familiar strangers. I guess blood is thicker than, among other things, time.

Over the next couple days, sprawled out on the beach or swimming in the turquoise water, I met people I never truly knew before, I was always too young.

The wedding ceremony took place outside at dusk at The Monastery of St. Bernard de Clairvaux, also known as the Ancient Spanish Monastery. It’s a church that was built in Spain in the tenth century. It was bought by William Randolph Hearst, disassembled, and sat in boxes in a warehouse in Brooklyn for nearly 30 years. It was finally bought and assembled in Florida.

The ancient buildings were surround-

ed by gardens with hedges and fountains.

Huge trees hid the monastery and surrounding grounds from the world outside.

The sounds of cars and the rest of Florida were almost completely shut out.

The reception took place in a courtyard with Christmas lights and Chinese lanterns hanging from the various ancient trees. The groom went from table to table, thanking everyone for coming, sincerely excited to be part of the family.

He was warmly accepted.

I guess it’s something I took for granted. The bonds that come with family, like the monastery, is something that time and distance cannot fully destroy, no matter if they are temporarily broken. That night, as I watched my aunts and uncles, my cousins and grandparents and the true happiness in all their faces, I found the beauty that was missing in South Florida.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this column, send emails to michaeljohn48@aol.com

7

B &W

REVIEW: what’s new December ‘06

Sufjan Stevens

BY ALEX GUNS STAFF WRITER

Saves Christmas

Sufjan Stevens has done the impossible; made Christmas music that doesn’t tempt you to convert to paganism.

With the exception of The Vince Guaraldi Trio, Christmas music has been not so much enjoyed, but repeated at exhaustive levels. Since 1984, Mannheim Steamroller has had a stranglehold over our Christmas mix. Leave it to Indie music’s favorite Christian; Sufjan Stevens to come and save us with his exhaustive 42 song box set: Songs For Christmas.

Sufjan Stevens entered the music critic’s vernacular in 2003 with his Greetings From Michigan album. A 17-track album dedicated entirely to the Great Lake State. The next year he released Seven Swans, the most directly Christian themed album to date. From stories of Abraham, to Jesus’ Transfiguration, Sufjan Stevens made his mark as one of the only Christian themed musicians ever to survive in the harsh music review world. He refuses to explain his position on faith and never preaches to his audience, religion is just part of his life and so, his music. As he put it “Art is ... a reflection of a greater divine creation. There really is no separation” It would be in 2005 that Sufjan would be shot to stardom with his Come on Feel the Illinois album, the second in his supposed “50 States Project” to make an album on every state. But all the while Sufjan had been making an E.P.s of Christmas music for his family and close friends every year. Since 2000 he had compiled 5 E.P.s (skipping only 2004) and decided to release them all in a box set for his growing fan base.

The result is the some of the best Christmas songs in popular music, ever. Sufjan does a brilliant job of mixing themes from religious and secular backgrounds. It starts with mainly covers of hymns and Christmas staples Like “What Child is This?” and “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing” As the set goes on the listener gets more original music that puts Mannheim Steamroller to shame. Originals such as “Sister Winter” “Put the Lights on the Tree” and “Star of Wonder” are good enough in their own right.

Good enough to be listen to even after Christmas!

It is refreshing to hear the Christian faith being represented in quality music for once. For once not being preached. It can’t be put any more bluntly; this Christmas music is amazing. If you are into the Indie scene, and enjoy Christmas, there is no excuse not to pick up this $20 box set. Go buy it, and throw away Christmas in the Air while you still have some sanity left.

Provided/ Asthmatic Kitty Records

BY CHELSEA NELSON STAFF WRITER

Provided/Buena Vista

Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) and his father Flint Sky (Morris Birdyellowhead) gaze toward the distant sounds in the woods obscured by Gibson’s tendency for adding graphics to nauseating extremes. The Mayan’s were a violent civilization and some of the graphics shown were a necessary element to show what they were like. However, other scenes were, more than anything, to shock the audience. The sacrifice scene showed, in great detail, the victims’ heart cut our, soon followed by the decapitation of the victims. Not to forget afterwards when Jaguar Paw stumbles through a field of decapitated bodies.

There were some minor flaws in the movie. The title, Apocalypto, means in Greek an unveiling or new beginning.

film history

history lesson by Alexander S.G. Guns

Apocalypto- Surprisingly Satisfying Apocalypto’s opening quote describes the movie in one sentence: “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within,” -Will Durrant. In other words, Apocalypto is an intense action movie about the destruction of the Mayan civilization.

Apocalypto is about Jaguar Paw, a young man belonging to a Mayan tribe. When another clan attacks Jaguar Paw’s village, he desperately hides his wife and son in a hole. Jaguar Paw and his tribe are taken as prisoners to a large Mayan city. There, the women are sold and the men taken atop a temple to be sacrificed to the gods to ensure prosperity for their kingdom. By sheer luck, Jaguar Paw is able to escape and must run for his life, as well as the life of his family’s, from his former captors.

The immensely consuming action sequences throughout the movie keep the viewer on the edge at all times. The graphics are very realistic, and the dialog was all in Yucatec Maya and subtitled below. A brilliant decision made by the writers and it made the movie much more gripping.

Mel Gibson co-wrote, produced and directed Apocalypto. There was controversy whether if people will see Apocalypto, due to Gibson’s anti-Semitic comment while being arrested for a DUI in July. Despite the problem, it attracted an audience. This is because Gibson shows the same genius in Apocalypto as he did in his Oscar winning movie, Braveheart. Both of their visually stunning effects prove Gibson to be the filmmaker that he is.

Apocalypto’s well-written plot line is

This month in....

Gibson chose a Greek title for the movie, yet the film has nothing to do with anything Greek, except in the smallest way, -the ending. The Spanish arrive and Jaguar Paw is there to witness it. This is a cheesy ending for an action movie.

Apocalypto is a breath of fresh air from the current trend of horror movies that Hollywood is producing. It proves itself with its effects and its distinction from the typical American action movie.

Apocalypto is not a movie for people who get sick at the sight of bloodshed, but one to see if when in the mood for brutality.

It was early October, the weather still warm and the late-year movie season just starting. I took a look at upcoming trailers on the wonderful world of the Internet. One caught my eye called Fred Claus, a holiday movie. “I guess it is time to start with the holiday movies,” I said. I watched all 45 seconds and was mildly excited. That was until I saw the release date at the end: 12/07....

14 MONTHS! 14 months until that movie comes to theaters? In what state of mind would a studio decide “hmmm better get the advertising started before it’s only a year away.” How far gone are we as a culture when we need 385 days to get ready, for a movie?! We wait less for a baby to be born, A BABY! No more wondering why so many films don’t “live up to the hype” I’m done pondering that stupid question.

