Vol 94 issue 3

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November 18, 2014

Volume 94

Sports

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Turn to pages 8 and 9 for a comprehensive wrap-up of the 2014 fall sport season featuring some of the best moments from teams such as swimming, golf, and equestrian . Si ic E aph

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Black Gold

Issue 3 Arts & Entertainment

2014 MIPA Spartan Award Winner

Traverse City Central High School 1150 Milliken Drive, Traverse City, Michigan 49686

Photo E. Simon

For a photostory of Central’s Music Man, a look at orchestra’s latest concert, and student drawings flip to page 5

Recent elections keep TCAPS fully operational

Voters rally to renew the non-homestead operating millage, however larger funding issues remain

Kristin McLintock Staff Reporter

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he election for TCAPS’ annual non-homestead operating millage was on November 4th. The millage, created in 1999 and last renewed in 2007, plays a crucial role in TCAPS’ operating budget, making up 36% of the district’s funding. 67% of voters in Grand Traverse county voted yes, renewing the millage for another ten years.

“It was extremely essential to pass it,” President of the TCAPS Board of Education, Kelly Hall said. “If it did not pass and if we had lost one third of the operating budget; the district would not have been able to operate in a way that everyone was used to.”

Both the Board of Education and TCAPS staff promoted the millage throughout the community.

“Our focus was to inform voters of what the millage was going towards and what type of properties would be taxed,” Hall said. “We had really good local support from the Chamber of Commerce and the teachers union. They publicly supported the millage and made multiple efforts to inform voters.”

Promoters of the millage focused on emphasizing that most voters’ taxes would not increase.

“The non-homestead millage is a renewal, that’s the most important thing that I think people need to know is that it’s a renewal,” Head Principal of Central High School, Rick Vandermolen said. “It’s not an increase in the millage.

It’s also a non-homestead millage which means that it is taxing businesses and people who have a second home in the community.”

The percent of funding from the millage is just a portion of the total operating budget for TCAPS. Other pieces of the budget originate from the state of Michigan through the base amount allowance which all districts receive, though funding is not always equal.

“Not all schools receive the base foundation allowance,” Vandermolen said, “many school districts, not all, but some school districts, mostly geographically located in southeast Michigan, receive more than the foundation allowance.”

This is important because it causes TCAPS to constantly compete to do the same job other districts are doing but with less funding available to do it.

“There are some school districts in our state that receive up to 30,000 dollars a student when we’re receiving 7,000 dollars a student, “ Vandermolen said. “When you look at that with what we’re trying to do with the money were given, the

equity issue doesn’t seem right. Why should some school districts get more money to educate their students when costs are relatively the same?”

Unequal amounts of funding stem from legislation voted on in Michigan in 1993 called Proposal A. Before the proposal funding was generated by property taxes and remained in the local district. Proposal A changed that by collecting all of the locally generated money and redistributing it throughout the state to all the districts.

“Part of the promise in 1993 when the voters voted on Proposal A was that there was going to be a lot of work done to create equity throughout the state between school districts,” Vandermolen said, “and that promise has never gotten to the point where it has come to fruition.”

Since 1993, legislatures have made efforts to close the gap between funding amounts, however the efforts have been proven minimal.

“Often times, we haven’t been adding money to the budget, we have been cutting money from the budget because the Department of Education is not funding at the level that they were saying they could. With those funding levels, the gap really hasn’t been closed that much.”

However, this funding inequality is part of a larger issue of decreasing amounts of money available to schools.

“Overall, funding in Michigan has seen an increase, but the amount available to go to the classrooms has decreased on a relative level,” Hall said.

The increased funding is being sucked up by the school employee retirement system which includes pensions for retired teachers and other school employees. So, despite a net increase in funding classrooms are still seeing a decrease.

“We have kept our costs low and have cut our budget by 10 million dollars over the past decade.” Hall said,“The amount of funding available to classrooms has decreased over the past 5 years.”

The issues with funding as a whole also has its repercussions on the staff and teachers of TCAPS. “With budget cuts, teachers lose more and more of what we spend and are able to spend on our classroom and on our students, which means teachers are going to pull out of their own pocket,” Economics teacher, Eric Schugars said, “I know a lot of people who talk every year about how the amount they’re spending on their students—things like pencils, paper, and notebooks—increasing because the amount we’re getting from TCAPS is going down.”

The renewal of the millage was at least able to

See Funding. pg. 10

Photo E. Simon

Anthony Galante ‘15 votes for his first time. “I have always been into politics,” Galante said. “Everyone should vote. Everyone has to put in their part. If most of the population voted things would go a lot smoother and it would be more about the people instead of the money.”

College Application Week helps promote secondary education

As students take on the sometimes daunting college application process, counselors step in to help ease the stress and confusion Will Tomaszewski ‘15 participates in Central’s College Application Week. “I had already applied to three colleges, MSU, Ferris, and EMU, but I wasn’t planning on applying to NMC,” Tomaszewski said. “College Application Week allowed to me to apply there.”

Andrea Bavikatty Staff Reporter

Photo E. Simon

This year, Central signed up to be an official host site for national College Application Week, running from November 4 through 7. Though Central has hosted this event before, they are now coordinating in conjunction with the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN).

“Last year we did College Application Week, but this is the first year we’re an official site through Michigan College Access Network,” Counselor and College Application Week coordinator Kim Fleming said. “Being an official site means we are going to track data, like how many students actually applied.”

To increase the amount of students that applied this year, Fleming tried to involve as many students as possible by going into every English 12 classroom

to assist students with filling out applications.

“Last year, we were in the computer lab and we just told students to come down and we would be there to help them apply to college, so the turnout wasn’t that great,” Fleming said. “We ended up with maybe 30-50 students who applied that week. This year, since we went into every classroom and worked with every student, we were hoping to get close to 100% participation.”

Over the course of this year’s College Application Week, 147 out of about 400 seniors sent in applications, which was a more than double the amount of students that applied last year.

“We had 49 students that were firstgeneration college students, which means they are the first people in their family to go to college,” Fleming said.

“That was really exciting because that is part of the goal of College Applica-

Briefs

Whooping cough arrives

Club and sport fair

The disease Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, has recently shown up in Traverse City Schools, while there is not a verified case in Central, there are several cases in TCAPS. “Westwoods does [have a confirmed case] and West High School does [have a confirmed case],” Burns said.

Grand Traverse Academy recently shut down, which begs the question of what it would take to induce a shutdown in TCAPS.

Recently Student Senate held a Club Fair during advisory. The Club Fair introduced winter sports teams and clubs available to students in the 2014-15 school year.

“Our main objective is to get groups out there to students to show them what opportunities they have at Central,” Student Senate advisor, Carl Scholten said.

President of Chess Club, Blake Beyer ‘15 used the opportunity to advertise his club to the school.

“We hope to get more members,” Blake Beyer ‘15 said. “I think the next Tuesday, our members doubled. I was really impressed with the results.”

Beyer took a bit of an unconventional ap-

“The health department monitors the schools—symptoms, and types of illness—so they can determine when and if to close the schools,” Burns said. “If there isn’t roughly 70 percent of students here in a day, then we lose state funding for that day.”

Some students are concerned about the looming virus.

“My main concern for myself would be getting whooping cough because there are a lot of germs going around here at Central,” Katarina Fenton

Graphic H. Lancashire

‘18 said.

However, Fenton is confident in TCAPS’ approach.

“As long as we keep the school clean and not let anything go without cleaning up, I think that TCAPS should be fine,” Fenton said.

tion Week, to reach students who might otherwise not know how to apply to college.”

To assist these students with their applications, Fleming asked the community to help out with College Application Week.

“We have asked parents and people from NMC admissions, as well as TBAISD (Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District) so we have lots of community and volunteers coming in to help this year,” Fleming said. “We [had] a lot more support this year to help make sure every senior got the chance to apply to college.”

Not only does College Application Week help students apply, but it also stresses and reminds students of looming deadlines.

“I think it helps seniors because the [application process] is easy to put it off,” Fleming said. “It can be over-

See College. pg. 10

Photo S. Kearney

proach to attracting new members.

“We just got some boards, played chess, and let the games speak for themselves,” Beyer said.

Senate was pleased with the results and hopes to host more fairs in the future.

“I went really well,” Scholten said. “All the teams got big sign ups and a lot of interest.”

2 Opinion

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

Political correctness rears its head With Bill Maher’s recent rant on his show, many Americans have expressed outrage. We, however, look at it in a different light

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“I don’t feel like we’re [society] being too sensitive because I feel like being politically correct is really important, especially when people’s identities are being hurt.”

-Kristina Curtiss ‘16 “We are sometimes too sensitive about being called certain stereotypes.

If people have something to say, they should speak up so others can still hear what they need to improve on.”

-Tyler Moreno ‘17 “I don’t think it’s been overblown at all.

More people being politically correct is a better thing to do because we have a bunch of people hating on certain people who have done nothing.”

-Isabelle McGuire ‘18 “I’m not a fan of political correctness. I think as long as people are respectful, they should be able to say what they believe in, and political correctness suppresses that right.”

-Charlie Velis ‘15

ighly controversial comedian Bill Maher just lit his base on fire. Maher, an unabashed liberal, made what much of his political camp consider racist comments on his show “Real Time with Bill Maher” in an argument with another outspoken liberal, actor Ben Affleck, regarding the Islamic religion.

“It’s the only religion that acts like the mafia, that will f**king kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture or write the wrong book,” Maher said on the program.

Maher argued much of the Islamic religion believes in extremist views, and that liberals do not criticize the religion the way they should.

In a monologue after the spat with Affleck, Maher questioned his base’s priorities.

“If we’re giving no quarter to intolerance,” Maher said, “shouldn’t we be starting with the mutilators and the honor killers?”

Maher had previously been selected as the commencement speaker at the University of California Berkeley in December, and now the same student group that invited Maher to speak is currently petitioning for his removal.

“Bill Maher is a blatant bigot and racist who has no respect for the values UC Berkeley students and administration stand for,” wrote petition founder Khwaha Ahmed, member of the Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian Coalition. “In a time where climate is a priority for all on campus, we cannot invite an individual who himself perpetuates a dangerous learning environment.”

According to UC Berkeley’s student newspaper, Chancellor Nicholas Dirks says the University won’t allow students to remove Maher as speaker. “Last night the “Californians” [the group of students who select commencement speakers] reconvened without administration participation and came to a decision that the invitation should be rescinded,” Dirks said. “The UC Berkeley administration cannot and will not accept this decision, which appears to have been based solely on Mr. Maher’s opinions and beliefs, which he conveyed through constitutionally protected speech.”

A student opposition to the petition also emerged, led by young conservatives.

“Political correctness is inhibiting our ability as a society to engage in a dialogue about our differences. Shunning Bill Maher’s freedom of expression is un-American and runs contrary to all academic values,” Joshua Nass, Chairman and Founder at Voices of Conservative Youth said. “Academia is meant to serve as the venue where all perspectives are expressed. The Berkeley students who have signed this petition ought to be ashamed of themselves.”

