Reeds Spring High School Pulse

Contents

August Edition. Vol 2. Issue 1

6. The Dangers of Tanning Discover the dangers of tanning and the effects it has on your body. It’s not all about looking good!

7. Ditch That Itch

Itchy bug bites got you down? Don’t worry! There

are plenty of home remedies to help you out.

8. The Draft

The first step to becomming an MLB player, the draft is an important event for every baseball enthusiast.

10. Food Reviews

Local favorite Pop’s Dari Dell and Springfield sub shop Which Wich get reviews from students.

11. Movie Review

Does Kristin Stewart redeem herself in Snow White and the Huntsman?

12. The New Face of Spider-Man

Find out more about the man who’ll be slipping into the iconic web slinger’s suit in a franchise reboot.

13. Stay Organized

No more lost homework! Tips on how to be more organized for the new year.

14. Respect, Responsibility, Reeds Spring A look at the new and improved PBS system.

16. The Truth about Dreams Everybody dreams, and some dreams have a scientific meaning behind it.

17. Discoveries of 2011

From ancient art supplies to the future of charing your cellphone.

18. Reeds Spring’s Embarrassing Moments

Even the great students and teachers of Reeds Spring have embarrassing moments!

19. Craig’s List: Misconnections

People looking for love in all the wrong places namely, the internet.

20. Memento Mori: A Short Story

A thrilling tale of the events leading up to and after the apocalypse

22. Game Page Who doesn’t like games?

23. Final Thought

The beginning of a new school year

Health

The Dangers of Tanning

By Hailey Stuart

What would you give to be tan and glowing? Would you spend good portions of your income on tanning salons? Would you give your life just to be bronzed for a good 10-20 years? Well, regrettably enough, the beautiful golden glow that our generation strives for is what’s killing us, and making dermatologists (skin doctors) wealthy.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, over one million people visit tanning salons every day. The sun is a beautiful thing, but it can cause extreme damage if we aren’t cautious and take it in little portions at a time. You may be wondering why tanning awareness matters, because the people at your tanning salon said that tanning beds are safe. Unfortunately, “safe tanning beds” do not exist. In actuality, tanning beds give off three times more UV radiation than the sun itself. Tanning bed bulbs either give off Ultraviolet Rays (UVB), or Longwave rays (UVA). Okay, so there are different kinds of rays, so what? The fact of the matter is; those rays are what turn our skin darker, but darker skin is damaged skin. The more you tan, the worse your skin gets, and the higher your risk is for getting some form of skin cancer.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “I’ll never get skin cancer, because stuff like that doesn’t happen to me”.

That’s what my mom, Jill Stuart, thought, too. When my mom was a kid, she lived on a farm in northern Missouri and spent hours and hours in the sun, never wearing sunscreen. She naturally has a darker complexion, which automatically makes contracting a skin cancer harder than if you have fair skin. When we moved to Reeds Spring, about six years ago, she started discovering some new moles on her body that weren’t there before. Not thinking anything of it, life went on, and the moles just sat there…

Or so we thought. One day, my dad and I convinced her to go to the dermatologist.

When she went, they told her she had developed Melanoma (the fifth most common skin cancer with the largest fatality rate), and had to perform surgery immediately. Through the next four years, I had to watch my mom struggle to survive, and it ripped me apart. I had to grow up through Intermediate and Middle School watching my mom go in and out of pain-

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ful treatments and surgeries, all while the doctors were telling me that they were surprised she had made it this far. Mom had reached stage 3B (the part of stage 3) out of 4 stages, and if you reach stage four, then your survival rate drops to 2429%. Mom’s survival rate was at about 30-35%, making the odds very much not in her favor.

My dad also had a type of skin cancer, called Basil Cell Carcinoma, which isn’t as extreme, because when discovered, the doctors just cut the “spot” out of you and it’s gone. Both types of skin cancer are caused by exposure to UV rays, hence, the importance of staying away from tanning beds. To make it clear what our bodies are up against, let me put it this way: A few years ago, finding people in their 20’s with skin cancer was unheard of. Now it’s becoming very common, seeing kids in their early 20’s diagnosed with skin cancer, and paying thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to get rid of it. Just one severe sunburn as a youth, or five normal ones in a lifetime, will more than double your chances of getting skin cancer. Also, using a tanning bed under the age of 35 increases your chances of developing Melanoma by 75%. In a way, skin cancer is like eating lots of junk food. The food is slowly clogging your arteries, but you don’t care until you’re fighting diabetes or a heart disease that is putting you on your deathbed. Ask anyone who has had a serious case of skin cancer, they’ll tell you that they wish they could go back and avoid tanning.

As if skin cancer isn’t enough of a punishment for tanning, wrinkled skin also comes along with it. This happens because of the UVA rays that penetrate deep into your skin, creating the effect of photoaging- the premature aging of skin due to exposure of UV radiation.

Not even the beautiful, seemingly ageless Jennifer Aniston can hide it anymore. Research shows that tanning has also affected the eyes, causing ocular melanoma (eye cancer), chronic eye problems, photoconjunctivitus, and inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva. By now, you’re thinking, “Wow. Okay I get it, tanning is just all around bad for me”;

however, there’s still more. If you have contracted an STD of any sort and or a staph infection, tanning will most likely spread it throughout parts of your body, and weaken your immune system.

Tanning has become such a hazard that Women’s Health magazine is encouraging women to avoid tanning beds at all costs. Another highlighted feature was to apply sunscreen generously, and use self-tanning creams or lotions.

There is a new type of tanning foam, called Jergens Natural Glow Foam, which I have personally tried, that gives a very realistic, solid tan, especially for people like me who are super white. So, no need for excuses, such as, “Tanning clears up acne”. In reality, it does the complete opposite. Katie Rodan, M.D., from Stanford University, puts it like this, “It causes a buildup of dead skin cells that creates clogged pores… This actually worsens acne”. The sun dehydrates skin, which makes your oil glands kick-on, because they are trying to balance out the loss of water from your skin by pumping out more oil, clogging your pores even more.

So, next time you want to jump into that tanning bed, remember that it will cause a lot more damage later on in life. For the love of all that is reasonable, if you won’t protect yourself for yourself, then do it for your future family and children. Watching your mom fight for survival for years is one of the worst pains possible, so please take care of yourself now, while you still have the choice. The sun is a beautiful creation; all we need to do is know how much of ourselves to expose to it. Protect yourself, and save yourself the pain, money, and trauma that will develop later on.

How To

Ditch That Itch!

By Sabrina Duran

It’s been a long summer of excitement and adventure, and pesky mosquitoes have left you bitten and itchy.

You may think you’ve tried everything to make the irritating red spots disappear, but think again, you might be surprised to discover such convenient household remedies that have been used for years.

Who knew there were so many ways to cure the itch? Just a little searching will do the trick.

First, you must realize that the itching will not die down all the way until the bite area has healed properly.

For people who are more sensitive to mosquito bites, the healing time can take longer than for those less vulnerable. The itch itself is caused by the mosquito’s saliva causing our bodies to produce a histamine response, creating a slight itchiness around the bite area from a mild allergic reaction.

The most important tactic to rid your body of mosquito bites is to simply do your best not to scratch them. Doing so will aggravate the irritation, making it itchier and more prone to infection. If possible, apply treatment to the bites as soon as you notice them. This might reduce the potential for severe itchiness. Clean the bite area with rubbing alcohol, alcohol wipes, or plain water.

Select an itch-soothing solution from one of the many methods listed below. When making this decision consider what you might have available, the cost, if you must buy them, and most importantly, any allergies you might have. You may find that some solutions work better for you than others. Each of these have been used and tested by other mosquito itch sufferers that are willing to share their remedies with you. Remember none of these treatments are guaranteed. Use at your own risk.