FOX shocked moviegoers in 1977 when they released a trailer for a film called Star Wars: A New Hope, six months before the release date. This was unheard of, but the studio was shooting for a Christmas release but couldn’t make the deadline. So they released the trailer, and pushed the film to May. Now we have a whole year of a studio yelling, “this is going to be great! This is going to brilliant! Go see it, it’ll change your life!” But why?! Why hype so early?!

Maybe because that Star Wars film would later go on to make $798 million (roughly $2.5 billion by today’s standards) at the box office. Jump now to 1998 where that same franchise set an unprecedented amount of hype when Star Wars fans paid the ticket price for Saving Private Ryan; wait till the Star Wars Episode I trailer came on screen, and then leave. Not stay for the actual movie, or even other trailers. That was 1998. In 2006, we’ve just about lost it.

Shrek 4 was announced to the public this summer...I’ll repeat that; Shrek 4 was announced to the public this summer. No, you didn’t miss Shrek 3, that’s hitting screens five months from now.

Shrek 4 was made official in a press release when the first poster for Shrek 3 came to us. In the press release the studio said they’re shooting for a 2010 release date. Now don’t think on that too long, trying to figure the logic behind that could kill you.

Who is standing up anymore going “Uhh, you’re nuts. You are completely insane.” What kind of company announces to the American people that an hour and a half of visual entertainment will be coming out in four years?

It is no coincidence that the studio behind Shrek; DreamWorks SKG, was started by Steven Spielberg. The guy that directed Saving Private Ryan, the guy whose buddy buddy with George Lucas. The guy who saw Star Wars Episode I make $924.3 million after one amazing, and long advertisement campaign.

We don’t want to be the schoolteacher scolding you studios to get your work in on the due date. Don’t tell us about what you’re going to do next semester, just turn in your work! I really, really not wanting to be put in the position where I am at a movie theater, see a trailer and think; “Gosh, hope I’ll live to see that one come to theaters”

8&9 OPINION

immature [jerk factor]

>>>Now, nearly two years without the Freshman in the High School, we show the pluses and the minuses of this new arrangement

December ‘06

[sophomore]

SITUATION

BY ALEX GUNS STAFF WRITER

In 8th grade, we as a collective unconscious are utter and complete jerks. Middle School is prime time for rudeness, sass talk, and all around jerk behavior. The hallways are reenactments of Dante’s Inferno, and the teachers say a prayer before class begins. The parents wonder if this behavior will ever end, but then the first week of Freshman year comes like a shining light.

A years worth of freshman life destroys any kind of jerk attitude that had been building up inside since 6th grade. When you are 14, in a school with people who are 4 years older than you, you learn to hold your tongue real quick.

High School isn’t Middle School, a harsh lesson we all go through, or did go through.

Imagine if you can, a freshman on his first day of high school. He has yellow aviator glasses, hair to his shoulders, and palm tree slippers. He wears sarcasm like it’s cologne and an idiot grin on his face. He sees a friend on the other side of a crowded hallway, he yells to him, but is quickly shoved to the wall by an upperclassman. The lil’ freshman thinks to himself, “hmmm maybe no more yelling” And the like a caterpillar in its cocoon, begins his transformation. Quiet elementary student, brat middle schooler, then quite freshman, it’s the circle of life, That circle has been broken, the freshman were taken out of the high school and thrown down to the middle school. It came to down to a matter of size, the school was just not big enough. But the repercussions have become more than anyone could have guessed.

The vital Freshman year experience had been circumvented, how is the 14-year-old jerk supposed to get out of those horrid habits? Well, if the 2008 and 2009 graduating class are examples, clearly they still have them. Not only do they exhort that brilliant middle school attitude, it is even more in your face.

The badititude just kept escalating, instead of peaking at 8th grade like a normal graduating class, it just kept rising Freshman year. By the time they entered as sophomores, no upperclassman could tell them otherwise. Keeping kids in the middle school has made them unready on a maturity scale.

Now the hallways are not for walking, but standing and talking, right in the middle. When a senior asks on to move, he/she is met with a string of curse words.

“How do we fix this quagmire?’ you might ask.

Here’s an idea, Make a new middle school and create an open-campus between the high school and the 8-9 building. Increase the passing time by a little, and we can easily fit four years of classes in these two buildings. Or follow in the footsteps of Ankeny and open up talks of two high schools.

We are all jerks in middle school, it is a scientific fact. But the teachers and the parents take in stride, knowing that freshman year will be their saving grace. Those upperclassmen will take care of them the following year. But we can’t handle that burden any longer. We can’t straighten out bad attitudes that have been fermenting for four years to kids three years younger.

compiled by: Amanda Lower Alex Guns Hana Kajtazovic Torey Robinson Veronica Rosek

B &W

DOUBLETRUCK: what’s the scoop

[COLLIN COUGHLON]

senior

[JOEY GOWDY]

sophomore

ACADEMICS

[8/9 changed finals]

BY THIRD HOUR STAFF Sophomore Sam Sweeney’s teacher handed her graded geometry test back. She realized that she did not do as well as she had hoped and asked the teacher if she could retake it.

“If you get 60 percent or 65 percent you should be able to retake (the test),” Sweeney said.

Elevated standards are one of the main academic challenges that students face as they cross the asphalt of the parking lot for the high school; standards that include more consequential final exams.

“It’s such a big jump,” sophomore Jessie McClanahan said. “Now there is a lot more pressure because (finals) count for so much of our grade. I think they should stick to the 20 percent throughout all the high school years so we can be better prepared.”

Freshman Madison Graham said that her teachers stated the final will be worth 10 percent of her semester grade and will take place over a period of two days. She was not aware of the higher emphasis put on final exams.

“I had no clue that it was 20 percent at the high school,” she said.

“That’s kind of a big difference.”

Students are not the only ones who feel the effects of the more relaxed academic standards of the 8/9 building.

According to English teacher Cheryl Berglund, her two sophomore classes are fantastic, however she believes that the 8/9 building “needs to be more stringent over there.”

“Ninth graders need to be more prepared (academically),” Berglund said.

Brian Carico, the 8/9 building principal, has not experienced any difficulties in the difference of finals.

“We only made it 10 percent of their final grade as a way of helping students learn how to take finals and not to penalize them for their first attempts at finals,” Carico said. “We viewed the ninth grade finals as a way of helping them into the ‘high school’.”

Assistant principal Jerry Stratton supports the decisions of the 8/9 building and cited the relatively small impact finals have on semester grades.

