0405-8

“We’re so close to the end, but there’s one more issue left ... ahh, let it be over.”

Shh: GLOW students took a break at lunch on the Day of Silence pg. 6 Making a CD: Want to know how its done? Check out the cool ways to get your stuff on a CD. pg.3 April 28, 2005 Volume XVI, Issue 8

Dexter High School 2200N. Parker Road Dexter, MI 48130

Watch out: Senior girl has a black belt, better stay on her good side. pg.10

New student press freedom bill waiting in education committee Sarah Craft editor in chief

Photo illustration by Mike Vickers

Students have ability to hack █Increased knowledge in technology could allow students to tap into the school’s system and change their grades.

Michelle Svetkoff managing editor

Changing a grade used to be possible only when a student tried harder the next quarter. But with advances in technology, changing a grade is now possible through computer hacking.

“If you know what you’re doing,” junior Spencer Ryan said, “it’s not hard.”

According to Ryan, Dexter High School’s grading system is very vulnerable to a hacker changing grades.

“It’s the way (teachers) turn in grades,” he said. “They just turn their grades into a folder on their desktops. That folder isn’t protected at all, so anyone can change (the grades).”

According to Ryan, to change grades students only have to know one teacher’s login and that student will have access to all of the grades.

To prevent such hacking tech support person Phyllis Risdon says that

it’s important for teachers to keep their passwords secret.

Besides password concealment, Ryan said the only way to change the glitch is to buy a new system. But changing the system would not necessarily eliminate the problem.

“Any system can be hacked,” tech support person Roger Johnson said.

“No matter whose it is. There are just varying degrees of hacking.”

If the system were hacked into, Johnson said he would have to check the various levels to which the system could be hacked.

“I would have to look for security breeches,” he said, “from the server up, to see where the weaknesses are.”

Administrators say they know of no one who has changed their grades or hacked into the system, but they acknowledge that it is possible.

District technology director Richard Weaver did not return phone calls seeking comment on the situation.

Hacking isn’t the only way students can change their grades. Students can also scan their report cards and change their grades. Although this does not change the students actual GPA, it does hide grades from parents.

According to senior Mark Messmore, who considers himself a hardware hacker, the scan change really is not that hard to do.

“If you have a scanner and a powerful program like Photoshop,” he said, “all you have to do is take a letter already on the sheet and duplicate it. It’s very simple.”

Senior Steve Cavanaugh said he has changed some student’s progress reports even though it only changes the grades on that paper and not actually on the transcript.

“Think about the kids that come and ask,” Messmore said. “They are dumb people. (They) don’t understand that when you change your progress report, you don’t change your transcript.”

Senator Michael Switalski introduced Senate Bill No. 156 to the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 3.

According to Michigan Interscholastic Press Association legislative chair Gloria Olman, the bill was created to prevent public school administrators from censoring student publications unless the content is obscene, defamatory, advertises a product illegal for minors or could disrupt the school day.

Journalism adviser Rod Satterthwaite said he supports the bill.

“The biggest problem is that administrators often misunderstand what the bill says,” Satterthwaite said. “You can’t censor something just because you don’t like it. “It has to be libel or obscenity. The bill will make that clearer to administrators.”

Olman said she too hopes the bill will pass so students can have the right to publish what they want.

“The bill protects students, advisers and anyone else who wants to use the First Amendment,” she said. “People need to understand and exercise their First Amendment rights, and this will help them do that.”

Friday Night Lights for spring sports Sarah Craft editor in chief

Accessible: Grades of all the teachers are accessible and changeable by students who know where to look.

No problems yet: Although he has never had much trouble with censorship, journalism teacher Rod Satterthwaite said he still supports Senate Bill 156. “Our current administration has been very supportive of our paper,” he said.

Cindy Glahn, president of the Athletic Booster Club of Dexter, will host a spring pep rally called Friday Night Lights at Ulrich Field at Creekside on May 13.

“We’re playing games and having different clubs set up tables to advertise for their club or sport,” she said. “We want it to have sort of a carnival theme to draw people from the school system as well as from the community.”

And supporting school athletics isn’t all ABCD promotes Glahn said. They’re trying to support school spirit too.

“We do usually focus on athletics alone, but in increasing school spirit, we’re also increasing sports attendance,” she said.

“We’re really excited about this event. We’re hoping for a large crowd and just a really fun night.”

█ABDC will host a pep rally on May 13 at Ulrich Field

Community members questions district’s honesty █After “The Community Observer” publishes an article questioning the district’s finances, even more controversy spurred over budget cuts.

Transportation cuts worry parent

Hillary McCown and Brandon Mayotte copy and image editor

happened in any way, shape or form.”

The Observer also accuses the board of holding meetings in private without posting notices of them in adIn early Spring “The Community Observer,” a local vance.

Many of them were held at Zanzibar Restaurant in news magazine, published an article titled “Fuzzy Math” accusing the Dexter school board of sloppy record keep- Ann Arbor, with only three board members, Spargur and ing and digging the already troubled budget deeper into a few others present.

Lundy said in The Observer article, “(We) did not want financial crisis.

The Observer introduced what they said are a plethora to be holding up construction to call a meeting of (the full of budget and record problems in the district, including board) to decide, when they were not actively involved.”

However, when interviewed by The Squall, Lundy a $4.7 million hole in the record books, the destruction of over two truckloads of documents by former superin- said, “I don’t believe (the meetings) were private,” but tendent Bill Spargur, the holding of private school board that it was a “murky legal area” and said he couldn’t commeetings, unannounced to the public as is required by ment further.

As for the $63,332 given to Spargur, Superintendent law and the issue of $63,332 to Spargur for “a few eEvelyn Shirk said the money was mails” after he retired. due to Spargur’s contract.

According to the article, the district From a practical point of view, I think (the In June of 2003, Shirk said a spent a total of $6.1 million in bond board) did a wonderful job. I don’t believe group of board members created a money on equipment, furniture and the (Observer) article represents what hap- Retirement/Separation Agreement fixtures between 2000 and 2002, while pened in any way shape or form.. that would allow for Spargur’s reskeeping no inventory of its assets. ignation to be accepted in NovemHowever, the latest audit, done on -Richard Lundy, ber 2003, with his last work day beJune of 2004, revealed only $1.4 milBoard treasurer ing June 30 of that year. lion for the said purchases, leaving “I was able to negotiate a retirement agreement that $4.7 million unaccounted for.

Spargur, however, says that he has no idea where The was satisfactory to myself and the board,” Spargur said about the Retirement/Seperation Agreement. “It was apObserver got this figure.

“All funds in the bond were accounted for and ap- proved (unanimously) in a public meeting.”

According to Shirk, “(Spargur’s original ) contract ran proved by the Board of Education,” he said. “The bond was audited every year with no discrepancies and a final through the 2004-05 school year.

“According to the contract, if the board terminated the audit completed at the end of the bond.”

But The Observer article said 100 items, including contract early, he would have been entitled to 15 month computers, video recorders, televisions and cameras are severance pay.”

Because of that, a choice had to be made to either pay in currently unknown locations, which according to they, Spargur the $63,332 or give him the severance pay which due to “haphazard” record keeping.

Board Treasurer Richard Lundy, however, said, “From Shirk said would have been much more. a practical point of view, I think (the board) did a won The next issue of The Squall will contain a continuation of this story including derful job.

“I don’t believe the (Observer) article represents what interviews with the editor of The Community Observer, Shirk, Spargur and others.

“

”

Christina Field photography manager

“

I knew the job of superintendent would be challenging, and this job has proven to be just that.

”

-Evelyn Shirk, Superintendent

Trying their best: After struggling with negative press from “The Community Observer,” Superintendent Evelyn Shirk said the district is doing its best to inform community members of facts regarding the district’s budget.

With budget cuts being discussed for next school year, some parents are concerned about how cutting back on expenses will affect their children.

At the board of education meeting on March 21, parent Julie Stotlar, whose daughter Lauren Stotlar was killed in a school bus accident five years ago, expressed her concerns.

Addressing the board, Stotlar made it clear that the school needs to have sufficient funding for the transportation department or offer none at all.

In the statement Stotlar gave to the Board, she said it was the way the transportation system was managed before current director Robert Poor that resulted in her daughter’s death.

A court document obtained from the National Coalition For School Bus Safety (NCSBS) alleges that Heather Armbruster, the bus driver that struck Lauren, had numerous complaints filed against her during her four years as a Dexter bus driver.

The NCSBS document said the complaints included driving over speed limits, skidding to stops and

screeching away from stops, speaking abusively and profanely to schoolchildren, striking a car with the bus, hitting curbs and mailboxes and driving the bus into a ditch on two occasions requiring evacuation of school children.

In an e-mail, transportation director Robert Poor said regarding complaints against bus drivers.

“We take all complaints seriously and have a concern and complaint form that is filled out and all complaints are investigated and the outcome is communicated with the complainant.”

In terms of the budget, Board of Education treasurer Dick Lundy said that cutting from the transportation system would certainly be reviewed since this department still has unspent money in its budget.

Poor, however, said that there are so many ways his budget can be cut.

“We only have a few ways to limit costs of transportation, the biggest way is to limit service,” he said.

Stotlar, however, said any transportation cuts are dangerous.

“I basically went (to the board meeting) to remind them to follow policy and procedures,” she said.

“And if cuts had to be made, don’t take from the transportation system.”