Baking soda treatments: 1. Mix baking soda and warm water •Depending on how much area you are treating, add one tablespoon to each pint of water you use.

•Simply apply with clean finger or a cotton swab •Leave on for five minutes •Rinse with warm water 2. Mix baking soda and household cleaner •Mix a few drops of household cleaning ammonia with baking soda to form a fairly thick paste •Apply gently to the affected area with clean fingers or a cotton swab and allow to dry •Rinse with warm water Apple Cider Vinegar treatments: 1. Apply vinegar to the bite: •Soak a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar •Place the soaked cotton ball over the mosquito bites. If you don’t want to hold it, tape it in place.

•Leave the cotton ball on the bite for approximately three minutes •Remove and experience relief 2. Make a vinegar paste: •Make a thick paste of corn flour and apple cider vinegar.

•Gently apply the paste to the affected area and allow to dry •Wash off using warm water.

Calamine lotion treatments: 1. Calamine lotion •Apply to the affected area.

•Leave until it dries. The pain should have subsided.

•Wash off using warm water.

2. Try adding some distilled witch hazel to the calamine lotion as an effective pain relief and itch soother for mosquito bites.

Water methods: 1. Take a nice, relaxing hot bath.

•The addition of strong chickweed tea, two tablespoons of cider vinegar, or two cups ground oatmeal to the bath can help to alleviate itching.

2. Dip a wash cloth into hot water, but not so hot that it burns your skin.

•Press the wet part of the cloth against the bite. Hold it there until you feel the bite tingle.

•Repeat once or twice. Your nerves will be confused and the itching will vanish for hours.

3. Apply an ice pack or ice cubes to the bites.

•You should leave this on the affected area for about 20 minutes.

4. While not quite water alone, cooled tea can work wonders when applied to insect bites.

•Apply to the affected area in a manner similar to a compress.

Items you can find in your bathroom: 1. Rub a wet aspirin over the affected area.

•Do not use this method if the person is allergic to aspirin.

2. Dab some toothpaste over the bite area.

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Sports

The Draft

By Emily Highfill

For any young baseball player, getting drafted by a big league franchise is the first step in a long road to becoming an MLB player. The ball club that drafts you, the round you get picked, and that team’s selection number can make or break you when it comes to your success in a professional career. Every young player hopes to be a first round selection, and in the 2012 MLB Draft, thirty-one fortunate prospects got their wish, and ten guys who were even luckier got picked as the first ten selections. The first selection in the first round went to the Houston Astros, who chose shortstop Carlos Correa, a seventeen year old out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. This came as a surprise since Correa already has a commitment to the Miami Marlins. The number one ranked prospect in the country, outfielder Byron Buxton, was the second selection, going to the Minnesota Twins. Previously chosen in 2009 as the 873rd pick by Oakland, Mike Zunino was picked third this year by The Mariners as a catcher. Kevin Gausman, a 6’04” right handed pitcher from Louisiana, was chosen fourth by the Baltimore Orioles. Another right handed pitcher, Kyle Zimmer, was the fifth overall selection. He went to the Kansas City Royals and was the sixth ranked prospect by MLB draft experts. The Chicago Cubs had the sixth pick and they chose Albert Almora. Almora, an eighteen year old outfielder from Florida, also has a commitment with Miami. The seventh selection, made by the Padres, was Max Fried. He’s a left handed pitcher from California. Fried has a three pitch mix: a fastball with a sink, a curveball, and a signature cutter. The eighth and ninth picks were both pitchers; right handed Mark Appel went to the Pirates and left handed Andrew Heaney went to the Miami Marlins. The Rockies got the tenth selection and they chose an outfielder from Alabama with a commitment to Auburn: David Dahl. St Louis fans will be happy to know that the Cardinals came out of the draft with two first round picks and fortyfour picks overall. In the first round they received Michael Wacha, a right handed pitcher out of Texas A&M, and outfielder

James Ramsey out of Florida State. For Royals fans, the draft started off well with Kansas City having the fifth pick in the first round. They drafted forty players overall.

Something that is important to know about the draft, amidst all of the hype and excitement, is that getting drafted does not secure you a spot in the major leagues. For example, Kolten Wang, a first round draft pick for the Cardinals in 2011, doesn’t actually play in St. Louis. For the 2011 season, he played ball for the Class A farm team, Quad Cities. This year you can see Wang playing on the AA team in Springfield. After AA, players typically move up to AAA for a few years, where they can be called up to play in a few games if a full time player goes on the DL or needs some rest. They will most likely get sent back to AAA. After their time there, they can either be called up permanently, get traded, or they may never get a chance to play in the big leagues. For players, the team they get selected by may not be the team they debut with or make a name for themselves with. Also, players who still have time in college might choose to go back to college and play for another year instead of signing. In that instance, they are eligible for the draft the following year where a different team might take advantage of their abilities.

A player is eligible to be drafted if they have completed high school and have not yet started college, are attend-

ing a four year college and have completed their junior or senior year, or if they have attended a junior college no matter how many years they completed. A ball club maintains the rights to sign a player until 11:59 pm on August 15, 2012 or until that player returns or enters a four year college. If a player is drafted and chooses not to sign, they can still be drafted the next year as long as they still meet the requirements. A ball club can’t pick a player two years in a row without consent from that player. If a player is eligible and is not selected by any club, they become a free agent and may sign anywhere unless they enter or return to school.

For me, the draft is the most exciting part of the year. I look forward to next season, following these new young players, whether they are in college or on the farm teams. I hope that they have success in the coming years on their way to the big leagues.

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Food Review

Pop’s Dari Dell

By Meghan Veach

Pop’s Dari Dell is a quaint, family-owned diner that takes you back in time. The diner is located in Downtown Reeds Spring right past town hall. It’s a cute, small diner that has existed since before I was a little girl, and it has always been the place to go for malts, ice-cream cones, burgers and fries. Their original twist cones are the best thing to get on a hot summer day, and there’s a variety of flavors like cotton candy, green apple, chocolate, and even mocha. There is something for everyone. The malts are also a delicious treat, especially when they are so thick that you have to eat it with a spoon. Even better is their one of a kind burger – the pizza burger. It’s a savory burger that literally has a pepperoni pizza on it. They have wonderful Coney’s too. It’s an excellent lunch idea for every teenager and you can pair it with hot, fresh French fries, tater tots or fried mushrooms. The little dining area is perfect for an old school get-away. You can eat outside on the picnic tables or inside with the retro Pac-man game. Pop’s is great for the whole family and a cute idea for date night. Pop’s is also very affordable so it won’t kill your wallet. I would recommend eating at Pop’s anytime.

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Which Wich?

By Hailey Stuart

For an early lunch, I visited Which Wich off of Battlefield and 65 Highway in Springfield, Missouri. At first, it was a little tricky to find because there were no road signs leading up to the restaurant, itself.

There was nowhere to pull in from the Highway, so you have to drive up to the next light, turn onto a side road, and then drive into the building complex where Which Wich is placed, in between other stores.

The parking lot is nice and long, so parking outside wasn’t an issue. On the outside, the restaurant doesn’t have many things to lure you in, but the sign for the restaurant can arouse a slight interest because of its uniqueness. The inside décor looked relatively new, and well-kept, following the smell of freshly toasted bread. When we walked inside, the restaurant itself is very tidy and organized. To order, you select one of twelve sandwich option paper bags, which are sitting in a spinning pamphlet holder on a table. On your paper bag, you can select the bread, toppings, and sauce/dressing you want on your choice of sandwich (such as the kind of meat or vegetarian). To mark your sandwich bag, you use a red Sharpie marker that is placed in holders below the sandwich bags. The convenience of ordering is not only top-notch, but its surprisingly fun as well.