“I think the administrative team of the 8/9 building knows their students best and what finals should play in their grade,” assistant principal Jerry Stratton said.

“The percentage of finals, whether it’s 10 or 20 percent, has little impact in the final grade.”

[overcrowding]

in the metro

[the freshman experience] Hana Kajtazovic/BW

class of ‘07 SPORTS.

Entering high school, the class of ‘07 had many years of tradition to look forward to, such as tailgating and superfanning at the athletic events. “What I hate most about the underclassmen is that they don’t cheer at the games.” Coughlon said. Two years ago, freshman sat with the rest of the school and had more of a sense of belonging.

SOCIAL “I remember my freshman year (in the High School) as being very positive. None of the Upper Classmen gave me any real grief. Mr. Shackett was the only one that picked on me for being a freshman. I don’t really have a problem with the sophomores, they mostly seem cool. I don’t think it is really all that different with the Freshman out of the high school.

Actually, I like it more now so it isn’t so crowded.”

VALLEY

class of ‘09 SPORTS.

Besides the fanbase, the athletes were affected by the placement of the freshman as well. For example, communication became harder, and the freshman teams weren’t getting a real high school experience. “It was hard to talk coach Jacobson (freshmen golf coach) since he’s a teacher at the high school,” Gowdy said. “I also didn’t go to as many games as a freshmen, it was hard to get pumped up for stuff over there.”

SOCIAL.

The social interaction between the freshmen and the rest of the high school student body is extremely limited. According to Gowdy, it’s difficult to form any kind of bond or relationship with high schoolers, unless you have a sibling already there. “You don’t feel like a high schooler at all as a freshmen,” Gowdy said. “Coming into the high school as a sophomore sucks because you miss that freshmen introduction year over at the 8/9 building.”

S.E. POLK ANKENY

The WDM School District opened Valley Southwoods in the fall of 1997 to deal with their growing population. Southwoods is located about 2.2 miles away from Valley H.S. and is only for the freshman students.

According to their website, Southwoods goal is to help develop skills needed to succeed in high school.

More recently, the SEP School District, consisting of regions of Altoona, Pleasant Hill, Runnells, and Mitchelville, have also been experiencing immense population growth.

Not wanting to spilt the school and only having one building for everyone put the school board in a pickle.

A proposal, that was passed in February 2006, plans to build a new high school that should open by 2009.

The Ankeny School District has separated the freshmen by placing them in a separate building along with the 8th graders, which they call Northview Middle School.. This decision was made to help control the mass population growth in Ankeny’s School District. More recently, Ankeny announced they are making plans for the construstion of two new high schools.

10

B &W

ENTERTAINMENT: what’s happening December ‘06

Television with

Susan

Television without pity Show Summary America’s next top model has completed their 7th season. The winner was a Fargo, North Dakota native with a blunt and fun personality. In the season finale CariDee and Melrose were competing to be America’s next top model with an amazing grand prize. In addition to a $100,000 contract with Elite Model Management and a cover and six-page fashion spread in Seventeen Magazine.

This cycle the models were put up in a house ddecorated with pictures of the show host Tyra Banks. Challenges that the girls participated in were based upon former shoots that Banks had done. A judging panel of a professional photographer, runway coach, fashion icon, current model and then someone important to that weeks challenge decided each week who woudl leave the house.

Starting with 13 girls the competition rose as they went through model boot camp in hopes of earning the grand prize and becoming America’s next top model.

The show far exceeds any other elimination show currently on television. Those would be Survivor, Beauty and the Geek, American Idol, ect. modeling isn’t quite a sport, but some challenges seemed very difficult. The competition made them do things that they may have never done before unlike most other show that remove contestants on a weekly basis, they don’t come in with the necessary talents.

Besides having to learn the talents it was just a harsh show. Harsh is good though. The judging panel had no problem being completely blunt with contestants of their weeks performance. Even in comparison to other girls.

The Bad Obviously when you have a bunch of girls living in the same house and competing against each other you’re going to have some hatred and tears. It was rather excessive this time around, but nonetheless it’s not a position I would want to be in. As Jaeda said in on of the episodes, “there are just too many girls.”

Jaeda Young was the eighth eliminated contestant from Parkersburg, Iowa. She played volleyball at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa.

The Conclusion Banks has got a good thing going for her. She gets to train the up and coming models and she’s good at it. Not only is she a good judge, she consistently is showing the girls not just telling them how to be better. She has no problem being honest with her contestants even though the truth isn’t always what you want to hear.

America’s Next Top Model get the Susan award for Best Elimination show on the basis of best critique panel.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this column, send emails to SusieQ3367@yahoo.com

Bowl Championship Series viewing guide

compiled by Kyle Hanson, Bryan Lippincott and Mike Slusark

Ohio State (12-0)

vs. Florida (12-1)

BW Pick: Ohio State 38-31 The Ohio State University finished the year as the undisputed number one, but it has not played a winning team since September, apart from Michigan. Not only does it have the Heisman winner, but it also has a dynamic duo at receiver of Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Ginn Jr., who was an alternate for the US 4X100 team. The two combined for 1,504 yards and 17 touchdowns. It has a balanced defense that doesn’t give up a lot of big plays and should work well against Florida’s receivers.

Ohio State has a clear advantage entering the game.

Thanks to Urban Meyers persuading, the Gators slid into the National title game. Reggie Nelson is probably the best defensive back in the NCAA and should have won the Thorpe Award. With six interceptions at safety, he is giving Florida hope that it can keep Ted Ginn Jr. in check. It lacks an explosive running game and must depend on senior quarterback Chris Leak.

Leak is having the best year of his career. He has a lot of options down field including freshman sensation Percy Harvin. The Gators’ defense will need its best performance this season to have a chance.

Bottom line: The Buckeyes could be the first team to ever beat the second-ranked team in two consecutive games. It has the advantage in this game but must overcome 51 days without playing a down. Chris Leak must avoid costly turnovers and the Gator defense must force turnovers to keep this game close.

Michigan (11-1)

vs. Southern Cal (10-2)

Boise State (12-0)

Wake Forest

Bottom line: Michigan needs to establish the run and keep USC’s potent offense off the field. USC needs to be able to get the ball to playmakers Dwayne Jarret and Steve Smith to have a chance.

vs. Oklahoma (11-2)

BW Pick: Oklahoma 31-28

After the loss of sensational back Adrian Peterson, Paul Thompson and co. managed to sneak into to Big XII championship thanks to Texas doing the unthinkable (losing to Kansas state and Texas A&M). With a solid defense and explosive runner at quarterback the Sooners provide match up problems with whomever it plays. Thompson, who played receiver last year, has been unselfish in distributing the ball, but his favorite playmaker is sophomore receiver Malcolm Kelly. Peterson is expected to return but the Sooners have won eight straight without him, however having him can give them an extra spark, because of his role as a leader.