2

the Squall

news

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Photo by Sarah Craft

Waiting for the bus: Juniors Matt Snider and Paul Jakubik and senior Andy Paulun wait for their ride consortium classes. One of the reasons school starts earlier next fall is that consortium students need to start school the same time Saline does.

School to start earlier in fall Daniel Monson staff writer

Photo by Jennifer Allen

Paying the piper: Senior Elise Seide hands lunch lady Mary Hafner money for her lunch. With recent problems in the lunch system, students regularly have to show a picture ID for proof of account ownership.

New lunch policy requires student IDs Recent thefts change the process for students who purchase lunch Jennifer Allen circulation manager

As senior Paul Miller filed through the lunch line, he took notice of the new sign which said, “Please Have Your ID Ready.” He punched in his PIN and the lunch lady frowned.

“Do you have your ID on you?” she asked.

Miller pulled out his ID, and students behind him looked on in interest.

According to Assistant Food and Nutrition director Faber, the new policy of checking student ID’s before they purchase food is to protect students’ lunch accounts.

Recent thefts have led officials to reconsider the current lunch line process, as students have discovered ways to steal money from other student’s account simply by typing in the other student’s PIN. This simple crime has been mastered by many students.

“I did it once to junior Derek Ager’s account freshman year,” junior

Erik Boren said. “I bought lunch for the whole table and no one questioned me.”

But now Boren is a victim of lunch room ID theft too.

“I would put $50 into my account, and by the end of the week it would be gone,” he said.

“I went and asked for a print out, and it showed that someone had purchased something after me every day.

“After that, I started paying with cash or bringing my lunch from home.”

In February, Food and Nutrition discovered two separate cases of theft, both of which were brought to their attention by the parents of the students. Because hundreds of dollars of lunch credit were stolen, the school asked the police to get involved. As a result of this police investigation, administrators suspended at least one student.

“Stealing is serious business,” Faber said. “A lot of students will take things from the lunch room or use other student’s accounts without even thinking that what they are doing is stealing.”

In order to prevent students from stealing, the Food and Nutrition department decided to make some changes.

“If it is the second purchase that day, or if we don’t recognize the per-

Photo by Jennifer Allen

Waiting in line: Freshman Alex Kish stand with his lunch while Mary Hafner puts his purchase into the computer. son that is buying something as the person that owns the account, then we would ask for ID,” lunch lady Karen Franson said.

Beginning in the fall, Faber said some form of ID will be required for every purchase.

“Hopefully this will stop the stealing,” she said. “We don’t think it’s unreasonable.”

According to Faber, if the Food and Nutrition department hopes to purchase scanners and implement a card ID system in the fall.

She said this process would allow students to swipe their cards for every purchase instead of typing in their PIN.

Football players sell bricks to raise money for renovation of stadium New scoreboard, press box among new items for football program Kyle Muse news editor

Due to a new fund-raising idea, there could be 1000 additional seats added to the football stadium.

The Athletic Booster Club of Dexter (ABCD) as well as the Football Touchdown Club is heading a project that will add 1,000 additional seats that have entrance and exit stairs in the middle of them to reduce traffic, a new press box and field house with team locker rooms, rest rooms and concessions.

These groups hope to raise money by selling personalized bricks that

will be laid around the flagpole and an example of this would be naming the wall of fame after the donor. team entrance fence.

“Right now we have raised According to ABCD, The bricks include a $100 contribution for a $35,000, and we purchased a new 4”x8” brick with three lines for per- scoreboard which will be put in besonalization or a $250 dollar con- fore next season by volunteers,” he tribution for an 8”x8” brick with six said.

“The bricks are lines for persongoing to be laid this alization summer in a 2000 For a donasquare foot plot.” tion of $500I hope that once As an incen999 a booster tive, Barberi also plaque will be ispeople see the bricks said each individual sued and a spot in the ground they will sports program can on a wall of fame receive $10 for evreserved. want to be a part of it. ery brick they sell.

A$1,000Although the 4,999 contribu-Tom Barbieri bricks will be laid tion results in a football coach this summer, the maroon plaque sale of the bricks as well as a spot will not stop until on the wall of the space runs out. fame.

Barberi has high hopes for brick At $5,000-9999, donors receive an individual hall of fame plaque and sales.

He said, “I hope that once people over S25,000 contribution results in see the bricks in the ground they will a special permanent recognition.

Football coach Tom Barberi said want to be a part of it.”

“

”

Dreadnaught Burgers are back on May 12th!!

Try the Chicken Fajitas on May 25th!

This would allow for both more security and a faster lunch line.

In the mean time, Faber hopes that the random ID checks will discourage students from stealing.

“Our primary goal is to make the system convenient and secure,” she said. “We don’t want to inconvenience anyone, but it is our job to make sure that the money that goes into a student’s account stays safe.”

After his short encounter with the new policy, Miller said that he agrees.

“I don’t think that the request to see ID is outrageous,” he said. “If it means that there isn’t anymore stealing then that’s great.”

2005 graduation on Sunday, not Friday like years past At the senior meeting on April 15, principal Pat Little explained why graduation, scheduled for June 5, is on a Sunday this year instead of a Friday like in past years.

Because of sports and other activities that may extend into that weekend, the date was slated for Sunday in order to not make these athletes choose between attending their graduation or sporting event.

Senior Steve Cavanaugh likes the new day.

“I think it’s a good thing because it doesn’t interfere with sports or hanging out with your friends,” he said.

“Another good thing is that you don’t have to worry about your parents taking off work.”

The graduation ceremony for 243 seniors starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 5. The seniors’ last day is May 20.

School will come early for students next year. The 2005-2006 school calendar shows school starting on August 24.

According to teacher union president Joe Romeo, the early start is due to synchronizing the schedule with Saline’s in order to start consortium students with the rest of their class.

“Consortium students, for every day they miss, it is counted as two,” Romeo said.

“We had to coordinate our schedule with (Saline’s) in order to start these students with the rest of their class.”

Consortium, which is a program held at Saline Area Schools, is available to students who want to put emphasis on a part of curriculum that is not offered at Dexter High School.

The classes are three hours long, held in the morning and last the entire year.

Saline begins school on August 25. According to secretary Gina Newell, 55 students are signed up for consortium for the 2005-2006 school year.

A concern for some is that the schedule conflicts with the Chelsea Community Fair, held August 23 through August 27.

Some students take part in the fair, and now have to choose between going to school or continuing something they have been doing for years.

“When you weigh the amount of kids in the fair versus those in consortium, it was a choice that had to be made,” assistant principal Andrea Glynn said.

Glynn also said that the schedule, which has a shortened summer vacation this year, will help lengthen next year’s.

“You go in a week early and get out a week early,” she said. “So it really comes down to doing the

time early rather than later.”

Some students, like freshman Sean Kilian, say they are upset with the short summer but understand why it is being done.

“I think the start date of August 24 is OK, but I would’ve liked a longer summer,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter to me that we coordinated our schedule with Saline’s.”

Romeo, who designed the initial schedule before it was approved by the board of education, said that if the board would have known about the problems this schedule would bring beforehand, it would likely not have been approved.

“I think it was a mistake the board made,” he said. “I don’t think they were intentionally trying to create a problem.”

Romeo also said that while this schedule may be a problem for some, in the following years he believes every district in Washtenaw County will have essentially the same basic schedule.

“If we can get all the superintendents and teacher associations to agree, it should be only a matter of a few years before the schedule is enacted,” he said.

According to Romeo, the synchronized schedule would include basically the same start date, Christmas break, spring break and end date.

Each school district in the county, excluding Ann Arbor, belongs to the Washtenaw County Education Association, the organization Romeo says will govern the process. He has been meeting with the association in the past few weeks and is confidant the schedule will work.

Other highlights of the schedule: The last day of school is scheduled to be June 9, 2006.

Snow day make-up days will be the following Monday and Tuesday. PPD days will again be added on to weekends and be one full day every two months.

Second semester exams to follow original two Complaints spark change for June’s final exams Sarah Craft editor in chief

When junior Kristen Kolakowski found out final exams were going to be over three days at the end of the year instead of two like first semester exams, she said she was relieved.

“That’s a really good thing for me,” Kolakowski said. “It’s a lot easier to just have two exams in a day instead of three, especially because I had my three hardest classes all on one day.”

And Kolakowski wasn’t the only one feeling the pressure. According to assistant principal Andrea Glynn, administrators heard a lot of complaining about the schedule.

“It wasn’t only from the students, it was parents calling in too,” she said. “We noticed that the students weren’t probably getting the study

time they need and were feeling too much pressure.”

In the past the school has had two exams a day for three days, but in order to meet state requirements regarding hours in the classroom, Glynn said the school had to change their ways.

“We were audited last year, and we weren’t making the hours,” she said. “That’s why we switched it to two days instead of three. That way students were spending more instructional hours in the classroom.”

Although Glynn said administrators haven’t come up with the final schedule for end-of-the-year exams, she said exams will be held over three days instead of two.

“We’re looking to other schools in the area to see what their schedules look like so we can see some other options that will be the best for our school,” she said. “We want our kids to do well on the exams, and we’re doing our best to help them with that by taking away the pressure of three exams in one day.”

Thursday, April 28, 2005

3

the Squall

feature

Students feelings towards Prom vary Sara Newell circulation manager

Ever since she can remember, senior Christina Sarnecki has wondered what senior prom would be like.

“Growing up, watching my sisters get all dressed up for their proms,” she said.