The restaurant was clean for the most part, but there is no one who cleans off the tables as far as I saw, so you are eating in Whoever-was-in-your-placelast’s mess. Also, seating was pretty cramped. The tables and seats were really close to each other and right against where the ordering line is, which made me uncomfortable. When I entered the one-person restroom, I discovered that there was no sign as far as “Employees HAVE TO WASH their hands before going back to work,” which was a tad bit unsettling. The

bathroom itself was very clean for a public restroom facility. The staff cleanliness wasn’t above average, but all employees had to wear gloves while in the kitchen area, and long hair must be pulled back to avoid food contamination. On the plus side, the staff genuinely cared about you and was extremely friendly and patient.

I ordered a salad when I went, and it literally took them about 45 seconds to make this beautiful, packed-full salad with tons of toppings. The customers who purchased sandwiches took a little longer to retrieve their orders, but not by much. The orderly fashion of the assembly line made the sandwiches at an impressively fast rate, not damaging the quality at all. For being so busy, the sandwiches took the makers about a minute apiece to construct, unless the sandwich was going to be toasted, which took another minute. The time-efficiency is awesome if you’re in a hurry, have a short lunch break, or are just super hungry and impatient.

The only thing that could’ve improved the salad was if they could’ve included spinach leaves, for nutrition and taste. The lettuce that they use is Iceberg Lettuce, which hardly has any nutritional value, but is great for dieting or low-calorie foods. I got a chicken salad, no cheese or oil, with fat free Italian dressing, tomatoes, pickles, cucumbers, jalapeños, bell peppers, black olives and mushrooms. The picture included was taken, regrettably after I had started consuming my salad. Their vegetables tasted very fresh and whole, and they had a nice selection of dressings, mustards and mayonnaises. My salad cost me $6.62 including tax, and sandwich costs vary depending on the size. A Regular sandwich will run you $5.50, Large is $7.75, and Super is $9.75 if you’re really hungry.

I recommend Which Wich to anyone, especially if you’re a healthy eater, because I know how challenging it is to find healthy options in a hurry, and for a reasonable price. If you aren’t a healthy eater, then you definitely have a lot of unhealthy options, as well! The beauty of Which Wich is that YOU build your sandwich exactly the way you want it, and then indulge in what your mind has created. Out of 5 stars, I would give Which Wich a 4.5, in the category of Fast Food Restaurants.

Movie Review

Snow White and the Huntsman

By Lacey Curtis

Snow White and the Huntsman claims to give a ‘twist’ on the classic tale of the fair Princess Snow White. However, this movie falls short when it comes to acting, plot, and originality.

The casting agents must have forgotten her reputation for frigid acting when they cast Kristen Stewart, infamous for her portrayal of Bella Swan in the “Twilight” saga, as Snow White. The male lead, known throughout the movie as just The Huntsman, is played by Chris Hemsworth, best known for his role as Thor. One can sympathize with him as he struggles to work with Stewart and does his best to play as the nameless, gruff Huntsman.

The movie begins as most fairytales do: a narrator outlining the plot for us. One winter day, a queen is strolling through her garden when she happens upon a single rose still growing.

She reaches out to touch it and pricks her finger on the thorns. She wishes for a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, hair as black as ebony, and the fierceness of the rose. That’s just what she gets when she’s blessed with a beautiful baby girl, whom she names Snow White. The story is easy to follow up to this point and the music flows with the movie. Of course, this is just the beginning.

As the story progresses, the queen dies from an unknown cause, and soon after a dark army threatens the land. The king rushes into battle and destroys the odd knights. After the battle, his men find a prisoner. Her beauty stuns the king and he forgets his heartbreak, marrying her a day later. Anyone who knows the old story knows who this is – Ravenna, the evil stepmother, played

by Charlize Theron. She marries the king the following night. After the wedding, she murders the king and vows to take his kingdom. Her soldiers pour into the town and her henchman/brother is

introduced to us, played by Sam Spruell.

Snow White is hauled away while her best friend William escapes. Little Snow White is tossed into the west tower and Ravenna consults her ‘magic mirror.’ At least, that’s what they were going for. The large, golden gong shaped ‘mirror’ seems strange and tacky, as well as the ‘mirror man’ that melts from it to tell her that she’s the fairest of all the land. Cue the time jump.

We see Snow White, older and portrayed by Stewart, in her cell. Her expression makes her seem confused the entire time. While we’re introduced to the dull lead, we also learn more about our evil queen. To keep her beauty, she sucks the youth out of other women.

Seemingly unstoppable, she consults her creepy mirror men again. This time, he warns her that there is another far fairer - Snow White. She will be her downfall, unless she can get her heart. The queen sends her brother to fetch her.

With the help of a bird, Snow White escapes his clutches soon finds herself lost in the dark forest. The special effects distract us from Stewart’s attempt at ‘scared’ as well as her awkward screaming and clumsy acting. Meanwhile, the queen hires a huntsman to track her down. We’re introduced to, well, ‘The Huntsman.’ He’s portrayed as a drunkard but other than that his personality is as nonexistent as Stewart’s range of facial expressions. Still, Hemsworth does his best with what he’s given. He leads a band of soldiers into the dark forest and finds the lost princess in record time.

He pities the girl, though, and ends up fighting for her when Ravenna’s brother mocks his stupidity. The huntsman wins the scrimmage and escapes with the princess.

The writers deserve a gold star for trying hard when it came to developing the characters. However, it didn’t work. Attempts at making us feel anything other than apathy towards the characters – for example, a flashback concerning how Ravenna lost her mother and gained her powers – seem like extra scenes.

The script is lacking in so many places that it takes away from the movie. The Huntsman shines compared to Snow White and it’s hard to picture her as the fairest in the land. However, on the other end of the spectrum is Theron’s overact-

ing. Dramatic and flashy, she makes Snow White look normal. With all these actresses gone wrong, can anybody save this movie?

That’s where the Dwarves come in. Played by some well-known actors and other new faces (Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris, and Brian Gleeson) they provided much needed comic relief to the dark feeling of the film. Bob Hoskins, playing a blind seer, almost makes us believe that Snow White is the fair Princess she’s supposed to be. Of course, just as predictable as the rest of this movie, I know that one of these funny guys is going to end up dying (there’s eight of them, and everybody knows the story is ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves). The scene is the most touching thing throughout the entire story line. In the short time we get to know them, I feel more in touch with the dwarves than with two of the main characters, Snow White and Ravenna. Even William (Sam Claflin), who ends up joining the group, gives more feeling in his acting than our villain and heroine.

From there, the movie doesn’t get much better. It’s predictable in its story line and the acting can make it confusing. They stole several scenes from popular movies – trekking up the mountain reminded me of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the white stag scene is a complete rip-off of Princess Mononoke, The special effects and musical score help to lift up this film and make it more bearable. Between the acting and inadequate character development, this movie is not worth seeing if you enjoy a solid plot and characters. If you like looking at pretty special effects and not much else, then this is the movie for you. I rate it two and half stars out of five.

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Entertainment

The New Face of Spider-Man

By Lacey Curtis

Superhero movies have long been a favorite among filmmakers and audiences. Taken from the pages of comic books and put onto the big screen for a wider range of people to enjoy, there is something about heroes that we love - whether that is their fearless actions, exotic powers, or spandex costumes.

Spider-Man is no exception. Alone in the world, teenager Peter Parker was once portrayed by Tobey Maguire in the trilogy, and a fourth Spider-Man was in production. However, Sony Pictures announced that they were ditching the idea and starting fresh. With the reboot, Tobey Maguire left the franchise and Andrew Garfield was cast to follow in his footsteps.