Bottom line:

The main difference between Western Athletic Conference teams and Big XII teams is speed and Oklahoma needs to exploit this. Boise State has a good offense but its defense could have trouble stopping Adrian Peterson. Peterson will come back and have a statement game.

vs. Louisville

(11-2) BW Pick: 40-17 Lousiville (11-1)

Wake Forest has been the surprise of the NCAA this year, winning the Athletic Coast Conference (ACC) for the first time in 36 seasons.

Red-shirt freshman quarterback Riley Skinner has thrown for 1,780 yards this season and after a season filled with running back injuries a la the 2004 Hawkeyes, converted wide receiver Kenneth Moore has received the majority of the carries. The Demon Deacons employ the flexbone formation which relies heavily on misdirection types of plays.

Look for the Wake defense to force turnovers, it has 22 interceptions, tied for the most in college football.

BW Pick: Michigan 28-21

USC has had a streaky season so far. It has lost to two unranked teams, however both games were on the road, one of which in a hostile environment. Its offense is finally starting to come together, with first year starter John David Booty at the helm. Booty has a trio of talent in the receiving corps. Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith and Patrick Turner could just be the best receiving unit in the nation.

The strength of USC is its defense. It ranks among the best in the nation, and is anchored by better than average linebackers. First year defensive coordinator Nick Holt has combined wits with Pete Carroll, and come up with a “hybrid” defense (espn.com) in which they run a 4-3/ 3-4 scheme.

Michigan was second in the nation for much of the year, and was leapfrogged by Florida after Florida won the Southeastern conference (SEC). Michigan has to focus on the task at hand instead of the continuing debate on whether it should have been a representative in the National Championship. Michigan’s defense is one of the best in the nation and will carry the team. However, it also has a boatload of talent on offense. Receivers Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, and Steve Breaston are all dynamic and are all capable of beating secondaries with the deep ball. Running back Mike Hart is an absolute force on the ground.

After a perfect season the Broncos will look to cap it off with its first BCS Bowl win ever, in its first appearance ever. Boise State has numerous weapons, especially in running back Ian Johnson who had 1613 yards and a 6.4 average, not too mention 24 touchdowns.

The Broncos romped all over its competition on its way to a fifth straight Western Athletic conference (WAC) including a 42-14 win over Oregon State. (Oregon State also beat some team called USC). It has the second ranked scoring offense in the nation and should provide a good match up with Oklahoma.

Players OSU- QB Troy Smith of the Game UF- WR Percy Harvin

Brian Brohm leads Louisville’s third-ranked offense despite losing Heisman hopeful running back Michael Bush at the beginning of the year. Brohm has thrown for 2,738 yards this season, primarily to wide receivers Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia. While not spectacular, Louisville’s defense is solid and anchored by defensive-tackle Amobi Okoye.

Bottom Line:

Wake was fortunate enough to play in a weak ACC this year, and although it was able to shut down. Louisville just has too many weapons for the Deacons to stop.

Notre Dame

vs. LSU

(10-2) BW Pick: 24-10 LSU

Notre Dame hasn’t won a bowl game since the 1994 Cotton Bowl. Since then it has lost eight straight bowl games. Brady Quinn, its playmaker at quarterback has struggled in big games.

He is coming off a third-place Heisman finish, but won the Maxwell Award for the nations most outstanding player. Notre Dame needs to have him be mistake free in order to win.

The passing game must be effective for it to have a chance It will need to mix up coverages against a LSU receiving core that has much more speed.

(10-2)

Jamarcus Russell is having a career best season hooking up with a trio of big time receivers that have put up 2,355 yards and 23 TDs this year. Its defense finished second nationally at the year’s end. LSU is a complete team and if it plays up to its capabilities for the whole game, cough cough the 2004 Capital One Bowl (Drew Tate to Warren Holloway), they should win.

Bottom line:

Notre Dame cannot stand up to LSU’s passing attack and the Tigers defense will give Quinn and co. trouble.

11

FEATURE: what people are doing December ‘06

B &W

Hill chills crowds with DJ skills VERONICA ROSHEK IDEAS EDITOR Dragging his parents into his room, turning off the lights and the radio on, junior Chris Hill at five years old started making his magic. Hitting shoes on the floor to make a rhythm and adding a little bit of a light show, the DJ business began.

“Well, if you think about it, I play music,” Chris Hill said. “And make lights to go with the music, all for a crowd, and I enjoy doing it. Basically, nothing has changed since (I was five).” Hill followed his dreams as a five year old and now he is booked as a DJ every Friday and Saturday through June.

“I didn’t know for sure if it was going to work at first,” Hill said. “Everything has been trial and error.”

“I’ve never read a manual,” Hill said. Most of what Hill knows has came from his mentor Eric Williamson, who used to DJ at middle school dances. He also picks up tips from observing how other DJs work at events.

“It’s interesting to see how other DJs work with the crowd and how they select their music,” Hill said.

“It was nerve-racking having to perform at my first big show,” Hill said. “I felt like I was looked down on a lot because I was so much younger.” His seventh grade year, Hill did his first real event at a small wedding. According to Hill it was low key and went well.

His business, Synchrosound Services, has come a long way since then. “All my equipment takes up it’s own room in my house now,” Hill said. “And if it’s a bigger show, (all the equipment) takes up two cars.”

At this point, Hill has acquired over 400 CDs, about 2,000 mp3s, and a lot of hightech equipment. “I have to buy tons of CDs,” Hill said. “I also pay $9.99 per month for Raposody plus 89 extra cents per song.”

His equipment includes speakers, intelligent lighting, laptops, hard drives, microphones, fog machines, and more.

Hill had some help in the beginning getting his business going, but now he is on his own. “Originally, we financed (his expenses) but he has paid off that loan and is now reinvesting it in his business,” Hill’s dad Curtis Hill said.

According to Hill, even though it takes a lot of work to set up every weekend, and the shows give Hill no time for a weekend social life, the end result is worth it. “Once you get going up the ladder, the business gets to be a lot more fun,” Hill said. “I really enjoy what I do.”

His parents have always been very sup-

portive of his business, and have not set any limits for him. “(We have) financed, encouraged him, guided him, drove him till he could drive,” Hill’s mom Sherry Hill said.

An important part of business is your name according to Hill. He has been known as “DJ Chill” or “DJ Chill 08” since the beginning.