The dissenters bring up a contentious issue; the role of political correctness in our society. Politi-

cal correctness is, according to Merriam-Webster “the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people.” The Oxford dictionary defines it as “the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.”

Maher’s comments were undoubtedly politically incorrect, but is that really a bad thing?

We at the Black & Gold believe political correctness has become overblown in our generation.

We’ve become too afraid to speak our minds, and as a result, we impede progress.

While many people may not agree with Maher’s views or their delivery, we do support conjoining in dialogue about everything, no matter how controversial, how touchy. We as a society cannot censor ourselves just because we’re worried about offending a group of people. If the subject is of significance, it should be a talking point.

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political correctness has made us weak. Maher’s comments, while delivered with too much haste, are somewhat valid, and by getting caught up in a debate over how evil he is for even so much as mentioning a problem with a minority culture, we glance over the substance of what he’s saying. We’re

Graphic: H. Lancashire

not listening.

We at the Black & Gold are not saying political correctness has no place in society. It certainly does.

It prevents us from making inflammatory comments about certain people or ideas, it veers us away from immature insults, and quite frankly it’s just good manners. That being said, political correctness can also suppress free speech. There’s a very fine line it has to walk. Often times, like in Maher’s case, it’s taken overboard, and people begin to accost others for their personal views, and in the specific instance with the students at UC Berkeley, even stop others from contributing to national discussion.

That is unacceptable.

Above all, if we are to better ourselves we must be able to discuss our ills, in open, uncensored conversation. Uncensored expression is vital to the health of a democratic society.

Politically correct minded people also often fail to consider a person’s intent when speaking. We as a free people absolutely must be able to tell the difference between constructive criticism and blatant vitriol. One can better our society as a whole, the other fills it with hate, but the difference is very clear, and we must tailor our responses accordingly.

The United States of America is a melting pot.

We have so many different groups of people with so many different ideologies. We at the Black & Gold ask what is wrong with engaging in discourse about our differences? They’re what make us such a special nation, and we should acknowledge and discuss them. We cannot allow the often disparaging vale of political correctness to taint our world view. Consider that ideology, do not follow it to a tee. We must stay strong and speak our minds. It could mean the difference between progression and regression.

Society’s biggest mistake

The American populace admonishes the imperfect, and miss out on the qualities that make people people Abby Harnish Staff Reporter

the Black & Gold

Tom Clarke, lead singer of British rock trio The Enemy, has left Twitter after being harassed for his physical appearance.

Instead of critiquing the band’s music, critics attacked Clarke on his looks, calling him a “hobbit” and a “gnome”.

This kind of thing is quite common and it brings to light a recurring trend; society is hypocritical. It craves performers who stand out among the crowd, but when one comes along, such as Clarke, they criticize their unique qualities and drive them away. Even when performers come along who are what society views as perfect, they’re sellouts because they are too much like the rest of us. Society rewards a person’s looks over their talent, which is incredibly wrong. This screwed up logic causes the public to lose out, and as bad as it is in the entertainment indus-

Editors-in-Chief Erin Lipp John Minster

News Editor

George Madison

Opinion Editor

try, it’s even worse in school.

School is the place where rumors, bullies, and drama thrive. There, society’s views on appearance are taken to the extreme. Students can be so insecure about their own flaws, they’ll point out another’s to make themselves feel better and appear superior. Dailymail.co.uk found 56 percent of teen girls were abused verbally, physically, or online because of their weight, height, or hair color. Social norms and preferences have probed students’ minds with their expectations of perfection. Some teens are finding solutions as extreme as buying a new face.

Fifteen-year-old Renta sought plastic surgery from Dr. Thomas Romo, cofounder of the Little Baby Face Foundation. Renta was picked on for her slightly crooked nose for years, and after the years of verbal abuse, she went to these extremes. Renta isn’t the only one who has gone to plastic surgery to end the torture. The American Society of Plastic

A&E Editor

Julia Vannatter

Business Managers George Madison Julia Vannatter

Sports Editor Erin Lipp

Focus Page Editors

John Minster

Hunter Kelly Hayley Rozema

Feature Editor

Leek Editor

Maddi Miller

Surgeons show 76,220 cosmetic surgical procedures were performed on people age 13 to 19 in 2012. It is depressing how Renta and many others were affected so much by society’s views, they felt the need to change their physical appearance to feel accepted by others.

Just because one may be more attractive in society’s general views does not give anyone the right to look down on those who do not conform to society’s standards of appearance. It’s society that should conform to each individual rather than the individual to society. We have an incredibly varied culture with an incredibly diverse population that has adapted to so much change, so why not use that adaptability for good? One person may not suit society’s standards of attractiveness, but that doesn’t mean that person is not attractive in someone else’s eyes or even their own. Society shouldn’t decide someone’s worth based on their looks, individuals should decide for themselves.

Carl Rasmussen

Photo Editors Emma Simon Margo Hoagg

Illustration Editor Henry Lancashire

Staff Reporters

Photo: M. Hoagg

Photo: M. Hoagg

Photo: M. Hoagg

Photo: M. Hoagg

Noah Aulicino Andrea Bavikatty Kirsten Berkey Chris Brower Abby Harnish Carly Hernden Shaine Kearney Kristin McLintock Mitchell Mosley Bethany Pataky Nicole Rogers Hayley Scollard Alex Stern Baille Zipser

Send us an email at TCBlackandGold.opinion@ gmail.com or drop off a letter to the editors in room F-158

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

Voter ID laws on the right track

Opinion

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John Minster

Editor-in-Chief and Opinion Editor Recently, voter ID laws have come to the forefront of the political agenda. Texas passed their own controversial voter ID law which was upheld in the Supreme Court. The law requires voters to bring some sort of photo ID to their polling place when they vote. Acceptable forms of ID include a driver’s license, a free Election Identification Certificate, a personal identification card, or a concealed handgun license, all issued by the Texas Department of Safety. A United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph, a United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph, and a United States passport are also accepted.

While there are issues with the Texas law, such as student IDs being disallowed and the lack of ID issuing offices, this is still a step in the right direction.

30 states had voter ID laws in place for the midterm elections, many of which require photo IDs specifically. In Michigan, photo IDs are requested, though voters can sign affidavits stating they don’t have a photo ID, defeating the purpose of the law.

Requiring a valid photo ID to vote is a simple, common sense solution to a budding problem. And yes, voter fraud is real. A recent survey by Old Dominion found there are over a million registered voters who are not US citizens, and therefore not entitled to vote. In New Hampshire, State Representative Christina Ayala was arrested on 19 counts

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of voter fraud, voting in local and state elections in districts she did not live, as well as providing fabricated evidence to state investigators saying she lived at an address in a district where she voted, while actually living outside the district. In Tennessee, a former City Council member in Bolivar County was sentenced for transporting felons to vote for her in the city’s 2009 municipal elections. She used this method for her election to city council and her failed mayoral bid as well. In Virginia, 17 people are being investigated for voting in both Fairfax county as well as counties across Maryland in the 2012, and for some of them, multiple federal elections.

The list goes on and on.

When upholding Indiana’s voter ID law in 2008, the Supreme Court contended the state had a legitimate interest in preventing voter fraud. “Flagrant examples of such fraud have been documented throughout this Nation’s history by respected historians and journalists,” the court said. “Not only is the risk of voter fraud real but it could affect the outcome of a close election.”

Justice Samuel Alito discussed the issue in a conversation about voter ID laws three years earlier, “If [voter fraud] is not a problem at all, how do you account for the fact that the Commission on Federal Election Reform recommended a voter ID requirement, and many other countries around the world have voter ID requirements?”

Indeed. Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, Israel, India and

many others have some form of voter ID laws in place.

Even much of the American populace believes photo IDs are necessary. A 2011 Rasmussen poll found that 75% of likely voters “believe voters should be required to show photo identification, such as a driver’s license, before being allowed to vote.”

Photo ID laws implemented in each state would not only decrease voter fraud, but they would give voters a renewed sense of honest elections. What is wrong with ensuring the integrity of our system?

There is one caveat for these laws to be successful. Photo IDs must be free, and easily obtainable. The government cannot force people to buy something to vote. They must be free.

The most common argument against photo ID laws is that they’re voter suppression. Studies show voter ID laws would affect no more than two percent of the electorate, and while that could affect a close election, by that same margin voter fraud could do the same. Statisticians have also found it’s hard to really understand the laws’ effect. Studies like these often rely on what people say about why they did or didn’t vote, and self-reporting just isn’t reliable.

So for that tiny segment of the population, go get an ID. If voting is so unimportant that they can’t take a walk down to the DMV to get a free photo ID, oh well.

A photo ID is required for countless societal functions too.

Think about it. Want to open a bank account? ID please. Buy alcohol? Gotta card ‘em. How about adopting a pet? Once again, a photo ID is needed.

Even government programs for the impoverished like welfare, food stamps, programs championed by the same people who vehemently oppose photo ID laws to vote, require a photo ID. And if voter ID laws force some people to get photo IDs who didn’t previously have one, they should be welcomed to functional society with open arms. It’s about time.

There’s a significant contingency of people out there who say requiring photo IDs to vote hearkens back to the Jim Crow days.

That these are racist pieces of legislation. They compare requiring a free government issued photo ID to a poll tax. New York House Representative Jerrod Nadler made some inflammatory comments on the matter “this is an organized, concerted, deliberate effort to disenfranchise millions of voters,” Nadler said. “We know what’s going on, it’s fomented by billionaires, it’s fomented by the Republican Party leadership.”

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz continued, “now you have the Republicans who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally—and very transparently—block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it’s nothing short of that blatant.”

Right, those same racist Republicans who ushered in the Emancipation Proclamation. Those same racist Republicans who fueled the Reconstruction Era. Those same racist Republicans that championed the Civil Rights Movement. Those people want to prevent minorities (who absolutely are more likely to vote Democrat) from voting. Sure.

The real voter suppression lies in not taking appropriate, common sense measures to prevent voter fraud. Voter fraud IS voter suppression. One person casts a legal ballot for one party, another casts an illegal ballot for the other party, canceling out the legal vote. It’s that simple, and it needs to be prevented.

Other detractors claim photo ID laws just prevent voter impersonation, an unusual happening that isn’t worth stopping. However, photo IDs also prevent duplicate registrations in different jurisdictions and voting by ineligible people including felons and non-citizens. Quite frankly, one fraudulent vote is one too many.

So, I ask this: why don’t we take our elections, just the tool we essentially use to decide the country’s future, at least as seriously as we do buying beer from a 7-Eleven? It doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

Vanquishing education Education in the United States has become a ring around of testing. Students’ now prepare for tests, not life

Hayley Scollard Staff Reporter

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The dreaded aroma of stacks of paper and freshly sharpened number two pencils fills the classroom. Sleeplessness and anxiety leak through the gazes of rows of students. Today is the ACT test. Many of those students’ future depends on the next few hours.

Philosophies surrounding the idea that standardized tests determine how well a high schooler will do in college have long been a contentious issue, but they’ve been proven false.