Born in Los Angeles, California to Anglo-American parents, Garfield’s family moved to England when he was three years old. He grew up in Surrey, England and attended Priory Preparatory School as well as a private school, the City of London Freemen’s School.

Throughout his younger years, he was a gymnast and a swimmer. When he decided to quit sports at age 13, he was stuck in a rut. His parents suggested that he take acting classes, so when he was 15 years old, he joined a youth theater and soon appeared in many of the group’s productions. At this time, he worked primarily as a stage actor. He attended the Central School of Speech and Drama and in 2004, the same year he graduated, he won a MEN Theater Award, and later won the ‘outstanding newcomer

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award’ at the Evening Standard Theater Awards. It was just a year after that he would make his British television debut, though it was not until he appeared in the popular series Doctor Who that he grabbed the public’s attention. The next couple years were busy for Garfield.

Variety named him one of the ’10 Actors to Watch’ in 2007 and the next month he appeared on another British drama and won the 2008 BAFTA for Best Actor as that role. That year he had a small role in The Other Boleyn Girl and was named a ‘shooting star’ at the Berlin International Film. In early 2009, he was seen in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus with legendary actors Colin Farrel, Johnny Depp, Christopher Plummer, and the late Heath Ledger.

Along with acting, Garfield modeled alongside Lily Cole in the December 2009 volume of Vogue. He continued to work hard, playing roles in another movie and starring in a Red Riding television trilogy. All this hard work finally paid off for Garfield in 2010, when he caught international attention as Eduardo Saverin in the hit movie The Social Network. He was nominated for two BAFTA awards for his performance (Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the BAFTA Rising Star award) and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by a Supporting Role. At the 68th Golden Globe Award, The Social Network won four of the categories it was nominated for, including Best Motion Picture-Drama.

The Social Network grossed a total of $22,445,653 in its opening weekend and went on to win three Academy Awards and reach critical acclaim. With such success, the movie boosted Garfield to new heights. Now that Hollywood had him in their sight, it was not long before he was cast alongside his girlfriend, Emma Stone, to play Marvel Comic’s icon web slinger. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Garfield admitted his excitement to fill the role: “Ever since I was 4 years old, I wanted someone to call me up and say, ‘We want to employ you to pretend to be Spider-Man.’” The reception of a new Spider-Man has seen mixed results. While fans of the original Spider-Man movies are upset that they would redo the movies only ten years later, others are glad that Maguire is no longer the one in the suit and hope a

fresh start will help Peter Parker and the franchise.

Of course, fighting crime in New York isn’t the only thing Garfield has been up to in the past year. Keeping true to his theater origins, he made his Broadway debut in the 2012 revival of Death of a Salesman after six years of being off the stage. In an interview with New York Daily News, he said “It’s been a life-changing play to work on; a life-changing cast and director in Mike Nichols, but it costs you a lot. You’re not allowed to fake it.

There are times when I’ve thought ‘I can’t do it justice.’” The play received seven nominations at this year’s Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play and won two of those categories. As for Garfield, he was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for his portrayal as tough-guy Biff Loman.

With critics watching his every move, Spider-Man fanatics hoping he’ll capture the superhero’s iconic sense of humor in the July 3rd release of the reboot, and his name in the mind of Broadway enthusiasts, Garfield has gone from small time actor to Hollywood material. He’s admitted his fear of the fame that will come with this new role. “I don’t like to think about it. It terrifies me. I don’t want that, actually. I just saw that I was given an opportunity to play a part that that I’ve been wanting to play since I was a 2 year old. I don’t see it any other way.

I don’t want the rest of it. The visibility thing — the being a more visible actor or just a more visible person in the world — was the one thing that deterred me,” He told The Los Angeles Times.

With any luck, the new SpiderMan franchise will be as popular as its predecessor, and as grand as it’s been hyped up to be. Garfield has come a long way since his days of theater performance in England, rising from an unknown face to someone recognizable on the silver screen. Without a doubt, we will be seeing more of Garfield in the upcoming years.

School

Stay Organized

By Mackenzie Mattix

When August rolls around, it can only mean one thing. It’s time to quit the summer days and get back to school!

Getting back to school can be hectic and quite the challenge if you do not take the time to prepare and get yourself organized. Being organized throughout the school year can prevent last minute scrambles for assignments, lost homework, and a stressful day. A few quick and easy tasks can make a world of difference when getting back into the swing of things for the new school year.

Most of us are not morning people, so things can be super rushed and a little crazy, especially when you’re used to the relaxed summer. Avoiding these mornings can be easy; just do everything the night before. Everyone stays up late on school nights anyway, so why not just go ahead and get everything done for the next school day? Things as simple as laying out your clothes for the next day can make the mornings a lot easier.

Skipping that time where you just stand in your closet, staring at your clothes, makes a big difference. If you bring your lunch, make everything the night before and keep it in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning you can throw everything in a lunch box and head out the door.

When you make lunch the night before, it gives more time to make a better lunch and not have a thrown together one from a rushed morning.

Yes, I know, everyone hates this part, but it helps a ton if you get all your homework assignments done the night before. Using an hour or two in the evening to finish all the work from the day cuts out late and missing assignments and can clear up your study hall. Rushing homework at the last minute is super stressful and you are more likely to get the wrong answers, believe it or not. Try tackling the hardest assignments first, that way the rest of the night’s homework will be a breeze. Preparing and studying for upcoming test a few nights before proves to be more useful than

cramming at the last second, too.

Set a specific study time, in a quiet place, and it will pay off. Another good way to avoid cramming in studying and homework, or just simply forgetting that there is an assignment due, is to keep a small planner with you and write everything down.

That way you can assess how much time is needed for homework and how much time there is left to do some extracurricular activities.

If you’re like me, you struggle with keeping all the papers in a neat manner where everything is easy to find and in its place. Color coding your classes provides a quick way to locate everything you need.

Get a different color folder for each class or one of those filing binders with a tab for each subject. Pull out the folder for the class you’re in and keep it out so you can throw everything that you get from the class that day in the folder.

No more stuffing papers into the corner of your backpack or freaking out when you can’t find last night’s homework!

Of course, there is the normal eating healthy and getting to bed early to make the transfer of a new school year smoother. Take these few helpful tips and you are guaranteed a more successful year!

A creative way to keep organized at home is a ribbon board. Not only is this a great way to display pictures, but it’s an effective way to keep important papers safe and handy. To make a ribbon board you need a cheap cork board at whatever size suits you and enough fabric and batting to cover the cork board with about two inches extra on the sides so you can fold it over. You’ll also need enough gimp ribbon to make the crisscross design, hot glue, a staple gun or little furniture nails, and upholstery tacks.

Lay the fabric face down and cover it with a layer of batting, it doesn’t have to be very thick, just enough to give it a little cushion. Then center the cork board face down in the middle, be sure to have two inches extra on all sides. On one side pull the fabric and batting over and staple or hammer it in place on the back of the cork board. Do the same on the opposite side, pulling it tight to ensure that it isn’t loose and continue with the other two sides. Cut off any extra fabric so it lays flat. Turn the board face up and arrange the ribbon in a criss-cross pattern with about two inches extra on the ends to attach to the back. Be sure that the X’s aren’t too close together. Make sure the ribbon is pulled tight and attach the upholstery tacks at each ribbon intersection. Finally, hot glue the end of the ribbons to the back, and you now have your own ribbon board!

13

School

Respect, Responsibility, Reeds Spring

By Hailey Stuart

Standing alone, the letters P, B, and S don’t mean much to us, but together, PBS is a phrase that every person discusses sometime, sometimes not even knowing it. How many times do your friends walk up to you and say, “Hey bro, let’s talk about positive behavior support!”? No, that just doesn’t happen. But what does happen is when your friend is gossiping about people to you and how “incredibly horrible” these people are, you start thinking of all of the ways to fix their many problems, since you obviously have none. What you are actually doing is thinking about Positive Behavior Support (PBS).