He even has DJ Chill on his license plates. “(DJ Chill) is my name tag,” Hill said.

“Since word of mouth is my biggest advertisement, it’s how people hear about me.”

The DJ business is how Hill got started, but this is not all that he can do. He also works at Club Energy, has done lighting for dance recitals such as Dracula and The Nutcracker, fashion shows, a Governor Rally, and live band performances for groups such as The Lifestyle, Slaughterhouse 6, and Stuck With Arthur.

“DJing just kind of opened the door for me,” Hill said. “Now having the knowledge of DMX 512 and intelligent lighting, that not many people know how to do, it makes finding jobs really easy.”

DMX 512 is lights connected by a DMX cable run by a board that sends commands to the lights such as moving, changing colors, and flashing. The lights can be signaled to move by joystick, and change colors and patterns by switches.

Hill is considering pursuing a career that is like what he is doing now at a school in Florida. “I’m looking at going into show production, mostly at Full Sail,” Hill said. “And (I want to) do traveling with a live performance doing the lighting and sound for concerts.”

“People have thought that because of his young age that this was simply a hobby,” Curtis said. “He now has clients looking for second and third events and has several referrals. We are very proud of him. He has proven that you can do anything regardless of your age if you just stick with it.”

You can contact Chris Hill at www.synchrosoundservices.com.

DJ[Chill]Party Tips

Senior John Miller fingers through the notes of his final composition on Dec. 14 for Music Theory. Each student in the class must compose a minute long, four-part piece for instruments of their choice by the end of the semester.

it is loud at the beginning, everyone’s ears will Volume Ifadjust right away. But, if you start it soft and gradually move the volume up, people will complain about how loud it is.

don’t notice they are dancing in the middle of you are renting a place, make sure that you allow at Dark People Time Ifleast no where when it is dark. But if it is not dark, they can a half hour of your time for people to leave and see when other people are leaving, and they are going to be more likely to follow.

Cool

It should be very cool before the guests arrive. If it is warm right when everyone gets there, it will get uncomfortable fast.

to clean up. all the food and drinks in the same One-Room Keep room as the DJ, everyone will stay on the dance floor and are not going to go off and socialize which could result in them leaving the party.

Four-piece finals finagle musicians KELSEY HYDE STAFF WRITER

Kelsey Hyde/BW

Veronica Roshek/BW

Junior Chris Hill works the lighting at the dance club, Club Energy, on Saturday, Dec. 16. A majority of his Saturday nights are spent working here if he is not already booked for another event.

Everyday during second period, fifteen students meet in the band room to learn the language of music. Music Theory, a class few have heard of or know little about, has grown in numbers over the past years.

“For the past two or three years the number of students in Music Theory has steadily increased. This year there are fifteen students enrolled, and that is at the high end of numbers we’ve had,” Music Theory teacher and band director Patrick Kearney said.

Although a majority of students in the class are also in band, choir members’ and students in their own bands’ interests have been captured as well.

“I decided to take Music Theory because my friends were taking it and I want to learn new stuff about music because I don’t know too much,” senior Brian Smith said. Smith is a member of the school choir and also drummer in the band Tomorrow’s Storm.

According to Kearney, the main reason why students decide to take the class is because they are interested in either studying music at the college level or how music is constructed and created.

“The class is at the same level a college student would take in their first year. The original intention of Music Theory was for people going into music,” Kearney said.

The class is much harder than one might think going into it, according to Kearney.

“Usually students who don’t have a background to start with have a harder time, Kearney said. “If you’ve never learned how to read a C on a staff, it’s hard to catch up to where everyone

else is at.”

Only four students in the class aren’t enrolled in band. Band helps to serve as a background for the class with previous knowledge of note names and reading music.

“Music Theory is especially hard because I haven’t been in band since fifth grade,” senior Nick Scholten said.

Even though a fraction of Music Theory students aren’t band members, their backgrounds in chorus and playing instruments on their own still serve as good basic knowledge for the class.

“The class is stronger this year because I think we have a strong group of musicians. We moved through the basics fast,” Kearney said.

By the end of first semester, each student must complete a final minute-long composition consisting of four parts.

“When writing your final composition, you have to think of different melodies to use and different harmonies and chords.

It’s hard,” senior band member Mallory McKinley, who is writing a saxophone quartet, said.

According to McKinley, the only outline for the final composition is for it to be a minute long and consist of four different parts; from there students must use their knowledge from the class to create chords and melodies.

“It takes a lot to write a piece that is significant. Students are finding a minute’s worth of music is a lot to write and it takes a fair amount of time logged behind a computer or just writing to complete it,” Kearney said.

Although the class has proved to be more difficult than other courses in the past, this year students have been doing much better, according to Kearney.

“I think we’re hitting most students who have a real interest in music and really gain something out of Music Theory,” Kearney said.

12

FEATURE: what people are doing December ‘06

B &W

Largest group of seniors in band

BY DREW HOUP STAFF WRITER Before moving to Johnston in ninth grade, senior Erica Eaves wanted to quit band at her school in Texas. “It just wasn’t any fun,” Eaves said. While playing in Texas facing and instructor who yelled a lot wasn’t the only problem, there was a lack of emotion for the music and playing the music, which according to Eaves was a summed up attitude of the band teacher, “Just play it, and play it right.”

Every morning during first period, Eaves meets to practice playing through different pieces of music.

“You run through things over and over again,” Eaves said.

Her entire attitude changed once she came to Johnston, the result according to Eaves, of good instructors. The band’s directors Patrick Kearney and Jessica Heidbreder “They have been really supportive,” Eaves said. “They have the best intentions in mind, they do their job very well.”

Like Eaves, 37 other seniors have continued to remain in the band program through their final year high school. Challenges such as being in marching band. “It has taught me a lot of dedication and responsibility.”

For senior alto saxophonist Mallory McKinley, dropping out at this point would be a waste of effort.

“I guess part of it was just because I put so much time and energy into it, why would I quit now?” McKinley said According to their director Patrick Kearney, research shows that kids involved in band do better in school and on standardized tests, also that kids in band are at the top of their class. “I think it’s because we have a very diverse group of kids,” Kearney said, “It’s the largest senior group we’ve ever had.

The older members of the band have been a good influence to underclassmen as well.

“They learn quite a bit, the younger students from the older students,” Kearney said. The seniors according to Kearney have been “a strong core of leadership,” and a “strong nucleus of kids.”

One of the things that turned kids off to staying in band through high school would be the marching band season in the fall, which requires members to be at school for practice by 7 a.m.

“It discourages people but it really shouldn’t,” Eaves said, “People didn’t like the idea of being labeled a band geek.”