“Hearing bits of how much fun they’d had, I’ve wanted to go.

“I got my dress in January. I want Prom to be special. It’s the last year I’ll have a chance to go, so why not go all out?”

Many students agree, Prom should be a special night with friends or a date.

“Prom should be a night to remember. It’s not an every day event.”

Sarnecki said.

Buying the perfect dress, finding a dream date, and having a great night, is what many students hope for at Prom.

“It’s fun to get dressed up,” Sarnecki said.

“I’m a little girl at heart and still like to play dress up.”

“I like to pretend to be more fabulous, and Prom is a great place to do that.”

Although having a great night is important, Sarnecki said she may be missing out on the experience if it isn’t all out.

“I want Prom to be special,” she said. “It’s senior year. Everything I do in high school will be the last, so I want to make it the best.”

However, not everyone takes

Prom so seriously. In fact many students would rather it were less of a big deal.

“I don’t understand why everyone gets so into prom,” senior Connor Donevan said.

“It’s just another night, only the girls are in dresses and the guys are in tuxes, and it’s expensive.”

Because so many students have different opinions on what the perfect prom night is, it makes planning for the big night more difficult for groups of friends.

For Sarnecki this year’s plans have been more stressful than before.

“Everyone wants to do different things and spend different amounts of money,” she said.

“But at the same time I want to go

with all my friends. It’s hard to make everyone happy.”

Although some students want to make Prom night an extravagant affair, others don’t have the money to throw down for a limo and fancy dinner as well.

“I don’t think its necessary to spend $60 on a limo, 30 on dinner, 80 on tickets and 100 for a tux, for one night that I’m spending with friends,” Donevan said.

Yet some feel that spending the extra cash is worth it.

“It’s senior year, and I want the night to go well, get a limo, have a nice dinner and have a good time,” senior Bill Burgett said.

“I don’t really have a ton of money to spend. But I will so that the night is special for me.”

“

I want prom to be special. It’s senior year ... So I want to make it the best.

”

-Christina Sarnecki senior Picture perfect: Seniors Bill Burgett and Christina Sarnecki discuss their Prom plans. Prom is April 30.

Two years after surgery Holmes’ pain returns Stephanie Rushlow ad manager

Photo Sarah Craft

Just like magic: GLOW members sophomore Emily Fisher, senior Robert Flemister and sophomore Sarah Martinez talk amongst each other during lunch.

Although members were encouraged not to speak to other students during school, they took a break from silence at lunch to discuss the day.

Students stay silent in protest of gay bias GLOW encourages students to participate in nation wide Day of Silence Sara Newell circulation manager

While sitting in her fifth hour class, junior Kaelen Greer couldn’t help but hear the whispers around her about her appearance.

“This kid in my class kept nagging me on, trying to get me to say something,” she said.

But Greer didn’t respond. She was taking part in a National Day of Silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment directed towards gay and lesbian people.

The Day of Silence is a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

It is a student-led day of action where students against gay bias in schools wear all black and take a day long vow of silence.

“Being silent is a way to protest other peoples’ silence to those things they don’t understand,” senior Robert Flemister said.

Flemister who brought the idea for The Day of Silence to the Dexter’s GLOW club was disappointed in the reaction some students had to the protest.

“The idea was misunderstood by a lot of people,” he said.

“People thought that if you wore black that you were gay or lesbian, but really it was just that you supported the idea at hand.”

Students who did participate in

everyone’s mind, but it is hard to the Day of Silence found that what ignore other peoples disrespect. I they did had an impact on other stuhoped that people would recognize dents as well as themselves. and support what we were doing, “It was hard to stay silent, so it’s but many still pointed fingers and hard to understand how so many made rude comments.” people can alienate people based Even though some students were on whether or not they are gay,” disrespectful to the people in supFlemister said. port of the Day of Silence, others Greer found that the day had a very powerful impact on her as well. we’re supportive and understand“My mom is a lesbian, and I’m bi, ing. so to participate in something like “There is always going to be peothis has a lot ple who disof meaning in agree with you, my life,” she but a lot of peosaid. “It was ple in my classvery poweres we’re very ful for me to supportive, encouraging stand up in me to stand up what I believe for what I bein and put mylieve in,” Greer self in a vulnerable place. said. “Also the -RobertFlemister, teachers were When you great.

They can’t respond senior were really to some of the understanding negative comand supportive.” ments coming at you. It’s hard, but Some of this support even reyou have to hold your ground. Every sulted in students speaking out to little thing counts.”

It was especially hard for Greer others. to hold her ground when many of “People would stand up for me the comments were extremely ofwhen they heard a rude comment, fensive. saying that it was disrespectful, or that they couldn’t believe it was be“People would walk behind me in ing said,” Greer said. “That helped the halls and say things like, ‘That’s so gay,’ and ‘fag,’” she said. make the day easier.”

“People I didn’t even know could Although some people reacted say these hateful things. It was hard. negatively to The Day of Silence, Sometimes I almost felt like cryFlemister said the message of tolering.” ance was sent to his peers.

Although not all students were “I think we made an impact on supportive of GLOW’s efforts to end Dexter. We got some reactions from bias. people, both good and bad, but hopeFlemister said, “You can’t change fully we’re breaking the silence.”

“

Being silent is a way to protest other peoples’ silence to those things they don’t understand.

”

National Day of Silence History •1996 'Day of Silence' created with 150 participants at the University of Virginia •1997 'National Day of Silence' began with 100 colleges participating nation wide •1998 high schools began to reconize 'National Day of Silence' and was expanded from one day of silence to incorporate more educational events •2001 'National Day of Silence' received funding from GLSEN to provide for a full time staff •2002 'National Day of Silence' recognized by USA Today, MSNBC and CNN www.dayofsilence.org

On a slow Monday night at Champs Restaurant in Bloomfield, guidance counselor Gerry Holmes looked across the dinner table into the eyes of her step daughter’s family.

What she thought would be her giving them a quick update of her medical condition ended up giving her hope for the future. Two years ago doctors diagnosed Holmes with a rare brain condition that affected her trigeminal nerve and brain stem causing shocks to the right side of her body.

Four out of every 100,000 people suffer from the rare disorder called trigeminal neuralgia which is often times known as the suicide disease.

“Something up in my head, which my surgeon found out is an artery, is pushing on my trigeminal nerve, which is back by my brain stem,” Holmes said.

“When I had my surgery two years ago, they placed a Teflon coated sponge to separate the artery from the trigeminal nerve, and I was fine for two years.”

But for Holmes the sponge in her brain that separated a good day from a bad was not the miracle she was hoping for.

“Not that long ago, during the winter months, I went to plug in an electric blanket, and I stood up and hit the back right side of my head where the sponge was placed,” she said.

“It wasn’t too long after that I began to feel small sensations on my right cheek.

“It felt like a small bug or something. I let it go for a while, but the sensations became strong and more noticeable.”

By the time Holmes realized she had dislodged the sponge and her shocks would soon be coming back, it was too late.

“I remember when I had my first shock after I bumped my head,” she said.

“I was at the staff Christmas party at (principal Glenn) Stevenson’s house. And it was just so embarrassing because I started to have a half an hour long full blown shock. I was in so much pain and there was nothing anyone could do.

“So there I was on Mr. Stevenson’s couch in more pain then I could even put into words. My trigeminal neuralgia was back, and I needed to do something.”

Months after Holmes had her first shock she is still searching for a way to live her life without going back under for surgery.

“It was a difficult surgery that I had before,” Holmes said. “So I’m really trying to find other alternatives.

“Right now my neurologist has

In recovery: Counselor Gerry Holmes experienced pain after her first trigeminal neuralgia surgery. put me back on some medications, and we found one that works.

“It is an epileptic drug or an anti-seizure medication, but I am on such high dosages it really interferes with my life.”

Aside from the interference Holmes’ medication has on her daily life, it is also taking a toll on other functions in her body.

“The drugs make you tired, hungry and it is very tough on your liver,” she said.

“To be quite honest I have been on 10 epileptic pills per day. I was up to 3,000 mg a day, and this was all to dull the nerve endings that cause my shocks.”

But as with most medications Holmes’ body will someday become immune to the chemicals and leave her searching for yet another cure.

“I’ve been going to an acupuncturist, which is another alternative I’ve been trying, and he sticks about 25 needles in my head,” she said.

“I lay on this cot for 20 minutes while he connects these small electrical clamps to the little needles in my head.

“Then they turn on a very mild voltage of electrical current. The electricity pulses through these needles and I just lay there.”

But Holmes, who realizes that acupuncture may not work for the rest of her life, found hope from a stranger on a slow Monday night at Champs Restaurant.

“When I was at dinner with my family there was this man that walked over to me at says, ‘I’ve had that’,” Holmes said.

“I wasn’t sure he was talking to me, but he said, ‘I’ve had what you have,’” she said. “And I had a surgery a while back, and I have been pain free ever since.”

Still unsure about the story this man was telling, Holmes invited him to their dinner table.

“He sat down and he said, ‘Look, I’ve been through everything you have. I had trigeminal neuralgia for 14 years, and it was ruining my life’.”

In shock Holmes heard this man tell a story much like her own.

“He told me he did a study at the University of Michigan and discovered something called acute facial pain clinic in New York City.

“At this clinic there is this man that performs a surgery that is said to heal people with trigeminal neuralgia,” Holmes said.

“I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore when this man told me his story. It brought tears to my eyes.”