Studies show high school grades, not test scores, are the best indicator of how well a student will do in college. Research also suggests the usage of standardized tests puts students at a disadvantage.They cause stress and decrease creativity. Standardized tests are not helping students, and teachers are having just as many problems.

Sheri G. Ledermen has been teaching for 17 years at Neck Public school district in New York. Throughout her years of teaching, Leder-

% of students who took ACT

% who met college readiness standards

men has had a “flawless” record. When she received her 2013-2014 evaluation she was rated “ineffective” in her teaching abilities according to data collected from her students’ standardized tests. Because of her supposedly “ineffectiveness” as a teacher, Ledermen was fired.

She filed a lawsuit over the false assumption and is just one of the many victims of this testing system.

Rather than teaching students the valuable skills and knowledge they’ll need later in life, teachers have been forced to prepare them for tests. It’s no longer about education, it’s about meeting benchmarks, benchmarks that have created a prototype of what the test writers perceive a good student to be, thereby discarding a diversity of interests and skills.

While America’s teachers are being accosted for failed tests, many other countries’ students flourish with thorough teacher observation, documentation of work, and performance-based assessment. “The direct evaluation of real learning tasks, provide useful material for teachers, parents, and the public,” The National Center for Fair and Open Testing said. “Many nations that do the best in international comparisons, like Finland, use these techniques instead of large-scale standardized testing.” These methods are more useful because they carefully monitor student growth and gaps in education, unlike methods that set standards making undergraduates into cookie cutter students, such as the No Child Left Behind Act. The No Child Left Behind Act, enacted in 2001, is the government’s aid program for disadvantaged students. It sets high standards and establishes goals for student achievement, but in order to receive funding, each state has to assess all of their students annually, and if schools don’t meet certain benchmarks, they lose See Tests, pg. 11

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Texas has taken a huge step forward in the fight against lawless voting

Thumbs up thumbs down We look at the good and bad from the venerable and not so venerable public bigwigs

John Minster

Editor-in-Chief and Opinion Editor Award-winning actor Gary Sinise, known for his beloved character “Lieutenant Dan” in Forrest Gump, is one of the greatest patriots this country has ever seen. Sinise, who also had parts in movies like Apollo 13, The Green Mile, and Of Mice and Men, is an avid supporter of US Veterans.

Sinise and The Lt. Dan Band performed a free Veteran’s Day weekend concert, saluting the troops. Veterans received a grand entrance to the concert with a “Walk of Gratitude” where 150 disabled veterans paraded through a crowds of people showing their appreciation for their service by waving American flags.

Inspired by the reactions he got from his Lt. Dan character, Sinise founded the Lt. Dan Band with Kimo Williams to perform for troops on his United Service Organizations tours to visit the troops.

One of the most vocal supporters of our nation’s warriors, Sinise is one of the few people in the public eye who is consistently known for his good deeds. Never has he been unearthed as a pompous jerk the way so many other celebrities have been. Sinise is one of the few unique individuals who can handle the publicity flawlessly, consistently staying grounded and using it to promote causes bigger than himself.

Sinise has also participates in numerous other programs for veterans. He founded the Gary Sinise Foundation, a nonSee Veterans, pg. 11

Erin Lipp

Editor-in-Chief and Sports Editor While Jimmie Johnson celebrated his victory after the AAA Texas 500 in Fort Worth, the news cameras were focused on the Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski brawl. Gordon and Keselowski made contact during the race giving Gordon a flat tire. Perceiving it to be a purposeful attack, Gordon decided it was necessary to repay the act after the race.

Beginning with an exchange of insults leading into fists being thrown, the brawl was captured on video and broadcasted to the public. According to the Associated Press, Gordon commented, saying “the way he races, I don’t know how he ever won a championship. This is why everyone is fighting with him,” he said. “There wasn’t any conversation. You can’t have a conversation with him. There’s big consequences. To me, it’s just a bunch of crap. The kid is just doing stuff way over his head.”

In the past four races, Keselowski has been confronted twice by competitors for his racing behavior on the track. He claims that they are all out there to win so they do what they have to.

Not being a NASCAR fanatic myself leads me to not have much of an opinion on the technical racing aspects, but how the racers handled themselves post-race was unacceptable, particularly Gordon.

Understandably, Gordon was upset with Keselowski’s actions during the race, and considering Keselowski finished third and Gordon 29th, he was rightfully mad about the results. Regardless, he is a professional athlete. As much as he See Racing, pg. 11

A drowning government

As money floods the political system, democracy is threatened and the people are at a huge risk

Mitchell Mosley Staff Reporter

With the midterm elections at an end, the American populace is once again relieved from the onslaught of ads and the overpopulated parking lots of voting offices.

Money was a large factor in these elections, as it has increasingly become. Politicians enforce their campaigns through those countless, repetitive ads, usually to attack opposing candidates. These ads are often funded by super PACs and 501 (c) groups.

501 (c) groups are allowed to participate in politics, so long as politics do not become their primary focus. What that means in practice is that they must spend less than 50 percent of their money on politics. Super PACs are independent political committees that support a candidate with unlimited donations from companies, unions, or individuals. Both groups generally influence elections advertising.

Both Super PACs and 501 (c) groups can’t contribute directly to a candidate, but they can run favorable ads about a candidate—or negative ones about their opponents, known as “issue ads.” They just can’t use the “magic words” established in Buckley v. Valeo,

words like “vote for” and “elect.” Most of the ads are extremely negative and inject considerable invective into elections, causing nothing but needless malice. And government regulations aren’t always solid.

Thanks to a contentious quirk in federal law, super PACs that emerge a week before election day can hide

disclosures that cover activity through Oct. 15. Any political committee that forms after Oct. 15 gets a free non-disclosure pass for up to seven weeks.

Recently, a team of candidates for the Elizabeth Board of Education is accusing a super PAC closely tied to New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak, of illegally bankrollGraphic: H. Lancashire

their funders from public scrutiny until early December, no matter how much money they raise or spend from Oct. 15 until Election Day. Federal campaign finance reporting regulations state that various political committees must file “pre-election” financial

ing its rivals’ campaigns.

With 501 (c) groups, nobody knows how much money they have. They can’t spend more than 50% of their money on politics, but when donors are undisclosed, money is tough See Money, pg. 11

4 Fall

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

Fall brings out traditions

As the leaves fluttered to the ground and the cold set in, we asked 100 students and faculty to share their favorite tradition All Graphics: H. Lancashire

Hunter Kelly & Carly Hernden Focus Page Editor, Staff Reporter

What is your favorite fall tradition?

CORN MAZES: “The first time I went to a corn maze was HAUNTED HOUSES: for a fun church “I like haunted houses because “Haunted houses give me a great activity. I really you never know what to expect. thrill. I like not knowing what is right liked the idea of There is always something differ- in front of you. One year, my friend being lost and tryent in them. There are movies and I went to see how scared I about them or haunted things. would get and she ended up being ing to find my way They’re just fun because a lot of more scared than I did. It became a out. It felt like Mission Impossible. people go.” tradition after that.”

They are such a -BRIANNA SMITH ‘18 -KATIE HUNT ‘16 fun fall activity. I’ve “I like going on fall hikes because it’s so peaceful.

I like the colors FH only ever been to of the leaves and the crisp air.

There are some really nice views of AI Jacob’s Corn Maze Traverse City, I generally go in the woods behind my house. I like so obviously that’s LK the views of the water, and you can really go wherever you want my favorite.”-GREL E in nature.”-LUKE SMITH ‘17 TA GROOTHUIS ‘16

S

From “Tree” to shining “Tree” Take a look at how Sally Donner ‘15 gave herself the nickname “Tree”, her spiritual life and how she does the fine art of meditation

Carly Hernden Staff Reporter

Tranquility fills the air as Sally Donner ‘15 relaxes in her dedicated spot for meditation, her bedroom. Clearing and empowering her chakras is a daily routine for Donner. Chakras are known as being the center of spiritual power in the human body. Meditation can bring out this power and get rid of any stress you may be carrying.

Going one day without meditating shifts Donner’s day in the wrong direction.

“As I meditate, the oneness and Photo courtesy of: S. Donner wholeness of the united reality steadies my mind. It is calming and Letting the rituals of meditation free her spirit is Sally Donner ‘15. “I do multiple forms of my awareness is clear,” Donner meditation, such as yoga and sitting meditation,” she said. “The ways you sit and how said. “It helps quiet the mind while you meditate have a big impact on your breathing. Do what feels the most tranquil for you.” Meditation has many health benefits such as emotional balance, increased fertil- giving me zen, bliss, positivity and good vibes.” ity, lower blood pressure and less daily stress.

Unlike many who meditate, Donner has no identified religion

that she practices by.

“I just consider myself spiritual,” she said. “I’m a spiritual human being and I don’t have one set religion. I practice many religions.

I go to church every Sunday, but I wouldn’t consider myself just a Christian.”

Inspiration is needed to start any new hobby or activity, whether it is a person, quote, or in Donner’s situation, a book called “The Flower of Life.”

“There are many forms of the flower of life, such as the wheel of life and seed of life,” Donner said. “The flower of life is almost every single thing in this universe combined. It’s suppose to clarify unity.”

The flower of life is a geometrical design composed of multiple circles overlapping creating a flower-like design. These symbols are of sacred geometry, represent

ancient spiritual beliefs, and eliminate aspects of space and time.

“I feel like meditating was a calling. One day I started reading ‘The Flower of Life’, then I got the tattoo,” Donner said. “It’s the flower of life and it says ‘We are One’ underneath it.”

While the flower of life has spiritual meanings, Donner looks at trees in the same way, giving herself the nickname “Tree” with her beliefs in mind.

“I believe we are a bunch of souls united. We have a bunch of branches, different ways to go with our lives,” she said. “I feel like I have obtained this quality with the wisdom of trees and the way they support humans in so many ways.

They bring me harmony and diversity and I believe we are one.”

A&E

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

5

Music Man hits the stage

Focus:

Drawing Seth Beaudry ‘17

Central’s theatre students perform an artsy play about a young man seeking to save River City through music

Photo: E. Simon

Drawing: courtesy of S. Beaudry

Name of Piece: The Way of the World Materials used: cotton balls, shading and colored pencils, sharpie, tissue paper Techniques: “I used a shading technique that Mrs. Harper taught me, shoutout to Harper, to make the trash can. From then on I didn’t use any more shading. I used a special coloring technique to draw my trees.”

Inspiration of Piece: “My inspiration was how people litter and how it is wrong. This is the one drawing that I spent the most time on creating.”

Why did you choose this piece to be published?

“It has a greater meaning than what you see and I don’t have many of those drawings.”

Photo: E. Simon

Photo: E. Simon

Maria Luciani ‘16

Photo: E. Simon

Drawing: courtesy of M. Luciani

Name of Piece: Curling Paper Drawing Materials used: number two pencil, eraser Techniques: shading, shadowing Inspiration of Piece: “I did not really have a specific inspiration behind this piece. It was one of the first things we did in class and I hadn’t really taken any art classes before that. Drawing this really showed me what I am actually capable of creating.”