Now you’re probably thinking, “Why the heck do I want to read this?” I’ll tell you why: this isn’t some story about a child-like activity the school is doing, it’s the truth about why Reeds Spring High School is now the new runway of PBS, and the students are the models. PBS is designed to encourage and support posi-

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tive and healthy behaviors within school districts. Most of the students remember the term “KAHFOOTY” (Keep All Hands, Feet, and Other Objects to Yourself), from the Middle School. Well, PBS in the high school has condensed that phrase into two words – Respectful and Responsible. The new symbol, R3 (Respectful, Responsible, Reeds Spring), has been created as a reminder for all of us, staff and students, to be respectful and responsible. As Mr. Locke put it, “we just want a symbol as a reminder. Symbols are more real-world…or more mature.

Not so little-kid-like.”

Usually, PBS is started in a primary level school to experiment on the success and tactics that could be used.

This time, however, Reeds Spring tried something different. Instead of starting out slowly, the RSHS Administration jumped on it immediately by forming a committee of dedicated staff who try to uphold the high standards of the school.

The high school committee isn’t the only group who ensures we live up to high standards. BoQ (Betterment of Quality) evaluators graded our school on different areas including how many of the students knew the PBS Matrix Words – we scored 20% out of 100%.

When asked why only a few kids knew the words, Mr. Locke replied, “Any school can announce the words over the intercom the day that you come to evaluate, but not every school can actually model the behavior like we want our students to do. We don’t want it to be something that our kids just remember for a day or so, we want it to be our culture.” The opinion of the RSHS Administration is that simply putting up PBS posters picked by them will only turn the kids away even more or joke about how ridiculous they look.

That is why Mr. Locke, who is in charge of RSHS’s PBS signage, has his students either pick or design the posters. Last year we made our own posters showing

RSHS PBS Matrix Responsible

RSHS Students Will Be...

Respectful

*Pay Attention to Guests *Respond Appropriately *Show School Spirit *Be a Good Sport *Stay Seated

*Be Prepared *Be on Time

*Be Appropriate *Be Attentive

In the Cafeteria

*Treat Food as Food *Put Tray Away *Clear Table

*Control Voice Level *Wait in Line

In the Hallways

*Be in Assigned Area *Avoid Horseplay

*Be Appropriate *Keep Moving

During School Activities

*Be Positive *Don’t Steal

In The Classroom

Reeds Spring students defining character words which created a greater sense of pride for the students.

Since this new change, the students can look at each other and laugh at the funny pictures or congratulate each other on their recognition. It also keeps the school real and not filled with cheesy posters that resembles an elementary school hallway. To train students to be respectful and responsible, the staff first needs to start treating them like the young adults they are. If young adults can’t be respectful and responsible, then what is our future going to look like?

This is why Reeds Spring High School decides to focus more on having the students model being respectful and responsible rather than slapping up a couple of posters that make kids laugh because of the cheesy pictures and out-of-date text. Relating to teenagers can be really hard sometimes, but when teachers and administration take the time to show students how to be more mature than the standards of today’s youth, it can really bring out the best in them.

Coming from a Reeds Spring Junior who has never even been sent to the “Safe Seat,” I can safely say that I love the way our school’s administration doesn’t shove our PBS program down our throat. Instead, they are real with us and make us realize that our teenage years aren’t only about goofing around but being diligent workers, too. Even I, an innocent A-B student, make fun of those posters that the teachers pick out without student consent. They try to con-

nect with us as teens, but some girl with bleach-blonde hair sitting in a car with a bunch of bracelets isn’t exactly the most motivating technique. However, I love seeing my friends and acquaintances’ faces on our own posters because it reminds us to always show respect and keep working hard to the end.

The thing that is keeping PBS going at Reeds Spring High School basically revolves around one thing – consistency. As mature as we try to make ourselves sometimes, we can really be like toddlers on certain occasions. Consistency in teenagers is just as important as training a toddler or a young child. If a student isn’t showing respect or responsibility, chances are, they are doing the opposite. To handle behavioral issues, the administration has invented what is called the Behavior Triangle of Intervention.

The base of the triangle starts interventions with a private conversation between student and teacher, and then escalates to the top of the triangle, where Administration Referral resides. If the staff doesn’t stick to the Behavior Triangle or Intervention, then students will learn they can get away with whatever they want from certain teachers. Fortunately, that’s where PBS steps in by bringing us back to the beginning of my article.

As you can see, just because Reeds Spring High School doesn’t put up corny posters and all of the kids don’t necessarily remember what the PBS words are, doesn’t mean they don’t live them.

As part of the student body, our students have been through a lot together: things

that have ripped us apart and then grew us back stronger, shaping us into better, more mature young individuals. Because of the way our school portrays PBS to the students, it actually sinks in, where the not-so-interesting posters don’t even begin to do justice.

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Science

The Truth about Dreams

By Sam Retherford

Swimming, falling, and going to school are all common dreams. During the night, we have many dreams, starting at about ten minutes and getting longer until we wake up. Whether you believe it or not, everyone dreams. We may not recall the dreams for whatever reason - being they are boring, not caring, or shutting down that part of the brain - but our brain goes through different cycles of activity throughout the night.

Dreams vary from night to night.

The dreams we usually remember are the nightmares, which make us wake up in the middle of the night, or the exciting dreams that make us sad when we awake because it was a good dream.

Besides those, we have boring dreams.

These are the dreams that we couldn’t care less about. The matter of it is that our brain is in constant activity.

Besides our brains always being on the go, our other body parts move as well. While we are in the cycles of dreaming, our eyes and mouth twitch, and our limbs move around. Some of us toss and turn at night, causing our bed sheets to be scattered, because we have more active brain movement than others. Sounds mind-boggling, but the more our brain is active, the more our body is as well.

This being said, the different dreams also determine how active your body is. The scary dreams usually end up with you thrashing your body around and waking up. Your brain was giving images and thoughts that were causing your body to react a certain way. When we have calm or boring dreams, the images cause our body to react as it would in that situation.

Though our dreams vary from person to person, there are a few dreams that are common throughout everyone. One happens to be car troubles. The driver could lose control, or we may be heading over a cliff. This dream could happen at any age, whether we drive or not. This dream means we feel helpless about something in your life. Another common dream is falling or sinking. Almost everyone has had one of these dreams. They are so common that myths have formed; you will die if you hit the ground. However, it is not true.

These dreams often emerge when we feel overwhelmed and are ready to give up. Psychologists say that if you have this dream, you should evaluate what it is

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and deal with it.

Aside from these dreams are reoccurring nightmares. These usually happen when we’ve experienced something traumatic in our lives. When we have these dreams, our mind is trying to heal itself, which is good. For example: Someone watched their friend die. The person has nightmares every night.

Over time, the dreams get better and the person figures out how to deal with it in their dream. That is the healing process.

It is a wonderful thing that our mind does, even though in that situation we don’t believe it. For people who shut down the dreaming part in their brain, they close themselves off from the traumatic experience. The person then has to learn how to deal with the problem without having a way to think of solving it in their mind.

This makes the healing process harder and they may never get over it.

On the other hand, good dreams have meanings as well. If you have a dream about a hero rescuing you, this could mean you are on the verge of self-discovery. That dream was to inspire you. If the hero is a friend, it indicates

that you will be seeing more of them in the future. If we have a dream that is kind and compassionate to us, it indicates that we should be less hypocritical on people and appreciate their good assets. Many of the serene dreams we have indicate we should do some self-reflection. Besides the serious dreams, there are also not-so-serious dreams. When appearing to be bald in our dream, it reveals that we are afraid to get old, but let’s face it you are getting old at this minute. When we see a pet, it reveals your personality.