4

the Squall

features

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Stroke catches Sandy Klein off guard and unaware Former para-professional faces an unpredictable health scare Raleigh Holmes staff writer

Pounding to the beat: Marching through Diseny Land, the band enjoys cheers from the audience. “I was so excited,” freshman Emily Wetzel said. “...We could hear all the crowd cheering for us even before we even got to the street.”

Band marches through Disney The band’s 24-hour drive to Florida pays off

Seth Porinski staff writer

When senior Maggie Seeger made the choice of whether or not to go on the band’s spring break trip, she said many factors influenced her final decision.

The abundance of advanced placement classes in her schedule accounted for her decision, ultimately, to not go.

“Partially, I was afraid of what (English teacher Mary) Mattner would say about me while I was gone,” Seeger said with a laugh. “I didn’t really want to miss my AP classes because I knew I’d be behind then.

Freshmen year when I made the choice to go on the band trip, (Math teacher Dewey) Scott made me cry.”

And this year Scott is one of the many teachers upset with the number of people absent as a result of the band trip. He said the trip could be planned for a better time.

“There’s only 180 school days and 365 days in the year,” Scott said, “I think they could have planned it for a time when these kids aren’t going to be missing school.”

Mattner agrees with Scott. She said there was a noticeable difference in her classes, as over half of the class was missing in one of her hours.

“I don’t question the importance of the band trip,” she said, It’s a good reward for students “I’m sure it is very beneficial for who have been through band the students. However, It would all four years of high school. be helpful to teachers if they could to it at a less rigorous time -Maggie Seeger of year.”

She said it was especially hard to deal these blows to the curriculum, especially with all the snow days this year.

“It has a fairly serious effect on the curriculum, especially in the higher levels,” Mattner said. “I’m trying to prepare students for a National AP Exam.”

Because of situations like Mattner’s, the school’s policy committee decided to deal with the problem.

The committee is creating a policy that would force teachers that want to take students out of class for two days or more to OK it with their peers first.

“If it was only a small amount of the students, it wouldn’t be so bad,” Scott said, “But the whole band?

You’re talking about 20 percent of the students.”

While teachers silently cursed the band trip, students relished their vacation.

Seeger said she really enjoyed the trip freshmen year and would have loved to go this year.

For senior Bridget Riehle, the trip provided some much-needed relief.

“I was starting to get tired of the everyday work of high school,” Riehle said. “I know we have Spring Break, but the band trip really got me away from it all.

I also learned a lot while there.”

Riehle did admit it was not easy to play catch-up, but with the whole week off from school, she was able to do it.

Scott said many of his students who attended this trip were not able to pull it off as easily as she did.

“A lot of the students struggled after missing a couple days,” Scott said. “I had to postpone a quiz until after spring break, and I think some of the band kids struggled with it.”

Band director Moore said he had not heard any negative feedback from teachers directly, and encouraged teachers who do have a problem with it to talk to him or Mr. Woolfolk.

“I thought the band trip was a success,” he said.

“Educationally it was very sound. The clinics were very beneficial, and students had the opportunity to see what it feels like as a professional musician.”

Recent band trip has caused teachers to stress.

Numerous students absences take their toll.

Jenny Heldt feature editor

Jurassic Park: Sophomore Sean Wallace said he enjoyed Universal Studios a lot.

“We ate pizza next to the Jurassic Park ride and in the gazebo where we sat they were playing music from Jurassic Park. It made me feel ferocious.”

“

”

18 candles: Senior Tiffany Spencer enjoyed being at Disney for the first time.

According to Spencer kids who had their birthday during the trip all had a semi embarrassing moment. “Having to wear a Mickey Mouse hat in front of the whole band was a little embarrassing.

But it was my first Disney experience, and it was great.”

The night was clear. The streets were crowded.

The Disney castle was all lit up and the marching band marched down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom in front of their largest crowd ever.

“I was so excited,” freshman Emily Wetzel said. “There was a big door that kept the audience out of backstage Disney, but we could hear all the crowd cheering for us before we even got to the street.”

According to band director Ken Moore, the band had to send in an audition tape from District Festival 2003 to be invited to march at Disney because the due date was so early. There was also a four page application the directors had to fill out with the band’s past accomplishments as well as where the band had marched before.

“We weren’t surprised that we got accepted,” Moore said nonchalantly. “But they don’t take just anybody.

The fact that we were the last band in the last parade before the Spectral Magic Parade says something about our program.”

Recently, Disney has become very well acquainted with Dexter’s band program.

“This was our sixth time marching at Disney World,” Moore said. “We’ve marched in Disney Land, the Gator Bowl, the Outback Bowl ...” he said trailing off with a smile, “but you don’t really need to know all about those.”

The trip started on Wednesday before spring break with a 23 hour bus ride. “(The ride) was ... fun,” Wetzel said laughing. “I was with so many of my friends, but I really wish we would’ve taken a plane because the ride was just so long.”

Once Wetzel and the rest of the group arrived in Orlando, they were allowed to roam the park in groups of four people for many hours.

“We got coupons for food,” Wetzel said. “But the food was horrible. It was almost all hamburgers. I don’t like hamburgers, and I got sick of them really fast.”

Despite the long parade route and many hours put into practicing, Wetzel said she enjoyed the parade the most because there were so many people watching them.

“The band directors hyped it up,” she said, “making it seem like it would be this terribly long parade route. It didn’t seem long to me though. Maybe it was because I was so excited from all the people watching us. But I play the flute.”

Wetzel’s lack of surprise was made up by Trixie, the parade route guide for the band, who has been working at Disney for over a year and a half.

“We were the first high step marching band she had ever seen,” Moore said, leaning back in his chair, coffee mug in hand. “She also thought our show stop was unique. She had never seen a band go down on one knee before.”

According to Moore, performing nationally is something the band does for reasons more than just playing their instrument. “(Mr. Woolfolk and I) were struck by the number of students who came up to us and told us how much the trip meant to them,” Moore said. “That’s why we do this ... It’s neat to perform when we represent more than just Dexter ... performing for a national audience ... but it’s for the kids. It gives them an experience of traveling in a large group.”

According to Wetzel, all the work that parents, directors and any hired help put into the trip has been well worth it.

The band, however, never ceases to amaze the directors.

“I continue to be proud of more than just how well our kids play their instruments,” Moore said. “I am proud of their behavior and because they represent their school and the community so well.”

As Mill Creek custodian and former high school para pro Sandy Klein walked to her car after going to lunch with some friends on an early spring day, she suddenly fell to the ground, landing hard on her right knee.

“Some men walking towards me helped me up and asked me if I was all right,” Klein said.

“I told them that I thought I was and continued walking to my car.”

When I fell, I didn’t black out and I remember seeing the men walking towards me.”

“I can also remember thinking that I was tripping on something and telling my feet that they knew how to work just do it,” she said.

“I had no pain anywhere when this was happening and felt fine.”

When Klein fell, she ripped a hole in her jeans so she went home to change before heading to a meeting at Copeland that lasted an hour and a half.

“During the drive home and back and during the meeting I felt a little shaky but really didn’t think much about it.”

After her meeting Klein went to Mill Creek for work.

“When I walked into Mill Creek, I remember that my left leg felt very heavy,” Klein said.

“It was like I was dragging a bag of sand behind me.

“My left arm also felt weak, almost like I wouldn’t be able to pick up a piece of paper.”

When her daughter, senior Laura Klein, came to visit her at work, Klein said she didn’t feel right.

“When Laura came in I felt a little confused, but I still knew what was around me,” she said.

On hearing what her mom was experiencing, Laura called their doctor at Dexter Village Family Physicians.

“The doctors told me to come right over to the office,” Klein said.

“Once I got there and they checked me out, they said that they thought I had a stroke and they called an ambulance.

“I was taken to the University of Michigan hospital where the doctors thought the same thing.”

But Klein didn’t want to go to the hospital because she thought she was fine, “When the ambulance was called, I learned that it doesn’t do any good to argue with them about the fact that I felt fine and needed to go to work,” she said.

“My family and the doctors just ignored me and told the ambulance workers to take me to the hospital.”

Doctors determined that Klein had a mini stroke. The hospital then performed many tests that all came back normal.

“The doctors and my family noticed that I was a little weaker on the left side,” Klein said.

“That did surprise them because I am left handed and that is my stronger side.”

One of the blood tests came back showing a peculiar result.

Klein said, “The blood tests came back showing that my blood sugar was at 40 and the normal should be between 110-130.

“When a person’s blood sugar falls that low tests will also show signs of a stroke.

“I had just eaten a good lunch so they are not sure why mine was so low,” she said. “I have had it checked several times since then and it is fine.”

To prevent her blood sugar from dropping again doctors gave Klein some tips on her eating habits.

“The doctors told me to eat six to seven small meals a day with lots of protein,” she said.

Klein said her stroke was very scary for her and her family.

“We were all scared because we really didn’t know much about a stroke,” she said.

“What we have learned is that you should be seen by a doctor within three hours after you think you have had a stroke so that they can give medications to reverse any affects of a stroke.”

Although the stroke didn’t seem to leave any permanent damage, Klein does seem to be slowing down.

“I am doing everything that I used to do but I am slowing down a lot,” Klein said.

“If things don’t get done, they will get done the next day or when I get around to it.”

Student wins prom date Sarah Craft editor in chief

On his way to school April 15, senior Kenny Harden called into the W4 Country station to enter himself in a contest to win a prom date with station broadcaster Brittany.