Why did you choose this piece to be published?

“I really liked this art piece the best of them all because I thought it really focused on creating a form from shading since the shadows, subject, and the paper on which it was drawn were all white.”

Photo: E. Simon

1. Cassidy Merten ‘16, playing the role of Marian Paroo and John Reicha ‘17, playing Harold Hill, both in the Black Cast, act together in a scene where Harold tries to win over Marian. “I try to have a bigger than life personality,” Reicha said. “You just have to have a big smile on your face.”

2. From left to right, Mae Smith ‘17, Kara Hansen ‘16, Robbie Shields ‘17 and Greta Groothuis ‘16, act out the scene where Marian Paroo, played by Groothuis, is in her library, reading. Harold, played by Shields, both Gold Cast, comes in and begins to sing and dance. “The dancing is my favorite part of this scene,” Groothuis said.

3. From left to right, Thomas Pettinato ‘18, Ben Cockfield ‘15, Nick Suminski ‘15 and Noah Kachadurian ‘17, are playing the barbershop quartet. The four guys began the scene arguing. “In the beginning, we weren’t friends, but then we became friends through singing,” Cockfield said.

4. From left to right, Sarah Gibson ‘17, Ellie McPherson ‘16, Victoria Koro ‘17 and Gabbi Scarcliff ‘15, all play the roles of the chorus. McPherson spent many hours working to perfect her performance. “I have spent a lot of time both in and outside of rehearsal looking at music and practicing hard,” McPherson said.

5. The production features minor roles of six younger students ranging from sixth to eighth grade. “We have done this in past shows,” Tamara Grove, choir teacher said. “When we do our auditions we always send word of mouth to East Middle School and Woodland Elementary School.”

Orchestra performs Carnival of the Animals Central’s Orchestra spent the first quarter preparing for the Carnival of the Animals debut, a humor-inclined kick-off to their musical year

Bethany Pataky

Katie Rasho ‘15

Staff Reporter

Her violin resting between her shoulder and chin, Erin Huls ‘17 focuses on the rhythms and notes of the piece in front of her.

Huls glances at the conductor every few seconds to help stay with the tempo. She is playing Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.

“Carnival of the Animals is an advanced piece, roughly 20 minutes long,” Erin said. “It’s composed of 14 different movements.”

A movement is a section of a piece, usually separated by silence. Central’s combined orchestras along with a few wind soloists performed this piece for their first fall concert of the year.

Drawing: courtesy of K. Rasho

Name of Piece: The Everlasting Trip Materials used: dark colored pencils Techniques: “The sun is an eye, there are two people riding a bike and they live in a mushroom house. The ground is a bunch of different textures, using a special type of a dark pencil. It’s all just dark.”

Inspiration of Piece: “My inspiration was my mom’s jewelry box.”

Why did you choose this piece to be published?

“I like unique things and the jewelry box is really old. I thought the little people on the box were cool, I also thought the pattern on the box is really trippy. I put a lot of time into it.”

“ ”

It was a good way to connect with the younger generation that will be the next orchestra here.

-Nick Suminski ‘15

The song itself has movements such as the Pianists, suggesting that piano players are animals.

“The movement that was meant to portray elephants was chosen for the bases to play,” Erin said. “The composer picked a very light, fairy-like tune, which is ironic because bases aren’t anything similar to fairy-like instruments.”

Nick Suminski ‘15 agrees with Huls in the fact that this song has many musical jokes.

“The funny part of this movement is that it is referring to the donkeys, but someone with long ears can also mean a music critic,” Suminski said. “So he is saying that music critics are asses.”

Suminski, along with Colin Huls ‘15 are featured on the piano in Carnival of the Animals. There is a lot of time that goes into practicing and performing the piece.

“I’ve done a lot of practicing on my own outside of school,” Suminski said. “I practice everyday for a minimum of a hour on piano. I try to do two hours a day if possible, and of course, there has been a lot of rehearsals with the orchestra.”

In-class playing time is crucial because although the students are supposed to be working on the material at home, school is where they can come together as a group and work on the bigger picture.

“In class we take small sections and work them out first with a metronome to make sure everything fits together really well,” Erin said. “We also split into sectionals during class and go work in our instrument groups. This is super helpful because it lets us know what other people are doing, fingering wise and blending wise.”

The orchestra had a matinee performance, where they played to younger students prior to opening night.

“The night performance was definitely better than the matinee, it went really well,” Erin said. “The matinee showed us what we needed to maybe spend a little more time on before our big show.”

Suminski also believes the night show went extremely well.

“I feel like our performance as a whole was just great,” Suminski said. “Carnival of the Animals was a good way to connect with the younger generation that will be the next orchestra here at Central High School. We couldn’t have kicked off the 2014-2015 orchestra year in a better way.”

Photo: E. Simon

From left to right, Lily Stackable ‘15, Ben Kunz ‘15 and Walker Chung ‘18, perform at Carnival of the Animals. “Performing for other people makes me content and I feel very happy,” Stackable said.

6 Feature

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

Between the lines: parking at Central All Graphics: H. Lancashire

Hick Lot

A standing icon of Central’s diversity amongst students is the TBA lot, better known as “Hick lot.”

“I started parking in the TBA lot when I was a sophmore, and I have ever since,” Logan Woods ‘15 said. “We like to hang out in our parking lot both before school and after school gets out.”

This lot is visually original; no other lot at Central has the type of vibe Hick Lot does, which can only be described as selective.

It feels almost illegal and socially unacceptable to park there if you are not a designated hick.

“My car is extremely rusty and dirty a lot of the time,” Woods said, “but, it doesn’t stand out because everyone in my lot is either a redneck or they have muddy cars from offroading. If you don’t have a muddy car, you aren’t really accepted to park here unless you are hick or a bit redneck.”

Aside from hanging out in the parking lot, this group is often stereotyped for the cars they drive, often trucks that are muddy and worn down from off-roading. They can often be spotted fixing up their cars in their lot, before, during and after school.

“My friends and I spend a lot of time in this lot before and after school because we like to have a good time and talk together when school isn’t in session,” Woods said. “It’s not like it’s illegal to hang out in the parking lot, so I don’t see any harm in my friends and I doing that. We usually go out on trails together when we aren’t staying at Central hanging out.”

Some other examples of parkers in this lot are Brandon Smith and Bradley Ray both ‘15. The people who frequently park in the lot have proudly subscribed to the label that comes with the parking space. “It’s just a stereotype, and it doesn’t mean anything to anyone that parks in this lot,” William Irish ‘15 said.

“Stereotypes just help define how someone looks.”

The car in Hick lot that best represents the stereotype belongs to Larry Kellogg ‘15.

“Larry Kellogg has the best car because it’s old and also in great condition,” Woods said. “Brandon Smith has the worst car because he beats the heck out of it on the trails.”

CPL

Stationed in the middle of the parking lot is CPL. This is the general lot where the majority of Central students park, mainly to be closer to school. This parking area is a mixture of different clubs and groups at Central.

“I park in the second row of CPL because it is the closest to the front I can get at the time I arrive at school,” Dillon Drossart ‘15 said. “I park here usually everyday, because this spot is open when I arrive at school.”

Most individuals that park in CPL feel the same as Drossart. By parking in CPL, it is a safe place where individuals are not severely labeled or judged based on the location where they park.

“There isn’t a stereotype for where I park,” Drossart said. “I feel like it’s the normal everyday student at Central and I am not part of the more extreme stereotypes like the hick or bro lot. I am just a normal person, parking in a normal lot.”

Although CPL is for the average Central High School student, natural divisions still occur. The front row is typically filled with loud, crazy seniors and faculty.

Individuals like Alex Endresen, Rosemary Cook, and Joey Schepperly all ‘15 park here. The seniors in this row do not respond kindly when their spots are taken.

“Us seniors in the front row get really upset when sophomores park in our spots,” Cook said. “We get the front row, and it is basically our property.”

In the back corner, there is a section deemed as “Bro Corner” or “Cool People,” where a group of friends consistently park together.

Some of these students include Jazz Overholt, Noah Pickett and Rhys Adle all ‘15.

People in the Bro Corner or Cool People Lot are in the same general group of friends.

Adle feels like his car best represents this lot and the stereotype it gives off.

“I have the best car because of it’s reputation of having a general aura and having this sense about it that makes people laugh among my friend group,” Adle said. “Anthony Kratovil has the worst car because it just sucks in general. It has a horrible, small windshield and its just a ugly, bad gray color that just makes this car suck overall.”

“ ” I’m a hick and I’m proud of it.

-Logan Woods ‘15

“

Over the past two years language arts teacher, David Hendrix, has been making his dream of becoming an author into a reality

Maddi Miller Feature Editor

He stood motionless. The world had come to a stop. Nothing made sense. She was gone, but how? Where? Why? Coming to life on the blank page in front of language arts teacher, David Hendrix, was Michael Sure. Sure is the main character in Hendrix’s novel The Stockholm Syndrome, a story of love and loss, and the struggle between the two. In the novel, Sure’s wife is abducted and he has to decide how far he is willing to go to bring her back.

“I had an idea, a story and I was afraid that I would see it somewhere else,” Hendrix said. “That I might see it in a movie or someone else might write a similar book and I just didn’t want to be disappointed like that. My number one goal was to write my book so that I could say that I was an author, that I’d followed through on my idea.”

Hendrix started writing his novel two Augusts ago, and it is now over 80,000 words. He is just starting the editing process.

“Everytime I allow someone to read my book it feels a little like I am giving them a piece of me,” Hendrix said. “Our writing is very vulnerable. It’s something that’s completely ours and so it’s hard to share that, but it’s something I knew I had to do and I have gotten some great feedback.”

He believes that one of the most important aspects of his writing is building

Located next to the tennis courts lies the Holy Bro Lot. The Bro Lot originated through the Senior video several years back, and the stereotype of the lot became much more extreme with the 2014 graduates. Last years’ seniors established exclusive rules in Bro Lot; it became forbidden for hopeless underclassmen who were kicked out by angry, controlling seniors.

“I started parking there as a senior because I was almost not ‘allowed’ to last year,” Teddy Okerstrom ‘15 said. “Last years’ seniors were ridiculous and I felt very threatened by them. They would leave notes on your car if you parked there. It wasn’t a safe environment for underclassmen. It is not nearly as extreme this year, but people in Bro Lot still don’t like it when underclassmen steal our spots.”

With the absence of last years seniors, Bro Lot has become significantly less exclusive. Although there is a core group of people who park here daily.

“I think the people who park in Bro Lot are generally in the same clubs or groups,” Susie Ness ‘15 said. “Our grade is pretty friendly and we are all friends with everyone. But the same people park in the parking lot everyday because it’s almost kind of a required routine. Bro lot is a lifestyle, oh yeas.”

To the students who park in Bro Lot, it’s a place that can be “theirs,” and has become a representation and celebration of similar students who pass through Central—the Bros.

“It’s more than just a parking lot to us,” Jack Brewer ‘15 said.