Again, this is a reflection of our self and how others view us. A pet that talks in our dream shows that we can reach our potential. Now, jokes in dreams are a tricky situation. We may think that hearing a joke in our dream is for fun, but there could be a serious meaning. Being pregnant in a dream, whether man or woman, reveals a new walk in life, but if you are pregnant in real life, it could be relating directly to you. All in all, dreams can mean many things, but they could also be a part of your everyday life.

There are scientists still researching on why we dream and the importance of dreaming. The previous is what psychologists and researchers have concluded. Here are my thoughts. When we remember a dream, we feel like you have to tell everyone, especially if we dream about someone you know. Speaking the words, “Hey, you were in my dream last night…” may lure the other person to listen, but approaching someone and saying, “Hey, so last night I had a dream that….” turns people away. If it is not about the person you are talking to, they don’t want to hear what you have to say.

Here’s some advice - keep it to yourself.

Science

Discoveries of 2011

By Kylee Goddard

have been developing a bi-directional brainmachine interface that allows one to move and control the hand and even give feedback to the brain that tricks it to feeling the texture of virtual objects. Even though it has only been tested on monkeys, this new machine could lead to new prosthetics for humans that would feel like a real human limb.

With the possibility of Einstein’s theory of relativity being false, brainmachines paving the way to new and better prosthetics, replacements for batteries, discoveries in ancient art, and new under water questions, 2011 was a year for groundbreaking discoveries that challenge what we know about our world.

However, without the questioning of old ideas, we could still believe the world is flat and we are the center of the universe.

Like so many before, Einstein’s theory of relativity has been challenged.

In recent studies by CERN, researchers have shot particles called neutrinos from a lab in Geneva to another lab in Italy.

According to this research, the neutrinos traveled faster than the speed of light – an impossible feat according to Einstein.

The theory of relativity states that as you get closer to the speed of light, time slows and you become heavier, and if you travel faster than the speed of light, time goes backwards and you become lighter than air and you have a negative width. Even with this new discovery, many scientists, including the ones who performed the experiment, are skeptical and disapprove of this finding until more experiments have been performed. They also question whether this new concept is exclusive to neutrinos which are “exotic” particles. If this experiment proves to be correct, modern physics will have to be reworked including cause and effect, another reason to scrutinize CERN’s results.

A computer generated world is not a new concept with all of the video games set in virtual reality. However, an international team of neuro-engineers

Have you ever forgotten to charge your cell phone? Chances are your answer is yes. In a couple of years, this problem could be solved. In March 2011, scientists came out with the first viable nano-generator. A nano-generator is a tiny computer chip that receives its charge from body movements and will soon replace batteries. This means snapping your fingers, walking, and even your heart beat could be used to keep your phone and other small electrical devices running. The chip itself is flexible, and when squeezed between two fingers, the chip changes the pressure into electrical energy that is stored in capacitors. So far the chip is only able to power simple LED lights; however, scientists are hoping to use it to power implanted insulin pumps and environmental sensors.

As well as inventing new things for the future, scientists are also busy unearthing things from thousands of years ago. In 2011, archeologists found two paint kits in South Africa, estimated to be 100,000 years old. These kits were used to create ocher, a red-brown pigment that comes from a naturally occurring red

rock. Ocher was used for early paintings because of its ability to be painted on rock walls, trees, skin, and cloth. The two kits were made of abalone shells with their breathing holes plugged to store the mixture. Inside the shells was a mixture of bone, ocher, hammer stones, charcoal, and grind stones. “We believe that the manufacturing process involved the rubbing of pieces of ochre on quartzite slabs to produce a fine red powder. Ochre chips were crushed with quartz, quartzite and silcrete hammerstones/grinders and combined with heated crushed, mammalbone, charcoal, stone chips and a liquid, which was then introduced to the abalone shells and gently stirred,” claimed Professor Christopher Henshilwood from the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

This discovery has pushed back the date of complex art from 60,000 years ago to 100,000.

Ancient art supplies aren’t the only thing that scientists have discovered in the past year. A new deep sea hot-spring was found last year, located between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica. This new hot-spring opened up theories for how marine creatures populate the ocean, as well as the discovery of new organisms, including new species of octopus, crab, and star fish. The scientists involved with this discovery explored the area by using a remote operated vehicle (ROV) called Isis. As the ROV crawled along the sea floor, it encountered plumes of hydrogen sulfide and minerals up to 720 degrees Fahrenheit. The new species of “yeti” crab is related to another species discovered in 2005, which has led scientists to believe that there is an evolutionary link between the two regions. Scientists are currently studying the effect of the polar temperatures on the migration of species found around the plumes and hope to continue the study of evolution among marine animals.

With science changing around us, as we have seen in 2011, it is a wonder what will be unearthed in 2012.

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Humor

Reed Spring’s Embarrassing Moments

By Meghan Veach

Everybody has had something embarrassing happen to them at least once in their lifetime. As humiliating as they might seem at the time, these moments are often hilarious when you look back on them. With that, five anonymous sources decided to share their own embarrassing moments with us. #1 I just got back from the hospital, I had been there for a couple of months, and I went to sit down at my desk and put my feet up on it.

Well, the chair had wheels and as I kept leaning back so did the chair. I think you know where this is going.

I ended up on the floor because my chair fell backwards; but I didn’t have to have to go back to hospital again. #2 It was my first year here and me and my assistant coach were getting ready for a track meet. Well, around the shot-put ring there were a butt ton of weeds and we asked if we could get them taken care of.

We were told that the fastest way for us to get rid of them was to burn them ourselves. We said ‘Okay, we can do that,’ The assistant coach used to be a fireman, so no big deal. There was no water because it was turned off so it wouldn’t freeze, so all we had were shovels and some bottles of water. So we started up the fire and it wasn’t going quite fast enough for the assistant coach. So he decided to light so more grass on fire and said ‘Don’t worry. Don’t worry.’ There was no wind so I figured everything would be okay. Well, he ended up lighting the live grass on fire and some other small areas along with the weeds. Then the wind picked up. I started getting a little nervous; then the main grass caught on fire because of the wind.

It looked like the Fourth of freakin’ July when that grass caught on fire.

There was smoke and fire everywhere. The assistant coach and I both started

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freaking out and we are trying everything we can to put this fire out. We are using the bottles of water and trying to stomp it out and we are using the shovels, and it’s just not working. All I can say is ‘Call 9-1-1! Call 9-1-1!’ because I don’t have my phone, so he calls 9-1-1 and all the fire trucks show up one after another, and you know that when fire trucks show up at the school all the administrators show up too. So behind the fire trucks are all the administrators. What makes it even better is that there were five or so kids down at the track for pre-track, and they’re all recording it and texting and laughing about it. As soon as the administrators see that it’s us they just start cracking up. I’ve been called sparky and smoky the bear. I even got a fire man’s helmet during the next football season. That happened five years ago and I still haven’t lived it down. #3 I used to work at a microfilming company. Microfilming is when documents, mostly for hospitals, are filmed using a specific camera and placed on strips of microfiche so the business can store records easily without using valuable storage space on their computers. Well I’m the type of person with the personality who moves up quickly in my jobs, so four or five months later, I was already training and after a year I was the floor lead, which made some people really mad. When I was training there was this older woman who had some bladder problems and I could tell she was wearing a diaper.

She was in a group of about twelve people and one day she bends over to pick something up and farts right in my face. It was so gross, but I took the blame for her and said “Oh that was just my stomach.”