“I heard them talking about it on the radio and figured, what the heck?” he said. “She’s hot, and I don’t have a prom date.”

But winning wasn’t easy. Seniors Kayla Wing and Melissa Ebright put posters of Harden around the school encouraging students to vote for him.

“When I heard him on the radio, I thought it was going to be a good fun thing for Dexter,” Wing said. “I was really impressed with how many students got involved and voted for him.”

Harden said although seeing a three foot poster of himself on the wall was “kind of strange,” he was glad to get the votes.

After gaining over 70 percent of the online voting poll, Harden won.

Harden said he is taking his date to Knight’s Steak House for dinner, then afterwards heading to the dance.

“I think it’s awesome,” senior Will Thiele said. “He’ll be the most popular guy at prom.”

Senior Scott Mast was picturing a different scene.

“No, everybody will be looking at her and how hot she is,” he said. “There’ll be a spotlight on her and Kenny will just be a weird arm.”

And Harden is not complaining.

He said, “She’s hot, so I’m pretty excited.”

Instead of going solo, senior Kenny Harden won a date to prom with a broadcaster from the W4 Country station.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Plans for freshman move-up day cancelled

the Squall

Kyle Muse news editor

Next year’s freshman will not be making a trip to the high school to get acquainted with the school. Instead, counselors made a trip down to Mill Creek.

However, there will still be a freshman orientation day in the fall that will help the students become more aware of their new school.

“I think that this year will be better than past years because the last couple times we had a speaker that

would have been a lot more effective for older kids,” teacher Shirley Bitters said, “The speaker was not very interactive with the students.”

This year we have a good speaker, and I think it will be more effective this year.”

Bitters, who helps organize freshman orientation said the freshman will start the day in the CPA for a multimedia presentation of the high school and then make their way to the activities in the gym.

entertainment Canadian speaker Andy Fibido will end the day with a speech will be about the transition into high school. Mill Creek principal Jami Bronson said, “From the feedback me as well as the other administrators receive, it seems to be beneficial for the upcoming freshman.”

“It is nice to see seniors helping out the upcoming freshman because it gives them a view of what it is like to go to high school.”

April’s Fool

5

photo by Sarah Craft

Working for the Studnets: Life skills teacher Shirley Bitters will help organize next Fall’s freshman orientation day.

For Daczka and Woods, the first of April is a holiday for family mischief Samantha Harris entertainment editor

Photo courtesy Melania Murphy

Posing in Peru: Spanish teacher Melania Murphy shares a moment with her husband and daughter on their vacation. Her husband, Charlie has been diagnosed with ALS.

Teacher’s spouse faces terminal disease ALS

Senora Murphy shares grief with students and faculty Michelle Svetkoff managing editor

The room fell silent. Everyone in sixth hour Spanish III was stunned by the sad news. Thirty-two melancholy faces and concerned eyes looked at Spanish teacher Melania Murphy with deep concern.

No one could say anything. And even if they could, they wouldn’t have known what to say.

With tearful eyes Murphy said to the class, “I have been through many tragedies, but this is by the far the greatest tragedy I’ll have to experience.”

Murphy proceeded to inform her students that her husband has the rare terminal disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and later students found out that ALS patients only have 2-5 years to live after the initial symptoms.

ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease has no known cure and comes on somewhat randomly.

Charlie first noticed something was wrong on the family trip to Peru when a normally easy bench press for him was ridiculously hard.

“I went to Peru,” Charlie said.

“And I put 250 pounds on the bar, and I couldn’t move it, and I thought wow this is really weird.”

Charlie just assumed it was his age and that he couldn’t lift weights forever.Once back from the Peru trip, Charlie Googled his symptoms and realized his fatigue was much greater then just old age. Currently Charlie’s upper motor neural senses are affected, specifically his speech and swallowing abilities.

Other ALS patients who have the disease in the lower portions of their body have trouble with walking and holding things.

Eventually Charlie will experience these symptoms and the living arrangements of the house will have to change which is why the family of junior Kiersti Kruzel is helping the Murphy family.

“The Kruzels,” Melania said, “they came, they saw the home, and they have been wonderful. They are helping us accommodate the house.

I want to thank them.”

Mrs. Kruzel has also been helping Melania with the medical demands of the disease now that Charlie has enlisted in a testing clinic for ALS and is trying different trials to prolong his life. “(Mrs. Kruzel) is a nurse,” she said, “and she helps emotionally and

checks with me periodically now that Charlie is on trials and she checks on me to see if I’m injecting my husband with the medicine correctly.”

Melania also says that the school administrators and parents have been a great support to her.

“I want to thank all the parents,” she said. “They have been sending me e-mails since they found out about Charles’ illness. My administration, they have been very good as well. Especially the teachers. They have been very supportive.”

Members of the neighborhood have been very helpful to the family as well, but Melania’s biggest supporter is her daughter Megan.

“When I’m down,” she said, “She comes and supports me. And she talks to me in Spanish.”

Melania’s other therapy is teaching, which really helps her deal with the tough times.

“My best therapy,” she said. “Is to go to school and teach. Because otherwise you stay here and you get sad, depressed.”

Melania says that going to school occupies her mind because of her students.

“I have great students,” she said.

“And they have been my inspiration to continue teaching and helping me not to think about my personal problems.”

Charlie means a lot to Melania, so dealing with the situation has been tough.

“The person I am right now,” she said, “is because of him.”

Charlie and Melania have similar backgrounds which allows them to relate to each other and also it motivates Melania to be more like her husband.

“He came from a poor background,” she said, “And no one helped him and he still has two degrees.”

One of Charlie’s last wishes is for Melania to graduate and get her masters, which would mean that Melania is following in Charlie’s footsteps just like Melania wants.

The disease does not slow down Melania because she is able to deal with the disease day by day.

“There are good days,” she said, “And bad days. But we deal with it one day at a time.”

But Melania always enjoys her life, which helps her get through the tough days.

“Try to live a normal life,” she said, “As much as you can. Do the things you won’t be able to do later.”

Oh Mom!: On April 1, junior Casey Daczka is ready for anything.

After his mother pretended to have a heart attack, he said he’ll always be ready for silliness on April Fool’s Day.

“

Photos by Mike Vickers

How could you do that to me mom?

”

I remember watching my sister, Steph, quietly wrap a rubber band around the faucet spray hose and wait in anticipation. I never had tasted victory of revenge on the first day of April before.

With the faucet at our house, if you turn on the water while holding down the lever of the spray hose, the water sprays out of the hose instead of the faucet, resulting in spraying mother in the face.

It was about 6:00 a.m., around the usual time my mother wakes up to begin her daily routine. Steph and I hid behind a wall snickering and giggling to ourselves.

Torturing our mother was one of our favorite hobbies which we practiced religiously.

Finally my mother came shuffling across the tile towards the sink in preparation for her morning coffee.

This was the moment we waited for. I was frothing at the mouth with excitement ... Well, almost.

Words flew from my mother’s mouth, and we squealed with joy. My mother turned to face us with her makeup dripping.

Although I was only eight years old, it was extremely exciting, but little did I know that as I grew older my school peers would perform ingenious tasks.

Junior Holly Woods recalls when she was little her first mastery of April Fool’s Day. “I remember that my aunt was taking care of me at the time, and she decided we should play a prank on my gullible mother that day,” Woods said. “As I was on my way home from school my aunt pulled out this plaster and gauze. She told me we were going to make a cast for my arm and pretend I had broken it at school.

I walked in the door and my mom was scared seeing me with my arm in a cast. After enjoying seeing her freak out, we revealed that it was one we made for April Fool’s.

I got yelled at.”

On the other hand what junior Frankie McAuliffe thought would be funny as a simple joke turned out to be the sad truth.

“I was talking to my mom on the phone, and she asked if anything was happening with me at the house, being that I was home alone.”

“No not really,” I replied. “Oh except the Pope died mom ... April Fool’s.

“About an hour later he died. I felt bad.”

For junior Casey Daczka April Fool’s is all too real.

“I remember I was driving to school and I saw my mom’s car pulled over on the side of the road,” he said. “I stopped to see if everything was all right. My mom kept on leaning over and clutching her chest in pain. I asked her what was wrong, and she mentioned that her heart was hurting really badly. I asked her if she wanted to go to the doctor, worried what might happen if she didn’t get there in time. As she leaned over again, I saw her body shaking.

I looked closer, and she was laughing! I was upset.

“How could you do that to me mom?” Daczka asked.

“My mother played another April Fool’s prank on me when I was about 10 or 12 years old. We were on a vacation in the Barbados and my mom informed us that a hurricane was traveling in the path of where we were staying. Everyone started flipping out.

“Another time, one of my sisters called home to tell us that she was pregnant. I had forgotten it was April 1st, so it got me by surprise.”

“On any other day my family is normal, but on April Fool’s they are lying fiends!”

Wilcox to undergo brain surgery in May Molly Brewster morale manager

Two years ago on a flight to France drama and French teacher Harry Wilcox suffered his first of a series of seizures. A magnetic resonance image later showed that a non-malignant tumor had developed in the right side of his brain.

Wilcox began a regiment of taking several medications to reduce the seizures. He also began having MRIs every six months to monitor the growth of the tumor.

His last MRI showed that the tumor had grown significantly and doctors determined he needs to undergo surgery to remove the tumor in May. For the past two weeks, Wilcox hasn’t been able to attend school.