“At first I think a lot of people think marching band isn’t the “cool” thing to do,” senior and drum major Hannah Wagner said. “But actually, it is more fun than anything else in this entire school probably.” Wagner began playing the clarinet in fifth grade.

“I have always had a passion for making music and for expressing music,” Wagner said, “My most memorable moments happened to me in band.”

I’ve Never...

Been On A Plane

We all do things for the first time. As a staff we’d like to share with you some humorous new adventures we have experienced.

Mike Slusark B/W

Senior Hannah Wagner directs part of the band. Wagner is one of 38 seniors in band this year, making it the largest amount of seniors ever retained in band.

“Students need to understand that it’s a commitment,” band director Patrick Kearney said. “Predominantly we lose students in between buildings, between fifth and sixth (grade), and between ninth and tenth,” Kearney said. Referring to this year’s senior class, “We only lost 12 during the last four years,” Kearney said.

Seniors make up the majority of the band. A few freshmen also participate during marching band season. Marching has been optional for freshmen since the freshman were removed from the high school.

Advice younger kids starting band could take from senior Ryan Dickey, “Give everything a chance in band, if you never try it, you’ll never know if you like it of not.”

BY DREW HOUP STAFF WRITER

After standing for a good eon or two in the security line, we finally were able get to the security check gate. We were in the Nashville airport preparing to come home from our weekend trip at the national Journalism convention, which had taken place that weekend there in town.

I was third last in line out of our entire group. When I walked through the body scanner device, an alarm rang and the attendant told me to step back and walk through again.

After I failed this check once or twice more I was escorted over to a set of chair and told to sit down. This is of course after I had emptied my pockets and taken my belt off.

Once I sat down, they ran a handheld scanner over my legs and the rest of my body that search turned up nothing. They put the contents of my pockets through a scanner, they found nothing. Once I had received all of my pocket possessions back, I was still not allowed to go. No, they were still not finished. They were still searching my carry on bag. Apparently, as I learned shortly later, they were searching for what had looked like a shell casing from a gun bullet, in my bag! That is apparently what had caused such a hold up for myself. They didn’t find it, they didn’t find anything. There was no bullet or bullet shell casing in my bag!

Even though they did not find this suspected bullet, they certainly used all means necessary to search my stuff. They guy that had conducted most of this search, was without a doubt a lowtalker, a person who mumbles, this is what Jerry Seinfeld had invented as a description of a person who suffers from this condition.

Well, this fellow went through all of the stuff in my carry on, pulling it all out. And, it did not end with him putting just my bag through the scanner, he dug apart my old paint

Kurt Houp

stained shoes, and put those through the scanner alone. He dug through my bag a little more and pulled none other than my Bible, which had different program folders from church services stuffed in it. He flipped through it and then took it over and put it through the scanner. I wonder if he though I was hiding a bomb in there? I’ll have to get back to you at that one.

Finally it all ended as he set my sloppily repacked bag in front of me and mumbled “have a nice flight.” “You too,” I said, and added a subtle, “thanks for doing your job.”

At that point we made our way through the rest of the airport, stopping for coffee first. And yes after a slightly long wait we got on the plane destined for Chicago, beginning our journey home. I had been a good trip, and as we were rising up in the plane we went through the dreary clouds than covered the city that morning. For a moment we were completely surrounded by the white. Then all of the sudden a sea of clouds sat below us and blue sky surrounded us that morning being up in the airplane over the clouds will probably be my most favorite memory of this entire trip. I remember, putting on my headphones, staring out the window across the top of the United States, and hearing the sounds of Ray Conniff’s “Walking and Whistling” and “Smoke gets in your eyes”, and looking out over the little towns, thinking of the people in the churches, the people relaxing, the people on Sunday going about there business on fair morning in November. The Splendor of God’s creating of the earth below me and the men and women and children who inhabit.

Scrapbooking club creates commotion

BY JENNA WILLSON STAFF WRITER Family and Consumer Science teacher Amy Healy is trying to bring her creativity and passion for scrapbooking to students.

“I started scrapbooking in the summer of 2005 to make a memoir for my little girl, Lily.”

According to Healy, she thought it would be a great gift when we is older. Family, friends, and activities are Healy’s favorite subjects to scrap book.

Healy talked about her passion of scrapbooking with one of her classes, and her students brought up how much they liked it too.

The idea of starting a scrapbooking club, where students could bring in their scrapbooks and add pages to was discussed. According to Healy, she would set Healy everything up, and students would have to pay between three to five dollars at the door to help cover the cost of supplies. Healy hopes that local stores, such as Hobby Lobby or Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts would give the club a discount.

Healy hopes that students who are new to scrapbooking, or have never scrapbooked before, will also attend the workshops. She would have an example of each page, so “students who are unfamiliar with scrapbooking won’t be intimidated.”

Junior Trista Woody, who has been scrapbooking for a year and a half, thinks that a scrapbooking club would be a good way for students to see what other students were doing in their scrapbooks.

“I would go see what she (Healy) is doing, and what other kids are doing,” Woody said.

There would be days to work on the specified activity and days when students can bring their own supplies in. The workshop would also be a “mini make-and-take,” where students could bring in supplies and use everyone else’s supplies as well. According to Healy, students could work on other things, such as cards or stationary.

D

UNGEON We take no prisoners...

Take it to the Hoop »

Senior forward Brent Barz takes it to the hole against Jimmy Hotchkiss of Roosevelt.

Drive

»

Making a move toward the basket, senior Chase Baumgartner keeps his head up in anticipation of any opportunity.

Warm-up

»

Photos by Dan Haight/BW

Senior Drew Ness follows through on a shot during practice before a game.

»

Shoot »

Junior guard Michael Elming fires a jump shot during a home game.

Dragon Stats Conference Record: 1-1 Overall Record: 5-1 Points : Barz, 20.0 ppg Assists: DeSplinter, 6.6 pg* Steals: Elming, 2.0 pg* (*= after 5 games)

Pass »

Tim DeSplinter, junior point guard, gets ready to throw the ball in on an out of bounds play.

Basketball

Basketball

Basketball

Compiled by Dan Haight, Photo Editor and Chris Ajluni, Staff Writer

14

SPORTS: what the athletes play December ‘06

B &W

Girls improve skills, make up for lack of height

BY DAWN WILKENS STAFF WRITER As the varsity girls’ basketball team runs down the court, the tallest awaits under the net. Senior Micah Casey, post player, is the tallest, standing at only 5’11”.

Casey does not feel any pressure from her teammates because she is the tallest.