“It’s a place to commemorate the legacy of all Bros that have passed through Central. It’s a place of worship for all Bros.”

Students like Okerstrom, Aubrey Krueger and Nick Barger all ‘15 park here. There is a sense of pride and connection the Bros feel with this lot, and many park in the same spots, next to the same people everyday.“I have to park by Ness every day—it’s a law,” Okerstrom said. “So when someone steals my spot by her, it makes me so extremely angry. Susie’s car is also the best car in the lot because it is a good, solid car. Alex Oliver also has a great car because it has this feeling to it. His car has a back story, and it’s name is Lucy. It’s filled with emotion.”

”

It’s a place of worship for all Bros.

-Jack Brewer ‘15

Following through on a dream characters.

“I have heard that the great writers write about what they know,” he said. “And so, there are parallels to my own life in some of these characters, they reflect the people in my life.”

Between his role as a teacher and his life at home with three young sons and a wife, there isn’t much time left to write.

“I have to balance being a dad, with all of my other wants,” Hendrix said. “I always have to ask, ‘ok is this what’s best for my family?’ I was able to write this book by getting up very early in the morning and writing for a couple hours before my kids would come out. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my role as a father, husband, and teacher.”

Hendrix draws inspiration from everywhere. His students have been a big inspiration for him and have played a large role in motivating him to write his story.

“My students last year, in the Freedom Writers 2.0, really inspired me to keep going with my book,” Hendrix said. “They were all so open and willing to share their stories and it made me want to do the same.”

Hendrix’s biggest struggle was finding a balance between how much to tell the reader and how much to let them decide for themselves.

“The best books are books where readers find themselves,” Hendrix said. “They get lost in the book and I think there’s a tipping point, I think you can over explain and give away too much and I think you

Bro Lot

can leave readers too short.”

Writing this story was a great escape for Hendrix, it allowed him to get away from everything that was bothering him and put his thoughts into a story. He was able to create something that was completely his own.

“I think there’s an idea for an original story within all of us,” Hendrix said. “We all have a story within us and I think it’s so important that if you have an idea for something truly original you need to act on it. All said and done, what I’m most proud of is that I have created something that is significantly original and if I don’t ever make a penny off of it at least I’ve written my story.”

Photo: M. Hoagg Hendrix proudly poses with his manuscript. “Writing this book has inspired me to have my students write more,” Hendrix said. “I want to inspire my students to be original.”

The Stockholm Syndrome An excerpt from David Hendrix’s novel The Stockholm Syndrome

David Hendrix Guest Writer

“That’s it. That is what’s called a trail marker tree. It is believed that Native Americans bent specific trees when they were seedlings as a way to identify important routes or significant locations.

Apparently, they would stake certain trees at a ninety degree angle when they were small so that they would grow to point anyone following known trails in the right direction. Later on, fur traders and early pioneers caught onto their use and used them as navigation markers also.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means that in a direct line southwest from here are other trail marker trees that point someone to Manistee, and after that south towards Ludington. The lesson of this is that mankind is always trying to figure out how to chart a path forward. We’ve looked to the stars, dug up our past, gazed into the heavens and even within. We humans have stared helplessly in every direction for something, anything to tell us why we are here, and where we are headed.” Garth moves his eyes to where the mysterious tree meets the sky, reaches out to touch it and continues. “Even now, it’s a guessing game. Am I on the right path? If so, is this all there is? Or, am I lost in the wilderness and what can I do to change the course that I’m on? Like the trail marker trees throughout our country and even Canada, you need to be rooted in something. You, Michael Sure, need to know the direction that you are headed- get what I’m saying?” Michael nods, reaches his hand out to also touch the tree that is protected by a small square of chain length fence, and looks down at the base that manipulated by years ago. “You need to be on guard my friend. In looking for your wife you simply cannot lose yourself. Having her means nothing if you are in turn lost.”

With that, both men are reaching out and touching a tree that has been guiding people for hundreds of years, and even though it has been replaced by technology, it still points knowing travelers along the right path. Garth spends a few concerned seconds staring at his friend who is mesmerized by the history of the odd looking tree and all who have passed this spot and found their reckoning.

DIY

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

7

All Graphics: H. Lancashire

Hayley Rozema Focus Page Editor

Lizard Key Chain

Photo: E. Simon

Photo: E. Simon

Left: “Start with beads and string, pull the string through a wire clip and tape it to your table, then it’ll be stable,” Autumn Norkowski ‘18 said. “For a head it’s two beads. Pull one bead on the right side and pull all the way up. Then, take the left side of string, pull it through the one bead, repeat this step with three beads, then four, two again and pull tight.” Right: “Take two beads for the neck, do the same thing you do for the head With the arms don’t use the right string. On the legs, use five beads then, put the twine through the other beads that will attach to the body,” she said.

Tie-Dye T-Shirts

Photo: courtesy of S. Roberts

Keef Clothing One stitch at a time, Keefer Edwards ‘15 uses his artistic ability to create and sell unique homemade clothing, bags, hats and other accessories Staff Reporter

Focusing all of his attention to the rapid machine, Keefer Edwards ‘15 is sewing around the bill of the hat he’s created from scratch.

“For my second life hat line, all the fabric is from thrift stores or donations from old shirts or pants, so they are 100% recycled except for the plastic in the bill, buckle, and strap,” Edwards said. “Some of my backpacks are made from coffee bags and jeans so they’re recycled too.”

Edwards owns Keef Clothing, a company that sells hats, backpacks, shirts, and other attire. He has been in business since Aug. 2014. His business is thriving and he’s really beginning to expand throughout Traverse City and other parts of Michigan.

“I’m in one store, called Empire Outdoors,” Edwards said. “I already have a couple other people interested in selling my products in their stores as well so that is really exciting.”

Edwards has received nothing but support from friends and family in his entrepreneurial endeavor.

“People are always supportive,” Edwards said. “I’ve never had a hater that I’ve known about, though there might be a couple out there. Everyone is super cool about it.”

Although, there are negatives to running a business alone.

“It’s a little overwhelming being in cross country, my senior year and AP classes,” Edwards said. “I don’t have a lot of time, I’ve been trying to squeeze in art studio sessions but it’s tough.”

Since most people Edwards’ age don’t tend to be running independent businesses, many find it fascinating that he has this kind of drive at such an early age.

“It’s weird for a teenage boy to be using a sewing machine for 20 hours or more a week

but I’m proud of it,” Edwards said.

Edwards has had much success. He has sold just over 50 hats, 40 bags, and a few other items.

“I ship every week to people and places I have never really heard of before,” he said.

“I don’t really know how they found the website, but mostly my friends buy things and they usually just come and customize their stuff.”

Edwards has put a hold on advertising because he has been busy in many other aspects of life.

“As soon as cross country is over I’m planning on taking my products to a couple stores downtown and start advertising,” Edwards said. “I can’t wait to see where my business goes from there.”

Photo: E. Simon

Left: “For the body, repeat the same process as the head. Except, this time it is three beads, four beads twice and three beads one more time. After that come into making the legs again. Get five beads and use the same string that was used to work on the body,” she said. Right: “Next, it’s time to do the tail. For the tail, do two beads to start it off. After that, do four sections of a single bead,” she said. After placing the four single beads, there will be excess string, tie that off to ensure that none of the beads fall off.”

Photo: courtesy of S. Roberts

Left: “Start out with a tye dye pack that you can get from either Jo-Ann Fabrics or Michaels, and a white tee-shirt. You need a big space to work because the dye goes everywhere,” Sydney Roberts ‘15 said. “Get the shirt damp, it helps the color come out more in the end. Pinch the center of the shirt and keep spinning it in a circle until it is completely wrapped.” Right: You will need about six rubber bands to tie up the shirt, and make it into a star shape with the bands,” Roberts said.

Nicole Rogers

Photo: E. Simon

Photo: courtesy of S. Roberts

Photo: courtesy of S. Roberts

Left: “After you put the rubber bands on the shirt, take the pre-mixed dye you bought at the craft store and put it on the triangles that you made,” Roberts said. Right: “Depending on what type of dye you use, it can take anywhere from six to ten hours for the shirt to be dry and ready to wear.

You wash it alone and then air dry the shirt. If you want more of a pastel colors only let the shirt sit out to dry for three to four hours.”

Best homemade gifts

A pack of socks and an unsentimental card is usually the norm for gifts. With creativity in mind, these students really try to impress Abby Harnish Staff Reporter

“My cousin made me a flower pot. I love my cousin to death and having something she made for me, especially at two years old, just warms my heart and makes me feel really happy.”

-Savannah Stepke ‘18 “I made a black and red chinese-styled tea pot as a Christmas present for my grandma.

When the day of reveal came I was really glad my Grandma liked it because I had put a lot of hard work into the pot.”

-Joey Schepperly ‘15 “For Christmas, my younger cousin made me a wreath made of different fabrics and she tied it all up. She’s four so it’s really cute that she took the time to make it for me.”

-Hannah Fink ‘15

Photo: E. Simon

8 Round-up Graphic: H. Lancashire

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov 18, 2014

Photo: E. Simon

Standings BNC: 1 Regionals: 1 States: 2

“Portage was my favorite meet this season because it was really fun but really intense because we all really wanted to win. We were all trying for each other, not just for ourselves and we all wanted to pack it up because we knew that would help us. It was cool being such a close team that meet, but we really wer all season which makes us all want to do better as a team.

We never are running for ourselves, we are running for our team because if you’re there for each other then you can knock off points which makes a difference.”

-Emmalyne Tarsa ‘17

Drumline playing and the first student section at a cross country meet assembling, the Trojan girls cross the line one, two, four, six, 11, 19, and 21, bringing the team a Regional Championship 42 points ahead of the runners-up at the Grand Traverse Resort.

“At regionals, there were only about ten PR’s [personal records] set, and four of them were our runners,” Head Coach Lisa Taylor said. “I think our girls were motivated by the home team support they received from their classmates. The atmosphere pulled them to a great performance.”

The following weekend, the girls raced against the fastest runners in the state and became State Runners-up, finishing off their season with a bang.

“We knew our performance at States would need to be something exceptional if we were to unseat Seaholm from their perch as one of the top teams in the nation,” Taylor said.

Sielle Kearney ‘18 and Ashley Ko ‘15 earned All-State honors; their dedication and speed paid off. Kearney became the first ever Trojan runner to be a MHSAA Michigan All Class Top 7 Dream Team member with Ko less than a second away.

“I believe Ashley’s presence was a significant factor in Sielle’s success as a freshman,” Taylor said. “They talked and encouraged each other during all the races, especially at the finals.”

The girls cross country team is not new to success. This year was the 14th straight year that they have cinched the BNC Championship, with six of the top seven varsity girls gaining All-Conference status.

“It’s amazing to be part of a team that is so talented and close,” Ko said. “It was a privilege to carry on a tradition of winning the BNC and having fun while doing it.”

Throughout the season, the team trained to run, but they also focused on the cohesiveness necessary for success.