“I’m taking new medications that slow me down a bit,” he said. “I have difficulty speaking because my words

“The stress of the play does add a are often slurred.”

Junior Julia Keinath recalls a little to my fatigue,” he said. “But evtime when she noticed something eryone has worked hard, and it will was wrong with Wilcox. be a good play.”

“He had an With surgery episode in class,” nearing, Wilcox she said, “where said he is trying to he started shakmaintain a positive He started shaking, couldn’t ing, couldn’t talk, attitude.

“I am want to be coughing, but evtalk ... every student eryone thought it back before the end thought it was diabetes. of the school year,” was his diabetes.” he said. “Hopefully Wilcox did not -Julia Keinath this will all work clarify to the stujunior out and everything dents what his epiwill go back to norsode actually was mal.” until later when he Keinath wrote a letter. said “He wrote us a letter,” Keinath that it was weird without Wilcox besaid. “In French he kept his humor. cause now the class is not as good as (It said) that he had a brain tumor it was before. that he wanted to remove.”

“We just do busy work,” she said.

As director of the spring school “(The students) miss him and his musical “Blood Brothers” Wilcox has good jokes and all around sense of continued to attend play practices, humor.” though.

“

”

Brain surgery facts • Alternate names include Craniotomy and Neurosurgery • Procedure includes shaving of head and temporarily drilling the skull.

• Risks of brain surgery include reactions to medicines, breathing problems, injury to brain tissue, injury to brain tissue, injury to blood vessels, nerve or paralysis or weakness, loss of mental functions including memory, speech, understanding

www.healthscout.com

Facts from http://auburn.edu/ and http://kclibrary.nhmccd.

May 4. Battle of the Bands*

6

the Squall Thursday, April 28, 2005

features

New tunes and old tunes on my iTunes Jonathon Williamson staff writer

My journalism class, among other things, could be described as a musical hodge podge. To my left the thumping, never ceasing beats of techno drone on. To my right rap blares.

Somewhere behind me I hear Simon and Garfunkel. My own computer changes its musical tastes daily, but one thing that is always welcome in the player is the soothing sound of the classics.

I have often wondered what makes a song good enough to become a classic. What makes a simple melody good enough to bridge the generational gap?

As a kid I can remember listening to old James Taylor records with my dad, and when talking about classics names like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin are never far from my mind.

Thinking about music from my parent’s generation brings an interesting thought to my mind.

What is the music that will define my generation? It’s hard for me to imagine that the vulgar rap song playing next to me will ever be something I will want to share with my kids.

Harder still is the thought of my kid coming up to me asking If I ever listend to those great classics like Britney Spears, or any other pre made pop showcase.

The only problem is, if not these artist then who? Who is fit to carry the torch to continue the progression of music as we know it. It seems like we are missing out.

Where are the bands who are pushing the levels of modern music, where are the artist who will propel their music beyond their own time, leaving a gift for future generations to cherish?

The answer does not lie in the highly manicured, over produced sounds that are coming from popular culture. The truth is not buried in the basements of million dollar records companies whose shameless exploitation of musical groups does little more then pack their over large pocket books.

To me the only future for good music as we know it lies in the self produced bands who are on tour 300 days of the year.

The future lies in independent record labels who pinch by on their own steam. These are the groups that have the commitment and dedication needed to advance music.

To me this is the only hope our generations has for their own spot in the musical record books.

Classics are not something that are given out our awarded to the richest record company.

They are something that are awarded to hard work and innovation. Truly the only way to become a musical classic is to become a musical pioneer.

Tips and useful advice for those looking to record their own MUSIC

Matt Gauntlett staff writer

W

hen it comes to being in a band, the mu- nected to the Neutral Zone in Ann Arbor. 40 Oz. Studios sic scene can seem pretty stagnant and charges $35 per hour with the services of the engineer hard to break into for newcomers. It’s no included, while Youth Owned Records records at more secret that the life of a rock star isn’t just affordable prices. sex, drugs and rock & roll. But while those Of course a DIY approach is much more feasible for may be the most glorified aspects of the the average high school student, and simple 4 and 8 track lifestyle, the process of making the album is recorders can easily be purchased at most often overlooked and shouldn’t be. music stores for prices ranging from $150 Creating an album is a process that has to how much you want to spend. Along many crucial components, and none can be with this purchase, a few microphones sacrificed. It goes without saying that a good may be necessary so that during the procollection of songs is the first ingredient in cess of recording there’s no need to go back the mix, so once those have been created, it’s and record each person individually. time to find a producer. This will be the perAlso available is Pro Tools, which is son who helps to sculpt the desired sound, editing software which acts as a engineer and they will do this in one of two ways. and the mixing console itself in one conA producer will either go in on a band’s venient package. While a recording device studio time to record them, or they’ll disis necessary to get the software as well as sect each note of the songs until everything to record the tracks, Pro Tools is the modsounds perfect. ern approach for creating albums for evOften lumped in with the producer is eryone from Metallica to the band down the engineer, who in essence is the guy who the street. The entry level Mbox is a great works the mixing board. It’s a standard proanswer for those interested in exploring cedure that once the songs are committed the possibilities of Pro Tools, and only to tape, some mixing will be necessary to costs about $500. neaten sounds up.

Not only is the Mbox a great entry level The process of mixing itself is a comrecording device, but also one that can plicated one. To most, it may appear to be be used for the rest of a bands career. random twisting of knobs to make things It resembles that of an average cable louder, but there is a science to it. Instead of modem, and works with any USB simply raising volumes of tracks, mixing is Port. also the time where effects can be added to As far as recording through create atmospheres, as well as making any the Mbox, there are direct indirty tones sound clean or dirtier if desired. puts in the back, so in most Most of the time, the mixing and recordcases external microing consoles at professional recording phones for recording studios will feature anywhere from instruments aren’t 28 to 48 tracks. Basically, that alnecessary.

The MBOX: about $500 lows for 28 different pieces of reRecording may corded material to run at once in be a mystery to a lot any given song, which allows for harof people, but the posmony parts, solos, backing vocals, etc. The more tracks sibilities are endless for every budding available to the user, the more possibilities they will have musician to create their masterpiece. for creating a dense and deep piece of work.

No matter what kind of experience one Those interested in recording at a real studio have may have, it’s still easy to get an album several options, such as 40 oz. Studios located in Ann made. Look into some of these options Arbor, as well as Youth Owned Records, which is con- today, and get your music out there.

How to get yourself onto CD: 1) Some songs, which need to be complete 2) A good space for recording, like a garage or basement; anywhere that is relatively soundproof 3) A recording interface, such as the MBox, and a computer to run the MBox and ProTools software on 4) A minor understanding of the process of mixing, so that you can neaten up the sounds recorded 5) Some blank CD’s to distribute to the excited public 6) An interested audience to listen to your masterpiece.

The MBox: This is an entry level recording interface which works with your computer and is used by many professional producers

‘Suicide Club,’ ‘M’ two entertaining foreign films David Ager staff writer

Suicide Club “Suicide Club” is a very weird and fascinating Japanese film.

For those who are not familiar with the Japanese culture, this movie might be a little over your head just because you might not understand it.

I will admit, there are a lot of aspects I don’t fully understand.

Nonetheless, this movie still makes me think when I watch it.

The movie starts in a subway station some where in downtown Tokyo.

There is what appears to be a large group of young school girls walking down some stairs, which is a fairly normal situation for a subway station.

What comes next is far from normal. As the girls near the edge

of the subway track, they link their arms together.

As the train comes rushing down the track, they count, “1, 2 and a 3.”

They all consecutively jump onto the track, getting instantly killed by the train. A strong scene for a strong movie.

The movie then follows a detective who is boggled by this act of suicide. What surprises him is that more incidents similar to this one are happening all over the city.

What is also baffling is that on the locations of the suicides there is a bag full of skin sown together.

He then discovers a web site that may have a link to these suicides. But the true link is far from some organized club. It is something much bigger and much stronger.

I have never seen another

movie anything like this. It is very intriguing to get a taste of a culture dissimilar to your own.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys something new.

M The movie “M” is a film-noir directed by Fritz Lang. Movies were labeled “film-noirs” back in 1946 by Frank Nino who noticed how dark the trends and themes were in American crime and detective films.

Though Fritz Lang is known for his ground breaking science fiction movies, he pulls through with an excellent mystery movie.

An insane killer is on the loose in a German city, and the police can not find a culprit. Soon the entire city is terrified as the killer keeps raping

and killing innocent girls. Even though the police forces has increased, the killings keep going.

Soon even the mob notices they can’t conduct their business anymore because of increased police activity. So they throw their card in the mix by trying to catch the killer.

Though the movie is in black and white and is subtitled, the acting is amazing and the camera work inventive.

Peter Lorre plays the part of the sick minded killer to an unbelievable reality. He draws a lot emotion in his acting.

This is one of the greatest movies made, not just for its time but even up to today’s standards.

Some of the techniques in this movie can be seen in generations after it. It is a film-noir that is both creative and thought provoking.

http://www.filmkultura.iif.hu:8080/1999/articles/essays/tukor.hu.html

M: Peter Lorre plays the deranged killer in the classic film-noir “M.” This is one of director Fritz Lang’s finest work

Q: What was the scariest part about being in the hospital?

A: Having dreams where I was at home but waking up and

a little more SQUALL

still being in the hospital.