“We all have different jobs and we all play well,” Casey said.

Varsity girls’ basketball coach Rich Gradoville feels that the height of the girls does not make that big of a difference and the girls can use their skills to outweigh the height factor.

“The biggest disadvantage is guarding taller players and keeping (the opponents) from getting rebounds,” Gradoville said. “We think our players make up for their lack of height with toughness, quickness, athleticism and ball handling skills.”

The girls have been using their skills to their advantage. Sometimes the opponent will have taller girls.

“There have been a few times when the height of the other (team) has been an advantage for them,” Gradoville says. “But in most cases, we can make up for it outworking our opponent.”

Varsity guard senior Abby Gumina feels that the height does make a difference.

“It makes a difference, but we can still compete,” said Gumina. “We’re fast.”

Casey feels that their height does make a difference.

“It definitely puts some limits on us, but our team is athletic enough to make up for that,” Casey said.

Gumina feels that the girls are doing very well this season compared to seasons before.

“We’re making progress every day,” Gumina said.

Casey agreed. “We’re improving,” she said. “You can’t judge by our records.”

Despite how tall the girls are, Gradoville also feels that the girls having a good season.

“We have been making progress in all areas,” Gradoville said. “We are better now than when we started and we will continue to improve.”

Sophomore Abby Sonner shoots over two Ames defenders on Dec. 12. The Dragons lost to the Little Cyclones 49-43.

Dan Haight/BW

Varsity girls’ post player senior Micah Casey tries for a basket at the game against Ames. Casey is the tallest for the varsity girls, standing at 5’11”.

Casey feels no pressure being the tallest.

Dan Haight/BW

JV Basketball replaces sophomore team

BY TOREY ROBINSON SPORTS EDITOR

Photos by Dan Haight/BW

Freshman Jennifer Ross passes against Indianola in a JV game on Dec. 15. Right: Junior Aleece Gustafson shoots against Ames in a varsity game on Dec. 12.

In response to a new rule standardized by the Central Iowa Metro League (CIML), the sophomore girls’ basketball team has been replaced with a junior varsity (JV) team.

According to Athletic Director Gary Ross, prior to the 2005-2006 season, the CIML changed the terminology from tenth grade girls’ basketball to JV girls’ basketball. However, not every school made the transition last year. “Johnston, Ankeny and Dowling Catholic continued to only play sophomores on the tenth grade level due to our own choice,” Ross said.

“We responded last year in that our sophomore team was our JV team,” varsity girls’ basketball coach Rich Gradoville said. “It was no change in the way we formed teams or practiced, but instead our level of competition.”

However this season, a new challenge calls for a change. “We lost a lot of girls,” Gradoville said. According to Gradoville, only seven sophomores went out for the team and with one or two varsity prospects, it was not practical to have solely a sophomore team. In result, the sophomore team transferred into a JV. “It’s kind of a great thing for players like me,” junior Lauren Lund said.

“I’m not exactly a varsity player yet, and it gives me the chance to have a real season – not just five games like the JV used to have.”

Like Lund, junior Stephanie Eckermann is pleased that she has the JV games to get more playing time to develop her skills. “I play a little varsity, but the JV games can help me work on moves and plays too risky to do yet in a varsity game,” she said. “It helps me perfect my game.”

Not all players are pleased, however.

Sophomores like Colleen Shannon feel that they may have been “jipped out” of playing time. “I get less time on the court, I think, than if it was a sophomore team,” Shannon said. Shannon said she felt like the upperclassmen have more skill and more experience, which works to their advantage.

JV girls’ coach Tim Powers said that playing time is distributed based on performance in practice and overall team chemistry, not on age level. “If a sophomore is going to make plays and work hard, I’ll put the sophomore in. End of story,” he said.

This change isn’t necessarily a permanent one. “Johnston could very well go back to the tenth grade format depending upon the number of players that participate at each of the levels; this year we had a small number of tenth graders,” Ross said.

While the girls are experiencing changes, the boys’ sophomore team is still intact. “In our union, the numbers are still large enough in which we can play and dress full freshman, sophomore, JV and varsity teams,” varsity boys’ head basketball coach Bobby Sandquist said.

According to Sandquist, the coaches are focusing on this season and not the number of players.

15

B &W

SPORTS: what the athletes play December ‘06

Church basketball charges to 4-0

BY KARI DOCKUM MANAGING EDITOR Of the things the Faith Plus One basketball team can be called, modest is not one of them. “We are sick,” head coach and 2006 graduate Peter Holmgren said.

The team, which is comprised of one sophomore and nine seniors, plays in the YMCA Church Basketball League. Faith Plus One represents the Johnston Evangelical Free Church. “There are 12 teams (in the league), but the only one that matters is ours,” senior Joe Pavelka said.

Along with Pavelka, seniors Collin Coughlon and Luke Knee formed the team. They found the league on their own, according to Pavelka. Three players, seniors Jay Quick, Phil Evans and Brian Smith, attend the church. The league does not require an adult sponsor.

According to Pavelka, the name Faith Plus One comes from the Comedy Central show South Park. “It’s the name of a Christian rock band started by Cartman,” he said.

Most of the boys have played school basketball in the past. A former school player, Coughlon no longer plays due to tendonitis in his Achilles’ tendon. He continues to pursue his love of basketball by playing on the church league team.

“Playing on it every day would mess it up even more,” Coughlon said. “It hurts like (heck) after just playing in the church league.”

Smith quit school basketball this year to focus on other endeavors. The church league allows him the chance to play on a non-committal basis. “I didn’t want to give up every day of my summer (for basketball),” he said.

Holmgren was asked to be the coach because several of the players are acquainted with him. “The kids knew I played the last two years and knew I was a (church) league champion (last year),” he said. “Also, they needed an adult to coach, so I guess I’m kind of an adult.”

Senior Mike Slusark is Holmgren’s assistant coach.

The team holds an optional practice once a week at Lawson, usually on Thursdays. “We pretty much just scrimmage because we’re too lazy to play defense,” Pavelka said.

According to Holmgren, the same principle holds true in games. “I am trying to establish a Phoenix Suns type of play,” Holmgren said. “Lots of scoring and very little defense.”

Games take place downtown at Central Campus in the basement gym on Monday and Tuesday nights. “It’s like a sauna down there,” Holmgren said. “It’s like, 115 degrees; everyone’s pitting out. It’s gross.”

Because the players are involved in other activities, it is hard to have a complete roster. “The whole team hasn’t been together for a game yet, but when we do, we’ll dominate,” Knee said.