“When everyone cares about the rest of the team, it encourages them to work harder and help the team more,” Ko said.

As the season comes to an end the excitement remains.

“This season was perhaps one of my favorites in 21 years,” Taylor said. “It was fun to be a part of a momentum that kept growing as the season progressed.”

Photo: courtesy R. Sack, TC Rick Photo

Photo: courtesy D. DeTar

Standings

BNC: 2 Districts: 1 Regionals: semi-finalists States: NA

As the clock wound down the fans were cheering, and the student section lined up to storm the field. Energy was high as the Trojans defeated their crosstown rivals.

Photo: courtesy K. Smith

Standings

BNC: NA Regionals: NA States: NA

The pool water lays undisturbed; the sound of water splashing is nonexistent. Swim season is over, but the memory will last.

“I loved coaching this team,” Coach Kelly Smith said. “The girls are super dedicated and they work very hard.”

The 2014 Tritons, a combined Central and West girl’s swim and dive team, finished with a record of three wins and one loss.

Compared to the previous year, they had more versatile swimmers to work with.

“We have people who are able to swim all four strokes which is one of my goals each season,” Smith said. “We have all the girls capable of doing flip turns, which in the beginning of the season, not everyone can, so that’s kind of the skill set they’ve been able to gain.”

The team’s captain and only senior Rosemary Cook 15’ thought the season went great. “It was my senior year, so it was really fun and I definitely got to know a lot of the new people like the freshmen this year,” she said. “ It was a good season,

Defending their conference title, the Trojan Boys cross country team claimed individual All-Conference spots as they took home the BNC trophy once again.

“It was the first time we all came together as a team and everyone ran really well,” Captain Cam McAuliffe said. “I was dealing with an injury and the younger guys knew they had to step up and give it their all and they did.”

Entering the season the team set goals to win the BNC, Regionals, and States.

“The goal was a state championship but with the injuries we faced, top ten was a solid goal and we accomplished that handily,” McAuliffe said, recalling the sixth place team finish.

After a slightly disappointing third place finish at Regionals, the team recovered from a 12th place ranking going into the State meet.

“I watched a lot of coaches walk away from that score sheet very disappointed because they were behind us and behind other teams that they thought they were better than going in,”

“Knowing that I made an impact on the team’s success makes me excited for the future. I’m looking forward to running with Berry and Trevor next year and seeing how it goes. It’ll be cool to see who steps up next year for the team.

I want to be top 30 next year at the State meet to be an All-State runner.”

-Kyle Barger ‘17

Photo: E. Simon

“It felt like we came together; everything we had worked on all year finally came together,” Alex Oliver ‘15 said in reference to his teams performance in the district semi-final against Traverse City West.

After defeating West the team went on to win the district title in a 4-0 victory against Midland High. Their final game was in the Regional semi-finals against Rochester Adams, which was a close 1-2 loss resulting in a final overall record of 14-7-2.

“I don’t think there was much we could’ve done any better,” Danny Brott ‘15 said, “they were a great team; they made it to the state finals.”

Despite losing, the team had a positive outlook on the regional semi-finals game and feel they played to their full potential.

“Obviously I wish we could’ve won the game, but I don’t think we played bad,” Oliver said. “The only thing I would have changed going in to it is the amount we practiced defending corners, since that is how they scored their second goal. It just wasn’t our day.”

The quest for the conference title did not go as smoothly as the district playoffs. After losing two big games in a row, the team morale was problematically low.

“Losing to Petoskey on the road was rough, we felt like we should’ve won,” said Brott. “Then we lost to West not even a week later. That was definitely a low point.”

As a whole these loses influenced the team to pick up their effort in practice and work together to achieve their goals.

“The team likes to have fun with one another, and love playing together, they all work really hard in practice,” Head Coach Rob Boynton said.

Boynton was proud of his team’s accomplishments, and took an

it was a lot better than last year; I can say that much. We’ve definitely improved a lot.”

Training is important when it comes to swimming, both physically and mentally.

“The encouragement has definitely helped us,” Cook said. “If a girl is getting down on herself the we just encourage her and tell her she can do it. You can get through practice, you can get through training, and you can get through a meet.”

“Gradually when we give each other encouragement in practice it just pays off. It’s good to know that the team is behind you all the time. When you’re doing bad we always encourage each other.”

Natalia Chela 18’ agrees. “Encouragement and hard practices make us better as a team,” she said. “Cheering them on helps, too.”

The team members have improved not only as individuals, but as a unit as well. “As a whole team compared to last year, I think the biggest thing is definitely dedication and making sure that they’re understanding the sport,” Smith said, “like learning how to do intervals which is when they have to swim a certain distance in a certain amount of time.”

Photo: courtesy K. Smith

“The season has gone great. I’ve gotten best times in my events because of our training. We did 10 50’s and long distance workouts. At my best meet the pool was cold which makes me go faster, plus I was well prepared. It’s been fun in the social aspect, too.”-Natalia Chela ‘18

Photo: courtesy R. Sack, TC Rick Photo

Head Coach John Lober said.

Lober dedicates some of their success to the leadership the team received from the seniors and captains.

“Our seniors lead in ways that they don’t even understand,” Lober said. “They lead by expectations that they have, they motivate when they don’t even know they are, and they set a tone that the younger kids watch.”

McAuliffe was the appointed captain and Tyler Sepanik and Keefer Edwards, both ‘15, were voted in by the team.

“It was an honor to be appointed captain,” McAuliffe said, “but the team made it easy. I had two great co-captains, but really everyone had good leadership qualities which helped us work together like a partnership.”

Through the ups and downs of their season, the team credits their coaches for being their support system as well as their trainers.

“They are the absolute best coaching staff I’ve ever had,” McAuliffe said. “They’ve taught me responsibility, integrity, hard work and dedication.”

With the injuries the team faced, their season overall went well considering work ethic, attitude, and perseverance.

“It’s tough for an athlete mentally to get injured after putting so much time and effort into something,” Lober said, “Everything isn’t always how you want it to be, it isn’t always going to be roses. You accept the challenge, as an athlete, that there will times you aren’t at your best. Our team was able to learn these lessons this year, and are better for it.”

Standings BNC: 1 Regionals: 3 States: 6

optimistic outlook on this past season.

“This season went very well” said Boynton. “We improved every day from beginning to end, and, of course, it’s always fun when you can add a new number to the banner in the gym.”

The Trojan Soccer team had seven boys make first team all state, will another four making second team all state.

“We came together as a team and we found a way to win games whether it was one goal or eight goals.

We had the will to win. The most memorable games were West and Midland in the playoffs. We knocked out West 1-0 which has been my goal since freshman year and we beat Midland 4-0 in District finals.”

-Matt Grost ‘15

Photo: E. Simon Spread credit: Erin Lipp, Noah Aulicino and Alex Stern

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

Photo: courtesy of E. Berden

Standings

The Trojan tennis team is notoriously competitive at the highest state level. With Head Coach Larry Nykerk getting his thousandth win, the team has progressed to the state finals every year since his return from retiring from coaching boys tennis.

Despite losing many of their players, the boys tennis team was still able to secure a spot among the best teams in the state.

“This year we lost all of our best singles players, six of our top eight. Our top freshman also moved to Indianapolis so we had to drop our expectations a little bit from years past,” Nykerk, returning for his 40th season, said.

Although expectations had been dropped slightly, the Trojan Tennis squad planned on overcoming their loss and set a list of goals to strive for.

“We had several goals, we wanted to win all of our dual meets, win the conference, win some tournaments,” Nykerk said, “and, of course, we hoped to qualify for states.”

Through hours of hard work and practice, the team was well equipped to attain their goals, winning their dual meets 6-0, making this their eighth consecutive conference title,

BNC: 1 Districts: 1 Regionals: 3 States: 14

Games were won and hopes were dashed, but the volleyball team can look back on their season with pride.

“We’ve improved on our communication on the court and just had a better understanding of what it takes to win,” Coach Kathleen Nance said. “Our passing has definitely improved since the first part of the season.”

Captain Cara Ferguson ‘16 led the team through wins and losses. “As a team we’ve gotten a lot closer, and you can see it when we’re playing,” she said. “In the beginning we were a bit disconnected, but as the season went on, our bonding outside of the court helped us play better on the court.”

Some of the best games were when the team was communicating and when they were focused on the court, although it did not always work out for the Trojans. “We didn’t do as well in Ogemaw as we should have,” Kelley Olson 16’ said.

“We just weren’t focused enough on the court.”

Ferguson though, felt that Ogemaw was one of the team’s better games. “We had a lot of people step up from different roles because we had a lot of people missing and it was a lot of fun,” she said.

To Nance, the team’s best performance came in the first match against Petoskey.

“We fought really hard through the adversity of the match and played our hearts out,” she said. “It went to five sets and we never got down on ourselves during the game.”

As the coach, the first Gaylord game was hard to watch for Nance due to the lack of cohesiveness and readiness.

“It just didn’t seem like we were prepared to play,” she said. “We just weren’t aggressive enough.”

Improving on communication in the season was a central focus for the Trojan team. “Playing together and our communications skills has been our biggest improvement,” Ferguson said. “Knowing each other and talking to each other is a lot better now.”

Nance is already looking toward next season.

“I’m looking forward to building on the changes we made this year,” she said. “We only graduated one varsity player, so we don’t have to ‘start over’ next year. I think that now that everyone knows me, and I know them, and we have set the expectations, we will make a great deal of progress very quickly.”

Photo: courtesy of B. Lancaster

Photo: courtesy of A. Crick

Standings BNC: NA Regionals: 5 States: NA

“I had a good season but it could’ve gone better. We had a down year as a team but we performed a lot better than we thought we would. We take it seriously and push each other to be the best we can be. Nothing feels better than winning so we do what we can.”

-Hayden Drury ‘15 Photo: E. Simon and winning five other tournaments.

“The season overall was very successful,” Jack Seymour ‘16 said. “We came in having low expectations, but everyone rose to the occasion and stepped up when it mattered.”

Unfortunately, like any team, they were not without their struggles; sometimes finding it difficult to overcome a loss.

“At times, we just didn’t act like a team,” Parker Berden ‘16 said. “It could get pretty hostile; we didn’t act as one.

Fortunately, on the court we were able to still cheer each other on and encourage one another.”

When the pressure was off and the team could relax, the atmosphere was able to lighten up.

“It’s a quality atmosphere,” Seymour said. “It gets a little crazy with Ron and Spencer, those guys are goofballs, but we really could pump each other up.”

Taking all tough times and adversity into account, the team feels perfectly content with how the season played out.

“There were some tight matches and tough losses, but nothing we should have done differently,” Berden said. “In the end we did what we set out to do at the start of the season and met all our goals, if not exceeded them.”

Photo: courtesy of J. Miller

Standings BNC: 4 Districts: NA Regionals:NA States: NA

“Playing against West was my favorite part of the season, even though we lost.

I’ve improved on blocking the most.

I’m a middle hitter, so I move a lot.”