B

Robyn Shepard, junior

Section

Art students raise money for homeless charity

COLORING THE CITY

Painting the tiger

Kendall Goode photo manager

W

hen Ken Staples, founder of the Staples Center in Ann Arbor, contacted art teacher Autumn Campbell about doing an art project for charity, she thought it was a

Photos by Kendall Goode

Under the Sea: Juniors Kristin Kolakowski and Lauren Whitmer and senior Liz Emhoff paint the Under the Sea themed tiger in the art room. The tiger will be on display in May and be sold to raise money for the homeless.

Stellar school spirit snatches award Molly Brewster morale manager

A sea of students dressed in maroon and gold chanted “D-H-S” as a Channel 4 cameraman circled the gym floor catching it all on film.

Several seniors including Kevin Vlazny and Renden LeMasters showed their spirit by painting their chest maroon and gold, while sophomore Sean King crowd surfed dressed in a gorilla costume.

The reason for this craziness was that Dexter High School was selected to receive the ABC Warehouse School Spirit Award presented by the State Champ television program on WDIV, Channel 4 in Detroit.

LeMasters said he got the idea to paint his chest from professional

Junior returns after five week battle against nameless disease

and college sporting events.

“I wanted to show that not only does Dexter have the most school spirit but that of the students I’m one of the people with the most spirit,” he said. “It was clear to me the best way to show my spirit would be to paint my chest.”

King said he had other motives for dressing in a gorilla costume.

“My friends and I wanted to get on TV,” he said. “We had the costume left over from a video we made for school, and we thought if one of us dressed up in it we would be sure to get filmed.”

Senior student council president Ryan Bruder received the award on behalf of the student body.

“I was surprised that we were recognized,” he said. “It shows that what goes on in Dexter is important.”

Bruder said he hopes that the award will serve as a reminder of the potential school spirit at Dexter.

“Even though a lot of people couldn’t believe we got the award, they were still excited about it,” he said. “Hopefully the excitement the award created won’t go away.”

“The more people want to participate in what is going on, the better our school will be.”

Senior Kayla Wing was also present to receive the award. As an active member of student council since her freshman year, she said she was happy to see all of her dedication to student council pay off.

“There are a couple of us that have dedicated a lot of time to student council, and it doesn’t seem like it is always appreciated,” she said.

“But this award made me realize

that the last four years of hard work were worth it.”

Not only was the hard work of student council displayed but also the dedication of a Dexter athlete.

Junior Scott Chevalier was asked by football coach Tom Barbieri to squat 500 pounds as the entertainment for the assembly.

“It wasn’t about trying to show how strong I am,” Chevalier said.

“But it was a once in a lifetime chance to have the whole school supporting me in something that I’ve worked hard at.”

According to Bruder the assembly was a success.

“The majority of kids participated in the assembly,” he said. “Hopefully this will keep up and Dexter will continue to be known for great school spirit.”

Raleigh Holmes morale manager

After choking one of the Vicodin down, Robyn knew there was no way she could get another one down her throat.

“Those pills are huge, and I couldn’t even swallow food at the time, so I knew we had to go to a different doctor,” she said.

The next day Robyn’s mom took her to the University of Michigan hospital. She had a very high white blood cell count so the doctors first put her on a medicine to cure a disease she didn’t end up having.

But when the medicine started to kill her good blood cells and make her more sick, the doctors knew what they were dealing with.

The doctors at U of M were able to recognize the disease, but there isn’t a name for it since there have been so few cases. There have been 50 reported cases in the world and

nine of them have been at the U of M hospital.

The University of Michigan immediately admitted Robyn and put her on morphine. Her white blood cell count was really low, and she was in the hospital for two weeks and doesn’t remember any of it.

“When I first knew I was going to be put on morphine, I told my mom to not let anyone come see me,” she said. “I guess my boyfriend came every day, but I don’t remember him coming a single time.”

The entire two weeks she was in the hospital Robyn was on a feeding tube.

“A feeding tube is the most painful thing you could ever have,” she said. “People think kidney stones are bad. I actually had some back in the fall and feeding tubes are way worse.”

After her daughter’s throat swelled up so much she couldn’t eat and after her daughter had a high fever for nearly three weeks, junior Robyn Shepard’s mom decided to take her to Chelsea Hospital.

“My mom was afraid that I had mono so she took me to Chelsea to see what was wrong,” Robyn said.

“The doctors over there had no idea what was wrong with me so they just put me on Vicodin.”

Robyn’s mom, who is a nurse at the University of Michigan hospital, thought that Robyn might be overreacting at first.

“Robyn tends to be a bit dramatic so I thought she was just exaggerating,” Mrs. Shepard said.

April 28, 2005

great idea.

“Ken called me, and it seems like a great way to get the students involved in something.” Campbell said.

The project is being organized by The Staples Center in Ann Arbor. The Staples Center is connected with the Salvation Army and helps homeless people get back on their feet.

Campbell’s class is painting a tiger carousel piece, and the other classes in the area are doing similar statues. The theme that Campbell’s Advanced Drawing and Painting class chose is “Under the Sea”.

“I really like how it was decided,” senior Dawn Lindemann said. “We all got to do a drawing.”

Lindemann is an Independent Study student during the Advanced Drawing and Painting hour and is helping out with the charity project.

“What Mrs. Campbell is doing has really changed the art program,” Lindemann said. “She really inspires the students and makes them proud. I think it’s really amazing to get to do something like this for charity.”

As Lindemann said, each student in the class was allowed to come up with their own theme.

Senior Josh Milks originally had his theme, a psychedelic tiger, picked before changes were made to have an “Under the Sea” theme instead.

“I like drawing really small with a lot of stuff,” Milks said. “I really think a psychedelic tiger would look cool in downtown Ann Arbor.

The “Under the Sea” theme was picked from a few different student ideas. Some of the other themes were a University of Michigan design, some abstract and colorful ideas and even a cyborg tiger.

Milks also agrees that having the involvement of a charity cause is a good thing.

“Charity is cool,” he said. “I hope it gets sold for a lot of money.”

Although Campbell has done other projects and displayed her students work, she thinks this is a special chance to get involved.

“I’ve never gotten an opportunity quite like this,” she said. “It’s great community service, and it’s really for a good cause.”

The tiger, which is supposed to be finished by May, will go on display over the summer.

“They might not just be going in Ann Arbor,” Campbell said. “I mentioned putting it in Dexter so the local community can see what the kids are doing, so that is a possibility.”

“

Hopefully this will keep up and Dexter will continue to be known for great school spirit.

”

-Ryan Bruder, senior

photo by: Brandon Mayotte

Hooray for Dexter: Seniors Ryan Bruder and Renden LeMasters accept the ABC Warehouse School Spirit Award.

While her daughter was in the hospital Mrs. Shepard took a leave from work and was by her daughter’s side the whole two weeks.

“Being a nurse I knew more than most parents would,” Mrs. Shepard said.

“It was almost worse. I knew too much, and I know how things are done at the hospital so it was very scary. It was hard to have a stranger taking care of my daughter, even though that’s what I do every day for a living.”

Due to the lack of water in Robyn’s system, her doctors were afraid that her kidneys were going to fail, so they made her chug water which she said was really painful, but it had to be done.

Robyn missed five weeks of school but managed to catch up with almost all her work.

“Spring Break helped a lot with being able to catch up,” she said.

“The only class I’m behind in is Chemistry. It’s been really stressful.”

Now, a week after leaving the hospital, Robyn is feeling much better but still has some effects of the disease. She gets fevers often and gets tired very easily.

There is also the chance of the disease coming back.

“The doctors are afraid of it moving to my abdomen,” she said.

“I have to keep going back to the hospital so they can test me to make sure it won’t come back.”

Through all her troubles Robyn still manages to keep a good attitude towards being sick.

She said, “My mom always said what doesn’t kill you, cures you and what doesn’t cure you, kills you.”

8

opinions

the Squall

Thursday, April 28, 2005

MEAPs need improvement or else elimination

Kendall Goode photo manager

After sitting in a desk for two hours straight, my attention span began to disappear.

Once again I had fallen to the evil beast that is the MEAPs. Every year juniors are forced to take another standardized test.

This year I was one of those miserable students, and that test was the Michigan Educational Assess-

Thoughts of an emo kid ment Program.

The test is made up of five different topics tested over a five day period.

First of all I’d like to say that I really believe the MEAPs are a huge waste of my time.

Tests aren’t exactly my forte, but that isn’t what makes me dislike the MEAPs so much.

My problem stems from a collection of smaller problems.

Each morning before the tests began, carts set up by the para-pros were filled with food to nourish the incoming hoard of teenage angst and sleeplessness.

Each cart was placed in a very strategic location to allow students to begin their day with orange juice in a paper box that tasted too much like the box it was packaged in, bagels we see every day at lunch and frozen cartons of fruit punch.

After my horrible experience with the provided nourishment, I decided to go with some doughnuts and chocolate milk from the breakfast store before the test.

The tests themselves were riddled with essays, uninteresting topics and questions I found impossible to find the answers to.

During the tests I continuously found myself asking why I was really taking them.

Of course, the better I do, the

more money I receive for college tuition.

The Squall has done countless articles on community service that goes along with the MEAP, but at the end of the first test day secretary Joan Whitehead made an announcement stating that community service isn’t linked to the MEAPs. The money that comes from the MEAP is an issue on its own.

But I still see very little good that comes from this standardized test.