Games are played by high school rules, and the league

Provided/Joe Pavelka

Faith Plus One plays in the YMCA Church Basketball League. Pictured from left to right, back row: Brian Smith, Grant Dippold, Joe Pavelka and Mike Slusark. Middle row: Peter Holmgren, Jay Quick, Luke Knee, Collin Coughlon and Nick Scholten. Front row: Phil Evans. Danny Cahill and Aaron Schultz are not pictured. pays referees. According to Knee, the refs sometimes leave something to be desired.

“You have to take it easy on (the refs) because they’re obviously not on the top of the officiating ranks,” Pavelka said. “They try their best.”

Faith Plus One is 4-0 thus far. According to Pavelka, the season consists of a total of 10 games.

The team had a 63-32 victory over rival Urbandale earlier in the season. “The only game that matters in the Urbandale versus Johnston rivalry is the church league game,” Knee said.

Regular season play runs through Feb. 20. According to Coughlon, seeded playoffs follow, and all 12 teams make it.

The team has very high hopes for the rest of the season. “We’re going to go 12-0, then 17-0 and win the playoffs,” Coughlon said.

+

faith plus one Coaches Peter Holmgren and Mike Slusark Players Danny Cahill Collin Coughlon Grant Dippold Phil Evans Luke Knee

Joe Pavelka Jay Quick Nick Scholten Aaron Schultz Brian Smith

Souths summon state, pre-ranked wrestlers have goals

BY STEPHANIE IVANKOVICH STAFF WRITER Sophomore Josiah South runs around the school during one of the after school practices, hoping to drop pounds for the wrestling season.

Such as his older brother, junior Josh, Josiah has been wrestling since he was in fourth grade.

“I started wrestling because my brother and my dad have always wrestled and I wanted to be like my brother,” Josiah said.

“My dad was a wrestler in high school and college. So I tried it out and I liked it,” Josh said.

Now, both South brothers are two of the five pre-ranked wrestlers for this season. This is Josiah’s first year to be ranked coming into the season.

One might think Josh would feel pressure to be better than Josiah, since he is the older brother, but this is not true according to Josh.

“I don’t try any harder to be better than Josiah. We just work at trying to be better than our opponents,” Josh said.

Both brothers practice together and encourage each other to work hard. “(If Josiah would make it to state and I did not,) I would be excited for him. I would also be bummed that I didn’t get

to go, but excited for him,” Josh said.

“If I got to go to state (without Josh), I would feel fine that I got to go, but sad that Josh didn’t,” Josiah said.

Along with the two South brothers, seniors Kyle McDowell, Ricky Rodriguez and Eric Reese are also ranked going into the season.

Rodriguez has been wrestling since kindergarten. His main goal is to place in the top five at state.

“I do normal workouts with everyone else. I just work hard and I sometimes stay a couple times after practice and do a little extra,” Rodriguez said.

According to Rodriguez, he is under a lot of pressure to succeed.

“There has been a lot of hypes and I have been talked about a lot in the paper and there is a lot of pressure to succeed,” Rodriguez said.

McDowell has been wrestling since he was four and has been pre-ranked since his freshman year. “(The biggest challenge is) probably getting to my best point, trying to reach my goal and be the best I can before the tournament,” McDowell said.

“My goal is to be on top of the podium. It’s not going to well because I have been sick and need to be more healthy,” McDowell said.

Senior Topher Riddle has been wres-

Megan Browning/Dragon

Trying to escape his opponent’s grip, senior Ricky Rodriguez wrestles against his Roosevelt foe. Rodriguez is ranked fifth in the state at 112 pounds entering the season. tling since he was in kindergarten. His main goal is to also go to state.

“The biggest challenge would probably be the pressure to succeed. Pressure from parents, relatives, teammates, coaches and fans,” Riddle said.

Brian Reece is the head wrestling coach. He has high hopes for the team

this season. “(The overall goal) is to win conference and districts. Winning the districts would qualify us for the state dual tournament,” Reece said.

As the season goes on, the wrestlers say they will do their best to obtain their goals and pass the pressure.

Khaki wednesday The executive board and founders of Khaki Wednesday are pictured in their Khaki Wednesday attire.

Top: Chris Williamson, Matt Burch, John Peitzman, Jay Quick.

Bottom: Luke Knee, Troy Nielson, Collin Coughlon.

12 matt burch

11 12 12

rex davidson

john peitzman

What’s Khaki Wednesday?

How do you feel about Why did you decide to join A thing that John Peitzman Khaki Wednesday?

Khaki Wednesday? and I came up with last year It’s the best idea ever: every I decided to follow Burch’s and it’s basically just one Wednesday we wear our idea because I thought it day of the week that we all orange shirts and Khakis, was different, not somewear khakis. but you don’t have to have a thing you see all the time.

Why did you decide shirt to celebrate with us.

Just a fun idea. to come up with Khaki Do you like the shirts?

What’s your favorite part Wednesday?

I usually don’t like orange, about it?

One time Peitzman asked but it’s funny to see Mrs. Getting the shirts and seeme why I was wearing khaWhite’s face when she looks ing all the guys wearing kis and I just said “because over to the Khaki Wednesthem is great. it’s Khaki Wednesday.” It day section of concert choir What’s your least favorite just stuck. on Wednesday. It’s almost part about it?

How much did the shirts a surprised look she gives I’d probably have to say not cost everyone? us when she has to adjust having enough khakis to $41 and we have two left to the bright orange color... wear and not having a clean if anyone wants some good that really makes it fun. pair each week. stocking stuffers.

Do the shirts make it more Why orange?

What’s your least favorite fun for you?

Orange is stinkin’ sweet! part about it?

Shirts definitely make it Do the shirts make a big I’d have to say it’s kind more fun. The shirts sepadifference? of a hassle this year going rate those who are hard core The word gets out easier. I from Khaki Wednesday all Khaki Wednesday members think it’s fun to see people dressed up to my service from those who just accidressed up and the shirts learning project. dentally wore khakis. spread the word.

Compiled by Cicely Gordon, Backpage Editor, Allison Kane and Jenna Willson, staff writers.

jay quick

What’s Khaki Wednesday?

Khaki Wednesday is an extravaganza where we all wear khakis on Wednesday because we are all beautiful men.

Why did you decide to participate?

I don’t wear khakis or dress up that often, so it’s kind of fun sometimes.

What’s your favorite part about it?

It’s fun, I love seeing all the guys in the hallways with the shirts on, all the smiles and waves. It’s just fun dressing alike.

What’s your least favorite part about it?

When I forget to wash my khakis from the last week or when I can’t find my khakis and I’m in a frantic rush.

Why Orange?

I know that’s my favorite color and Peitzman’s favorite color.