-Sierra Fraser ‘16

Round-up Photo: courtesy of Timeless Image

Standings

Photo: E. Simon

The green golf course is now covered in snow and all signs of Central’s golf team have diminished.

“I always enjoy coaching,” Head Coach Lois McManus said.

“I not only enjoy it because it’s the sport I love, but it is also very enjoyable to me to work with such talented athletes,” she said.

In golf, there are two games: individual and team. “As a team we have have improved by helping each other,” Carly Laird ‘17 said. “Every player on the team has improved in their own way, but we have all brought our scores on par threes down.”

McManus focused in on the physical part of the team.

“They have really improved on par threes. It wasn’t a problem last year, but we’ve practiced it a lot throughout the season,” she said.

To get the team excited for a tournament, everybody puts their right hand in a circle. “We have the parents join it, friends, me and the assistant coaches, anybody who is a “Our team travels a Trojan, and I give them a couple seconds of overview and enlot because we go courage them,” McManus said. “We’ve done this for eighteen years.” to a lot of downWhen the team has trouble getting ready for the tournastate tournaments. ment, they don’t play as well. When the pep talk works, the It makes us really team strives.

“I always say it depends on how they play based on who close because our gets out of the van. You can get out playing your best round, team is 13 players and varsity is six so medium round, or your worst round,” McManus said. “They all get out of the van on the same day and they play their best it’s six girls shoved round. I’m always impressed because they never complain in a van with our about the weather, and they never complain about about coach who is hianything, they come out ready to play.” larious. This year has In addition to being prepared, they also have goals. “I wanted to play the best I could this year and I didn’t feel I been bittersweet played my best,” Laird said. “I had some great holes during a as a senior but I improved by almost tournament, but I also had some that I wish I could go play them over.”

21 strokes. I was McManus also had team goals. “My goal was to have them one of the most get a better record than last year, and they did,” she said. “You improved on the can win an award as an individual, and not have your team get team, something a trophy. Usually they get trophies for first, second and third. just clicked for me You can be the best golfer on the golf course and you can get awarded for that, and your team can come in third or fourth this year.” place. It actually turns out to be two competitions in one; as -Molly Smith ‘15 an individual and as a team.”

BNC: 2 Districts: 1st rd.

Regionals: NA States: NA

“It was a lot of hard work and our season was a little disappointing but fun. It was hard being kicker, I played both ways in the game and then I would have to go kick so I never had a break, so I had to stay focused on what was at hand.”-Matt Pupel ‘15 After claiming the Patriot game against crosstown-rivals, the Trojan football team did not end their season as they would have liked, but were able to advance to the play-offs facing Midland Dow, one of the strongest teams in the state.

“After the Cadillac loss we thought of play-offs as a completely new season,” Cubby Jenkins ‘15 said. “The wins and the losses we had prior meant nothing, everything we had done to that point were building stones. We did things differently, added new things and tried to make it so we were in the best position we could be in in order to win.”

Unfortunately, they were not able to claim the win. As the season progressed the team had increased numbers of injuries to manage. “By week 10 we really had a lot of injuries and a lot of kids who were not playing their best so I think that really hurt us in that game,” Head Coach Tom Passinault said.

Players and coaches do their best to be physically prepared for 10 weeks of football taking a toll on the body.

“Coach Doug Gle is our strength coach and he does a great job of having the boys peak physically into the fall and then we do maintenance lifting and condition during the season to try to keep them at their peak,” Passinault said.

As the team moves from summer training to official practice, they start with a team camp. Every other year they go away to Leelanau School, but this year they stayed here at Central.

“We have a Unity Night where we try to get players to come together as a team,” Passinault said. “One of the toughest things nowadays as a coach is to get players to believe in something as a team.”

While this one night focuses on team unity, the entire season builds their team cohesiveness.

“The chemistry wasn’t there in the beginning of the season and then we progressed into something more,” Jenkins said. “I think this had a lot to do with the hardships we had to go through together. Losing our fourth game helped us a lot because I think we started seeing that we needed to give up things for each other and it’s not about a personal gain it’s about sacrificing yourself for the person next to you, whether it be in the weight room or on the field.”

Standings BNC: NA Districts: 1 Regionals: 3 States: NA

Photo: E. Simon

9

Photo: courtesy of K. Belcher

“The season went really well, I’m impressed with all the freshmen on the team, they made a huge contribution. Equestrian is a way to escape from everything else and just focus on you and the horse.”-Katelyn Belcher ‘16 It was a perfect fall day. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, and the sun was out. Following this trend of perfection, the Trojan Equestrian team started their season out with a perfect score in showmanship.

Although the rest of the season didn’t remain as pristine as their debut, and they missed out on moving on to the state finals, Head Coach Mike Zerbe is proud with how far his team has come.

“We had a good year,” Zerbe said. “We missed going to the state finals by 12 points, which is not that many when you consider we scored 260 points, so all in all I’m happy with the team.” Zerbe believes this to be a big accomplishment considering how inexperienced the team was.

“We are a young team this season, so it didn’t go as well as past seasons, but I’m really happy with the team we had,” Zerbe said. “This year we had three freshmen, so out of the nine we had three kids who had never done this before. I’m very happy with their attitudes, and I’m real excited for their future.”

An important factor in the team’s ability to function well with so many young riders is the amount of time and effort the team put into practicing.

“We practiced a lot at our coach’s house,” Madilyn Korb ‘17 said. “We worked on a lot of showmanship in the off season and did really well at districts.”

The team won with a first through third sweep in their first district meet in the showmanship category. The work ethics of the riders was directly evident in their performances. “The good students seem to be the best athletes” Zerbe said. “They work the hardest and stay focused.”

The team atmosphere throughout the season was beneficial to the riders and created a sense of companionship. “Everyone is really good for each other,” Korbe said. “The little things bring us together and make us a team; we grow closer every day.”

Although the season is currently over, the team continues to build.

“When we realized we weren’t going to be going to states I had a meeting with all the kids and asked them to think about what we could do better to prepare for next year so we can start forming a plan for next year,” Zerbe said.

“There are some young kids that I am very excited about, I think we will be really good.”

Photo: courtesy of K. Belcher

10 Ads

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Nov. 18, 2014

College Continued from pg. 1

Recreational Fuel Available

Funding

Continued from pg. 1 maintain TCAPS’ current budget as well as their continued effort to be a leading school district.

“TCAPS is very proactive in some of the thing they do,” said Schugars, “When I moved here eight years ago I was really pleasantly surprised by how TCAPS was trying to be on the cutting edge with the different programs that are out there. TCAPS does the research and takes initiative to look ahead and say, ‘okay, this is going to be a good thing’ and then they go with it.”

whelming; there is an application, fees, transcripts, ACT scores. I think by having College Application Week it puts the focus back on doing this now. This is the best time to do it and we are going to have all these people here to help students.”

Fleming estimates that about 90% of CHS students end up going to college, 40% to two year and 50% to four year colleges.

“The drive for students to go to college. When we talk about college we mean any kind of after high school training—2 year college, trade school, 4 year college, or military school— has gone up because so many available jobs now require more training beyond high school).”

Fleming said. “We are encouraging students to have a plan after high school. Students who have that additional training will be more likely to make more money and will be more likely to be employed.”

Will Tomaszewski ‘15 was one of the many seniors who benefited from Application Week.

“I just walked in there, and they pretty much did it for me,” Tomaszewski said. “I just had to fill everything out, and they were

really helpful and told me what to do.”

Events like College Application Week bring about the idea of college as an expectation rather than a personal choice.

“People are expected more nowadays to go to college,” Tomaszewski said. “For me it was mostly expectation. My brothers didn’t really go, and my parents had saved up a lot of money, enough for all three of us to go, but they never went to college, so I’m their last hope.”

However, advantages of college are still numerous.

“It is important to go to college so you can have skill sets to get a better job and earn more money,” Tomaszewski said. “You have to have more training for most jobs now, and employers are looking for people who have been to more school.”

The legacy of colleges as being centers of ideas and diversity also has its attractions.

“The main thing would probably be living somewhere other than here,” Tomaszewski said. “I think that at a college you meet more people; it’s a step away from Traverse City.”

12th grade English teacher Sean Jones also recognizes the conundrum that comes with emphasising college.

“To be honest , my initial reac-

tion when I found out that counselors were coming into classes and helping everybody apply to college, was I thought, ‘I don’t know if this is such a great idea’,” Jones said. “I felt at the time that it sent the message to students who were choosing not to go to college that they were making a poor decision. However, after I thought about it for a while, I took a different position on it because you don’t want to close any doors.”

Jones considered the regret students may feel if any opportunities were closed due to their lack of a post-secondary educations.

“I thought that actually, this is a really good thing, because at the very least, it teaches students how to go through the application process, which of course is rather intensive,” Jones said. “I’ve totally changed my mind on it.”

Emphasis aside, Jones does see the number of students interested in college increasing.

“I certainly get the sense that more and more students are looking at college in some way, whether it’s a two-year school or a four-year school and I think it is a very good thing,” Jones said.

The rate of students going to college has gone up. This fall, about 21 million students attended American colleges and universities, which was an in-

crease of about 5.7 million since 2000, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

“I think that we are, in schools, doing a much better job of not only encouraging kids to go to college but also preparing kids for college,” Jones said. “I think we offer more rigor in our curriculums, we have a more extensive course offering, like an increased number in AP classes, as well as an increased number of students taking those classes.”

Central also offers programs like Front Street Writers, early college, or dual enrollment.

“Our early college program, dual enrolling, and our location right near NMC are definitely some of the things that helps kids get a taste of what the college experience is like,” Jones said. “Students interact with college professors, and there is increased dialogue between Central and NMC.” These programs, along with other resources such as College Application Week, help encourage students to go to college, as well as ready them.

“I think that what they did last week was pretty cool,” Jones said. “As was having the counselors come in and walk students through the process, and really making it a goal to apply to even just one college.”

Ads

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Sept. 30, 2014

Money

the general populace, not the select few?

Continued from pg. 3 With these groups not even following the to track. We can track rules half the time, what their expenditures, but should allow anonymous not their intake. There billionaires to control seems to be no way to the election process? even hold them to the Shouldn’t this be a fair law. vote of the people’s clairThe problem with voyant views, not ones politics, is that it’s all one with an uber rich vale sphere of elitist influover them? These groups ence. Those with a lot of are just trying to further money impose their will the income gap, further on the election process. their power, and we’ve alWhat they want to haplowed them to make their pen, happens. way into our elections.

Elections should be They offer nothing but fair, but that whole conunreliable, unruly inforcept is thrown out the mation, doing all they can door when these groups in the dirtiest ways posare formed. With one sible just for a vote. They group spending billions add nothing to elections on a single candidate, how can the others stand but annoying television ads and an overpopulaa chance? The worse thing is, every day people tion of yard signs. They have no chance at making should be demolished for their inhumane actions their way into office due and disregard for respect. to the lack of support While it’s not necesfrom these large groups. sarily a bad thing for Once these tyrants are investors to put their in office, the groups that money towards an idea got them in office hold they support, the amount considerable control over of money in politics is the political world. Isn’t this supposed to be about obscene.