Obviously everyone knew it was a fart,

but I still took the blame, and for weeks afterwards I was known as the farter, but it’s okay because I took the blame for some little old lady. #4 I was in fifth grade and after recess all the boys were going into the bathroom.

We get into the restrooms and I thought it would be funny to stand behind my friend and pee in between his legs. Well I did and my friend Ian freaked out and turned around and jumped right in front of me.

I ended up peeing all over Ian and it got back to the teacher that I purposely peed on Ian, which I didn’t mean to, he jumped in front of me. I got in trouble and also got sent to the principal’s office, but it was worth it because it was really funny.

#5 I was up to bat and I hit a really hard line drive right down the third base line it goes all the way to the fence. I am so excited, it’s gonna be an obvious triple. So I’m running and last minute I realize I’m rounding second way too early, so I stick my foot out to make sure I touch the base and my foot gets caught and I eat dirt.

Everyone is laughing hysterically hard, and even the other team’s fielders are asking me if I’m okay while laughing. I ended up only getting a double.

Humor

Craig’s List: Misconnections

By Kaleena Ogo

My Beautiful Cat Lady

Craig’s List enables you to find anything from services to items for sale.

On the Craig’s List website, there is a section called Misconnections found under the Personal section that is a wonderful way to get in contact with strangers you may have seen once or twice in your life. This is where people post their thoughts about someone in hopes that the person they wrote about will see the post and respond. In many of the posts, people just state how beautiful they thought a person was and how they would like to speak to them or see them again.

If you think about it, why would anyone sit and search through Craig’s List to see if any of those posts are for them? Not just that, but why would you want to reply to someone that was creepy enough to post about the time they saw you. I know I wouldn’t. Posting on craigslist is desperate, and it’s sad that people are this concerned with finding Mr. or Mrs. Right. There are other posts in this particular section about people they already knew, lost connection with, or that don’t even exist in their lives. I find it hard to grasp the concept as to why people would spend their time writing these posts when they could be out there finding this person and actually speaking to them.

Some people don’t realize how ridiculous this idea is and how funny the outcome can be. Writing these may seem harmless, but in reality, they are showing how desperate some people are in this world because they rely on the internet to make contact with complete strangers. I ran across one such of these so-called romanticisms entitled “My Beautiful Cat Lady.” It read:

Let me start by stating that I believe in love at first sight, and let me add that I believe I’ve finally found it. I do not know her name, sadly.

You first caught my eye when I heard you meowing outside your apartment window to catch the attention of an adorable wild cat (mostly black with white patches). Inside, a jealous orange cat meowed vioently. I instantly fell in love with those dark curls of hair on your head

and those impeccable frames you were wearing. I understood how that orange cat felt - I, too, was meowing in envy, but not loud enough for you to hear me, sadly.

I thought you were lost to me forever, but I found myself on here, trying to find my unknown love. Please, do not disappoint me, my dear. I will provide a new life for you and every cat we find in the world.

Let’s break this down bit by bit.

First off, can blind people believe in love at first sight? If so, then why would you fall in love with someone who is in order to catch a cat? Next, like I said before, people do this and don’t even know their connection’s name! If you don’t know their name then how can you search for someone? “I heard you meowing outside your apartment.” Why would you want to speak to someone that was meowing to their cat? I guess that is up to you; whatever floats your boat. If you instantly fell in love, then I think you should have taken some further risks than just meowing to her. Impeccable frames? You’re implying that those frames were flawless.

I doubt they were completely flawless.

Congratulations, you have managed to not only misspell violently, but also use it in the wrong context. “I thought you were lost to me forever.” They can’t be lost to you if they were never yours. If you are just now finding them on misconnections then it makes me wonder how long ago this took place and what makes you think they are searching for you, too. She was more concerned with that wild cat than the crazy guy meowing at her. “Provide a new life for you and every cat we find in the world.” Maybe you should start your new life in an insane asylum with your over population of cats.

You were my cashier at Walmart

Around 730 this morning I bought some flowers and a card at walmart and came through your isle. You were absolutely GORGEOUS. You had dark long hair and a pink tongue ring.

You kept smiling at me and I kept smiling at you but I was too shy to tell you how beautiful you were. I am hoping t see you there again...and hoping you might see this. If this i you your name starts with an S tell me what it is so I know it is you and I can hopefully help you remember who I am sense you probably had quite a few customer lol. I really hope to hear from you.

She is just a cashier. She is a typical girl, working her job. She has to smile and be nice. That is part of being a cashier - having to be social with people.

I am not sure why you know what color her tongue ring was; I’m pretty sure her tongue should stay in her mouth where it belongs when she is at work. Obviously, you didn’t feel the need to put too much time or thought into this post because of your incompetent misspellings and incorrect punctuation, so why even post it if you are most likely just going to try to see her there again. You could just be a stalker and more of a creep and look for her every day to see if she is working.

You are bound to find her at some time.

Honestly people if you are searching for someone, the internet is not the way to solve your problems.

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Fiction

Memento Mori

By Kristin Minturn

December 24, 2012

Whether or not anyone reads this will be of little concern; the purpose is this: to record the days leading up to Armageddon and the apocalyptic world that followed. Perhaps for future generations (if there are any) or to hold together what scraps are left of my own sanity.

This record will help distinguish fact from fiction.

The government has already begun to feed out a string of lies to reassure us that everything will work out in favor of the United States. Anyone who seriously believes them clings to this hope because it’s the last thing they’ve got. Those of us who know better are doing our best to prepare for the oncoming hardships. Those who have been preparing for years by hoarding supplies and packing food away in their shelters are doing well; they’ve all hidden underground and are rejecting pleas and cries for help, food, and safety. Most department stores and malls have been raided resulting in a void of supplies. People are beginning to lose their minds; the worldwide suicide rate has gone from ten percent to around forty in three days due to this and various other factors, the earth’s population has decreased by about three tenths. Natural Disasters occur at least twice a day throughout the world now and previously unknown diseases have marked the beginning of a new pandemic, and nothing that physicians have given the victims has done anything to stop or slow the progression of these diseases. Not even quarantine suffices to slow the progression of the diseases.

September 24, 2012 (Recollection)

The majority of us didn’t think anything like this would ever happen. Yes there had been disasters that had caused a lot of pain and suffering for the various people affected, but we thought we’d all laugh off the whole 2012 scenario as a way for the media to get the world riled up so they could sell their stories to the public... We didn’t know it would affect the entire world on a scale this large.

The true beginning of the apocalypse occurred between September and October. There had been several natural disasters in the months prior to then;

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however, to understand the enormity of the situation, we need to start at the beginning, or at least as close as I can get. Please understand that we weren’t prepared at all. There was nothing we could have done to prepare ourselves for the coming apocalypse, mentally or physically.

The twenty-fourth of September was a Monday, and like any other Monday, I’d woken up at six a.m., turned on the news, and made breakfast. The following is as much of it as I can remember.

The newscast began with the typical morning reporter; usually she wore perfect makeup, and had a big smile on her face that seemed to stretch all the way around her head. Today, though, her eyes were smudged with black and a trail of mascara ran down her cheek, her eyes were puffy and red, and her unusually large smile had faded.

Over the sound of her crying, you could hear a man’s voice in the background, most likely her boss, trying to calm her down enough to continue the broadcast.

After ten minutes, and a few vain attempts at getting her to step off the set by the camera men, she composed herself as best as she could and looked directly into the camera. She had said, “This morning, Washington D.C was attacked with a hydrogen bomb deployed by forces in North Korea. At 3:24, the missile touched ground. Washington D.C and the surrounding area of a one-hundred-thirtysix mile radius extending outward are gone.” She paused for a moment, and took a few seconds to collect herself before continuing. “The President and Vice President have been moved to separate underground bunkers. The following clip is a broadcast issued by the President from an undisclosed location.”