Racing

this, they stain both their public images, and the Continued from pg. 3 sport’s.

As an athlete I know that things happen in may want to conduct competition, it is a part himself like a child, he of the deal. A disapis being held to a higher pointing result does not standard. People look up grant an idiotic outbreak to these guys, but when they bicker and moan like though.

Veterans

is immeasurable. These are people who put their Continued from pg. 3 lives on the line every day to secure the freedoms profit organization dediof our great nation, and cated to raising money things like the VA scandal for veteran initiatives. should never befall people Back in February, Sinise of such noble status. took 50 servicemen and Sinise should be revered women on a three day, for his support and all expenses paid trip to dedication. He’s one of Hollywood. the few public figures out While I’ve don’t have there who really, truly any veterans in my famcares. ily, my respect for them

11

Tests Continued from pg. 3 funding. How are disadvantaged students supposed to improve when their schools lose money for them being disadvantaged?

One test after another quickly adds up for students. Students either have to sacrifice a social life, or a grade. Staff and students at Garfield high school in Seattle, Washington, are even boycotting the state’s Measure of Academic Progress because these exams are such a waste of time.

Not only are students trying to avoid taking these tests, the anxiety they create also cause lack of sleep, putting students in an even worse position at the exact moment we’re relying on them to provide a reliable data sample. We’re setting our students up for

failure.

“We’ve had 12 years of this high-stakes testing, and the evidence on the ground is that it’s not working. And the public is getting angrier and angrier.” Robert Schaeffer, a member of the nonprofit National Center for Fair and Open Testing said.

Expanded amounts of testing also affect the districts. If a certain amount of students repeatedly do poorly on a standardized test, it can decrease money the district is given.

When districts do a poor job of educating their students, it’s fair to cut back the money they receive, but students who score poorly on high stakes tests add up and can eventually affect a teacher’s evaluation. If education went deeper within the knowledge of a student, and tests didn’t just consist of memorization, maybe students would be more moti-

If a candidate is proposing issues to the people, let them be the ones to stand up against it. We believe these political action committees are representing the peoples word, however if someone opposes the groups’ points of views, it’s very difficult for their opinion to be heard. If a candidate has the money to promote their ideas and wants to, more power to them. But, for those who are less fortunate in that aspect, it’s harder for their viewpoint to be noted. This is a democratic country, where anyone is supposed to be able to run for office.

Spending groups destroy that opportunity.

As much as allowing people to spend their money where they want is a good idea, in politics, it’s not. These groups have too much control already, and they need to be stopped before the thin line separating business and government disappears.

vated to excel in school. These days, student opportunity is interpreted through tests like the ACT or SAT, and many young people lose the drive needed to prosper academically after one bad test.

Success today requires critical thinking, adaptability, collaboration, problem solving, and creativity. Instead of filling in bubble sheets and writing essays, assessments should also quantify students’ ability to generate beneficial new ideas.

“A great education is a necessity for security in a globally competitive economy,” Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education, said.

The changing global educational landscape should force our education to change along with it, but instead, we still clamor with this outdated system.

12 The Leek News In Brief

Chris Brower & Mitchell Mosley Staff Reporters

Third Reich sweets

Traverse City Central High School Black & Gold Oct. 16, 2012 real stories, real people

Disclaimer: Satire the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridiciule to expose/criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics & other issues

PDA runs rampant at central With PDA becoming part of the everyday spotlight, Central adopts a new policy, making it feel less like a school and more like the curtianed off section of Blockbuster

Graphic: C. Brower

Students celebrating a fellow classmates’ birthday at a northern Kentucky elementary school will have to do without birthday cake. Anthropologists at the prestigious Herrenvolk University in Madrid have made a shocking discovery. By digging and digging through historical records, the researchers have officially confirmed that birthday cake is indeed the last living direct descendant of Adolf Hitler.

After the discovery was made, Kentucky was first to act, shutting down the dictator-like tasty treat. Principal of Adath Jeshurun Synagogue Jewish Education School, Odillo Globocnik was first to speak on the issue at hand. “Our school can’t have an abomination like birthday cake pushing around our frail jewish stomachs with their tasty...mouth watering goodness,” he said.

“The way it breaks apart in mein mouth is ever so delightful; its, its wunderbar.” Those were his last words before joining the Nazi party as a result of his deteriorating birthday cake fetish, hence, being forever banned from the Jewish Church.

Asking mothers of students about the issue at hand, Leek reporters received the same response. “I can’t believe I’ve been putting part of Hitler in my child for his whole life. To even consider the damage I’ve done...I just feel awful.” The children of the school aren’t affected as much as the parents are, which is a refreshing reversal from the parents’ most recent crusade to not vaccinate their children against whooping cough.

Farmer squatchin

Graphic: C. Brower

Central’s very own Mrs. Fleming is an avid believer and hunter for the elusive Sasquatch. This summer she went on squatch hunts in the U.P. looking for the beast. Little did she know that there another teacher with close ties to the hairy squatch. Mr Farmer.

After last years poor attempt of Farmer covering up his double black eye with, “I dropped my laptop on my face,” word got out it was the result of a Sasquatch encounter. This infuriated Fleming. How could one of her colleagues have gotten so close to the monster without telling her? Feeling betrayed, she summoned the inner mystical beast skills and unleashed her full fury on interrogating Farmer, demanding he explain where he found the beast.

Farmer eventually caved. He was hiking deep in the Rocky Mountains when he encountered the elusive monstrosity, hunched over with his back to Farmer eliminating into an empty bag of Jack’s Links Beef Jerky. He spotted Farmer and attacked, delivering the two embarrassing blows to the math teacher’s face.

This forced Fleming to dig further into the story, but she didn’t like any of what she uncovered. Farmer finally confessed to his colleague that he had secretly been raised by Sasquatch. This is where he learned how to walk like bigfoot and try to grow hair like a yeti. Farmer defended his silence, claiming he abandoned his childhood home to pursue his dreams of being a high school math teacher. This revelation shocked Fleming, she no longer wanted to hunt his family, so she moved on to bigger things like the Loch Ness Monster and Area 51.

Kim can’t even

Graphic: C. Brower

The supreme leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Un, recently went on an excursion to the Dominican Republic to let loose the stress of Pyongyang. Reports say that it all started happening right around the time Un strapped on a pair of Uggs and discovered the wicked powers of Starbucks’ pumpkin spice lattes. Critics believe the North Korean tyrant only went downhill from there on out.

What was supposed to be a simple three day vacation in an all inclusive resort turned Un into what the internet deems a “basic white girl.” As he hiked in his new Uggs, a latte in one hand and his new iPhone 6 in the other, Un reveled in the magic of Instagram and heart emojis. Having turned basic white girl, he spent his short hikes taking photos of trees, leaves resting on his shoes, and that one tiny frog because it was obviously the only one to ever exist. Then he filtered them into high contrast, low resolution masterpieces of simulated vintage nostalgia and Instagrammed each with a caption of “#neature.”

Witnesses on the scene claimed they could notice Un’s transformation into the social media cliche as the world leader took to wearing flannels and North Face jackets. His new found love for all things basic made Un not want to return to his country that only has one lonely grocery store. So Un’s second in command Hwang Pyong-So did the only thing he could to snap the dear leader out of it; he said someone smiled back in North Korea.

Graphic: H. Lancashire

Carl Rasmussen Leek Editor

Administrators are beginning to reconsider Central’s long standing policies regarding personal displays of affection, as more make out sessions in the hallways may be the way to bring student attendance back up.

“Throughout history, PDA has been seen as a hindrance to the learning environment; but after decades of catching couples swap tongues I can safely say that it might be just what we need to get these kids back in class,” Head Principal Rick Vandermolen said in a statement to the press, adding, “We’re looking at forward thinking plans like replacing the morning recital of the Pledge of Allegiance with some of the deeper cuts from Marvin Gaye’s catalog.”

As part of the new system, administrators aim to upgrade all of the currently unflattering fluorescent lighting in the school to soft candlelight, not only “setting the mood for students,” but also allowing for new teaching styles and student activities. “I was a little skeptical of the plan at first, but with all this extra money I can finally resume my 5th hour sensual oil massage class,” teacher Missi Yeomans said.

However, not all the faculty are on board with the plan.

“Have you smelled the Big Gym after a pacer challenge?” asked Coach Doug Gle at the press conference. “It’s like somebody’s armpit grew a foot. It’s gross enough down there without this mess.”

Despite this viewpoint, some bold young lovers have somehow never been deterred from swapping spit in crowded hallways.

“As far as aesthetics go, I think the

school doesn’t really need much improvement,” Gayron Amez said. “Nothing gets me going like cold brick walls and fluorescent lights, mmhmm, case closed.”

So far the plan has been met with student support, although many argue that they feel slightly awkward when they try to get frisky in front of 1500 people. Expecting such complications, Vandermolen

stand how hard it is to see your beau only 6 to 7 times a day.“ “And last but not least, arm yourself with as much metal work as possible,” Sagginis said. “Chains, piercings, gauges, really anything you can find that is shiny and inconvenient, immediately increasing overall swag by at least 34.5 percent.”

Creative TCAPS board members have

Graphic: H. Lancashire

called in an expert on doing weird things all the time: Man Saginnis.

“First off, I would say that the best place to avoid judgement is the junction between F and C building,” Saginnis advised. “Overall low foot traffic plus there’s a trashcan there so you won’t feel like the only piece of garbage in the area,” Sagginis said. “Second, I recommend growing out your hair so it reaches just beneath your eyes, it helps to block out the haters and doesn’t look awful at all, no sir, very stylish indeed. Third, I think you should make an effort to study up on your romantic knowledge, there’s nothing like reciting Shakespeare’s goodbye sonnet and staring aimlessly into his or her lifeless eyes before class. People don’t under-

also considered extending passing time to 9 minutes so you can round first base and still get to second hour on time.

“Basically, we have to do whatever works to get students to class,” Vandermolen said, “and besides, if I already have to spend my lunch hour sitting in the cafeteria, losing my appetite because some girl feels the need to shamelessly hand feed her boyfriend a pepperoni pizza in front of everybody, then I’m going to turn that into something I can use.”

High school is a very important time for young boys and girls everywhere. It is a place we go to learn and grow together.

A place we come to mold our futures and our friendships. A place to make out in the hallways.

Headlines from around the world

U.S gets triple kill on ISIS, +500 points GOP voted most popular in class elections Kardashian parents are “so proud” Student finds handy shortcut, Ctrl-Shift-N

Recent tech issues at Central

Student: “Sorry, google Student: “Sorry, my docs wasn’t working.” password got reset.”

Student: “It kept saying the domain was wrong.”

Teacher: “Aw, those Teacher: “Gotta keep interwebs are always on your codes safe from the fritz.” all them hooligans.”

Teacher: “Dang flab-it, that’s why I always use Open Office.”

Tech Office: “That will Tech Office: “That will Tech Office: “That will be one million dollars.” be one million dollars.” be one million dollars.”