The reporter collected her items from her desk, got up and walked off screen before the video feed could cut to the President. When it did, the screen flickered a few times before the video cleared enough to see the President.

For a few moments more, the video was grainy, but the image wavered, and cleared to show him. He was sitting in a black chair, and the wall behind him was white. The President stared at the camera for a few moments before beginning

his address.

“Good Morning. Before dawn, North Korea attacked Washington D.C. with deadly force. The assault was deliberate. As a country, we will stand as one. Friends, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and countless others have been lost due to this merciless attack on the American people. Eleven years have passed since the September 11th terrorist attacks. This morning’s attack was on a much larger scale and much deadlier.

I have no doubt that we as a people will pull together and continue to carry on like we did eleven years ago. As a nation, the 9/11 attacks showed that we will not give into fear. We will not bow before the might of other nations. We will stand strong and resilient and we will fight back with every ounce of strength we have.”

As the interview went on, the President’s voice began to waver. At this point, he looked away from the screen for a moment, coughed, and began to speak once again: “My heart goes out to all of you who have lost loved ones. At the time of the attack, I was not in the White House; however, the first lady, my lovely wife and two daughters were.” his eyes began to glisten. As he continued to speak, a trail of tears made their way down his face.

He excused himself, turned to the side, and wiped the tears away.

“As the President and personal victim of this cruel attack, I will do everything within my power to make sure the attackers atone for these atrocious acts of violence.”

It was at this point I had to turn off the T.V. I wasn’t old enough to remember what the 9/11 terrorist attacks were like, but I thought that this is what people felt like when they found out about it. At this point, most of us knew that life wouldn’t be the same again – ever. The hydrogen bomb took out not only D.C., but a good chunk of the states surrounding as well. Maryland is completely gone.

Half of New Jersey, completely lost. A fourth of Pennsylvania is wasteland.

I pulled out a chair from the table and sat down numbly. I don’t really think that the reality of the situation hit me until my mother walked down the stairs thirty minutes later and found me sitting at the table in the same position I’d been in since turning off the television.

She gave me a weird look, shrugged,

and then pulled a box of cereal from the cupboard.

“It’s gone. All of D.C. It’s all gone.” I whispered. She turned around and gave me a strange look once again.

Only this time, there was a tinge of fear in her eyes.

“What?”

“All of D.C is gone. A hydrogen bomb – North Korea – this morning.”

These were the only words I could get out. My mind just couldn’t handle the situation, and talking in fragmented sentences was just about the only thing I could do. My mother just stood there and gaped, she looked like a

fish out of water – her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. She ran to the television and scrambled with the controls on the front of it before being able to turn it on. Once again, the screen flickered a few times before the picture cleared enough to make out what was on the screen. This time, there was a view of a bunch of men in yellow hazmat suits trying to restrain reporters from entering the nuclear fall-out zone. Further out, I could see people crying and screaming – trying to cope with the situation in anyway they could. The camera zoomed in past the men in hazmat suits, to what was left of the landscape beyond. There wasn’t much of anything left, except for perhaps a few buildings and their foundations. One could only imagine how much worse it is as you get closer to D.C.

My mother stared at the screen in terror, eyes streaming with tears as she gaped, open mouthed at the television. I’m sure images of 9/11 were flashing before her eyes as she watched the camera pan the landscape.

Anything that was left of the area surrounding D.C was almost completely destroyed and nearly past the point of recognition.

I quietly got up, grabbed my keys, and walked out to my car. I’d lost my appetite at this point and didn’t feel like shoveling food into my mouth after what I’d just seen. After starting the car, I turned on the radio, hoping to drown out my thoughts and surroundings with music, but every radio station was tuned to the national broadcast of what was happening in the D.C area. I couldn’t turn it to a single station without landing on one that was broadcasting information about the attack.

The only difference between any of the stations was the varying degrees of static coming from the speakers. Driving into town that day was the eeriest thing imaginable. The

streets were almost empty and dead silent. The only sound to be heard was the birds singing, who carried on as if nothing had happened.

I don’t know what it was that I expected that day but it wasn’t what came next. The absence of cars in the street wasn’t because people were staying home with their families, trying to deal with the attack. It was because they were all too busy fighting it out in the department stores, trying to stock up on supplies that they thought they’d need. It was complete pandemonium.

Any hope that one might have of finding food or toilet paper or water that day was dashed because of all the people running into the stores and pulling as much of it as they could from the shelves. I’d heard that this was what people had acted like after 9/11, but I’d had no idea what it was really like, I’d only been seven-years-old at the time. I pulled into the parking lot of the nearest Wal-Mart and after several minutes, found a small parking spot towards the very back of the lot.

Upon entering the store, I could tell that most of the people there had only been there for an hour or so. Apparently, most of America had only recently heard about the attack. People were quietly pulling the various items that they wanted from the shelves, paying for them, and exiting as quickly as they could, hoping not to get stopped along the way. The further you went into the store, the louder it got. Towards the back, there were people pushing, shoving and screaming, trying to get a hold of food and other non perishable items. I made my way through the thick of the crowd and saw that there was a man grabbing a small child who was holding what I assume was the last of the canned corn. Without thinking, I lunged at the man and tackled him to the ground, the child, realizing he was free looked around for a few seconds before getting up and making away with the corn. I got up and looked around in a daze. Without even thinking about what I’d just done, I began to walk away from the scene, only to feel a sharp object at my neck. I stopped in my tracks and held my breath.

“Don’t move.”

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Game Page

Final Thought

Back To School

By Meghan Veach

I was lying in bed the other night pondering about my summer. This naturally led to the awareness that autumn was approaching, and, with it, the dreaded return to school. This realization brought others to mind, though. I remembered walking down the hallway with my posse, laughing and carrying on until Mr. Sooter told us to “move it on down the road to class” because the minute bell had rang. I recalled thinking the assemblies were a waste of my time, but entertaining, none-the-less. It was better than being in class anyway.

I remembered showing school spirit by marching in the band and how disappointed I became when we loss time and time again. I remembered the awesome feeling of Christmas break because it meant we were half way done with the year, and, even more so, I remember the ecstatic feeling of finals because it meant three months of freedom. A lot happened in those eight months of school - homework, annoying teachers, lack of sleep, barely any social life, and how I couldn’t wait until summer: cruising down the strip late at night, chilling at White Water and getting some sun, going on vacations somewhere other than Missouri, and staying out late on a week night with friends. By the time August got here, though, I was bored of summer and wanted to see my friends that I hadn’t seen for so long. I wanted to know who my locker buddy was going to be, and what classes I had with which teachers, hoping that it wasn’t a teacher I didn’t like. I wanted to go to school, if for no other reason than to show off the new clothes I got over the summer, see who the new kids were and the fresh meat - I mean new freshman, and if there are any new teachers that aren’t going to suck too bad. I also wanted to see if they did anything to the school like they did last year, maybe made the wall better or actually put in tile on the floor in the commons. I kind of wanted to get back to school and get back into the routine of school life – seeing my friend’s every day, barely sleeping, and just getting back into that familiar routine. I guess it goes to show that even though I look forward to the end of the school year, I can’t help but feel myself missing it because it has become such an integral part of my life.

Pulse Staff: Mr. Locke - Art Director, Mr. Lynch - Editor, Lacey Curtis - Student Editor, Glenna Dement - Writer, Sabrina Duran - Writer/Designer, Ronnie Fuller - Designer, Kylee Goddard - Writer, Emily Highfill - Writer, Mackenzie Mattix Writer/Designer, Kristin Minturn - Writer/Designer, Kaleena Ogo - Writer, Sam Retherford - Writer, Hailey Stuart - Writer, Meghan Veach - Writer

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