There were a few things I liked about the MEAPs. Our schedule was shortened, and even though most juniors and a handful of other high school students, me included, were at school at the regular time, I enjoyed the short-

ened class schedule.

The tests didn’t seem difficult in general. I was finished within an hour of the given two hour time.

That allowed for some time to pull a comic book out and do some reading. Sometimes I slept.

I did an extravagant amount of my homework: math and science.

I do have some suggestions, though, for making the MEAPs something that we all can be excited about for years to come.

I suggest a physical section be added which involves fire and a few angry man eating gorillas.

This would easily solve the problem of overweight teenagers.

My final suggestion would be eliminating MEAPs all together.

You could shorten the school year by having the days we take those exams be regular school days.

Even making this test optional would be a great improvement on the current process.

Most every student would be excited if they learned that they could avoid another standardized test.

The people in charge of the tests could give the money saved to students to spend on college without having to take another test.

To recap, the MEAPs sucked and there is much room for improvement.

Whether the improvement needed is in the test itself or just the food provided beforehand, some great changes could be made.

‘Save Toby’ hoax easily revealed Fake sacrifice of bunny fools thousands but we found the truth about this wascally wabbit

Photo by Mike Vickers

Help in not-so-high places Teri Chiado photo manager

Throughout life, people will come and go. People will be unkind and people will help. But in some cases there are those handful of people who will bend over backwards to do anything they can to make sure of others’ success. I was lucky enough to have those people along the way.

When this year’s senior class were freshmen, it was terrifying.

No one knew what to expect. No one was prepared for what was about to be the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Were we going to get picked on?

Were teachers going to laugh or yell at us? For some, the answers may have been yes.

Our class has had to go through the same things every other class had to, with slightly different twists and turns along the way.

But generally the struggle, the heartache and the fun was all the same as in the past.

But who I appreciate are those who were there to stick around through it all, and that’s not mentioning friends. The staff of DHS has been challenging, great and helpful all throughout my high school career.

Some teachers I have had all four years. Some I have had just a couple. But something I will never forget is how big of influences they have been on me. These people have taught me and prepared

Happy Tree Friends me for life and have never given up on me.

For example, many people know about situations in my life I have expressed through my past articles.

And others know about an incident that happened last year when a friend and I left the States to live in Mexico. Of course, since we got caught, and I got put in a juvenile facility, I missed a lot of school.

I never thought I would graduate after I got out of juvy because I had exceeded enough absences for about two years. But instead of dropping out and giving up with a loss of hope, the Academic Support program stepped in.

They helped talk to my teachers and figure out a system that would work for me to catch up on everything I missed in my absence.

I had to work for what I have now, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the cooperation of a group of people. The school counselors were great, rearranging my schedule and helping me with my loss of credits.

Specifically the Academic Support teachers, Julie Stilber, Amy Raus, Kim Goffe and Laura Shultz helped me get my work done.

They stayed on my back until it was done, because that was the system we came up with to work for me. And I also had a lot of help and understanding from a few of my other teachers.

English teachers Rod Satterthwaite and Andrew Parker and math teacher Al Snider let me know I had someone to go to when I need help, or just need to talk. They were all

wonderful about keeping that offer open. They also gave me a huge break, leaving me able to finish and pass the classes I missed, instead of dropping them and failing.

Considering the situation and stress I was dealing with, those people have bent over backwards more than once for me, and I know they would not hesitate to do that again for someone else. That is what they are here to do.

Since I walked into high school four years ago, I became an adult.

And I have many people here to thank for that. I have maintained my grades, no matter how low they dropped, because I always asked for a little help.

I was always afraid to ask, though. A lot of people are afraid.

Because since when is it “cool” to ask a teacher for help to get the right thing done? You’d probably rather ask a friend.

That’s common, but there’s nothing a teacher won’t do to help achieve goals.

That’s why DHS has programs for these mishaps. We have Academic Support programs and a new project coming next year.

This project, Project RISE, will be taught by English teacher Matt Martello. This new program will be open for kids who struggle in school academically. It will be run similar to a study hall.

Even though Project RISE will be open for more students than academic support, the program won’t be open for students with discipline problems or lazy students.

If this were the opposite, we wouldn’t have a very successful program.

But how the administration will decide who is accepted and rejected for the program is still in progress.

This program corrects a flaw in our current Academic Support program: it is not open to just anyone.

To be approved for these programs, some kind of disability has to be in the picture.

And that’s not fair to students who just need a little hand up.

I had emotional problems and things along those lines, and that is why I got accepted for the program.

But I’m sure there are kids who are worse off than me in school and cannot get into this helpful program because there is no disability.

Academic support teachers are here to help get students back on track. But a lot of students go unhelped and get worse into school because they have no disability.

And if that is not the case, it could be lack of information.

Our school may have this wonderful program, but no one knows much about it because there is no one who informs people. The school needs to clearly show kids there is help and there’s no need to be afraid to ask for it.

And until a new program is constructed, we need something available as a hand up, not a “special education.”

I was lucky enough to get the break I needed to get my life together. I hope someone else gets the chance to be helped liked I did.

It wouldn’t be fair to let others go because of a nonexistent problem or distraction from learning.

And for the students, don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s always there in many different ways.

T. J. Larosa staff writer

1337 5AUC3

“Unfortunately, on June 30th, 2005, Toby will die. I am going to eat him.” -http://www.savetoby.com Since early 2005, every bunny lover with access to the Internet has been biting their nails in a nervous frenzy.

In light of all the unorthodox methods of income on ebay including forehead advertising comes a Paypal (online-credit firm) donation site with a ransom theme.

An anonymous gentlemen (male sex determined by excessive hair on hands in bunny pictures) demands $50,000 by June 30, 2005 or he will ingest his pet rabbit.

Indeed the focus of the donation seems a little cold-hearted and dry, but the author dresses it up with a nice story.

According to the site, Toby was found under the author’s deck, wounded upon sight, possibly victimized by an alley cat.

Being the kind man he is, he took it upon himself to nurse the bunny back to health.

Now this trauma-tranced bunny is being held ransom.

As if this situation weren’t enough to include a tear-jerking yet heartwarming story of survival, the author sucks in more donors with threats.

An entire page is included about ways he will eat Toby after he takes his friend to a butcher, with God as his witness.

A slew of recipes on the site include “Toby Stew” and Hasenpfeffer, where the small rodent’s edible anatomy will be sautéed with vegetables, sauces and various spice.

For people who wanted to donate to what they thought was a worthy cause but wanted something in return, there was a link to a Cafépress store.

Cafépress offers to put images on T-shirts, mugs, thongs, etc. and sell these items from their web site.

Clever T-shirt designs included a vintage styled shirt that read “Toby’s Bar and Grill - eat what you want, as long as it isn’t me.”

Finally, when I scrolled to the bottom of the page, the browser and observed what appears to be a balance of the man’s Paypal account.

As of April 10, the balance was over $20,000 from thousands of donors.

If you fell for this hoax, I just flat out feel sorry for you.

You must be using a Macintosh computer.

If you were on a PC, like yours truly, you’d be able to right click the image box of the “balance”.

I was about to donate a dollar to this man, simply because it was a funny idea to me, and buying the domain was probably expensive for all the visitors it was getting.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the eating of bunnies, especially ones held at ransom.

Anyway, before I donated I wanted to see if this guy really did suck in 20 grand from a bunch of losers.

The balance number had a little blur around it, and it looked rendered.

I right-clicked, and saw that it was a JPG file.

This told me that this image was a still picture, and still pictures can’t update the amount of money in a balance.

That was the first sign of hoaxage.

As I began to grow wary of the truth in this site, I tried to access the Paypal account. Paypal instantly informed me that the account was closed.

How could he be raking in so much money if the account is closed?

Having my mind open to technical difficulties on Paypal’s end, I checked the next day and sure enough, the balance had grown, the box was still a rendered JPG file, and the Paypal account was still closed.

This was the point at which I gave up all hope in the truth of this site as well as the life of the bunny.

To see if anyone else knew that this was fake, I checked around the web. I found several results.

One page even informed me of many other sites that had the exact same pictures as this author did of Toby.

On one site, a girl even asked for funding to save her pet in the form of an iPod. To be honest, I was a little let down after I found out that this was a joke.

I had a hunch all along, but I kept telling myself it was real for a few different reasons.

One, I had recently set up my own Paypal account, and I wanted to test it out.

On the other hand, I wanted to see what would happen if the guy didn’t get his money and what he would do to the bunny.

So I will end on this note: I am interested in trying heroin via needle, but I fear that if I get addicted I’ll need money to pay for all the drugs and sterile needles.

You can donate directly into my Paypal account, hand me cash.

Funding will be accepted in the form of an iPod .

Graduates need not aim for LA, NYC, money after graduation Thomas Leonard opinions editor

Grains of Salt

A few weeks ago, during March, I drove to Pennsylvania and back with my family.

All in one day we traveled to the funeral of my dad’s cousin’s husband.

I stayed in the western Pennsylvania hills for mere hours and most of those were spent in a church.

Many times I’ve gone to that area for family reunions and wasn’t impressed.

It was just something I had to

do.

But in this visit I saw back in time: a newspaper with the obituary had print style from the 50’s, people drove cars from the 80’s, the average funeral attendant’s dress was simple enough to transcend changing fashions.

I saw where my dad got his pragmatic, day by day approach to life.

I saw a place where families always left but rarely moved in. If Dexter ever had an opposite, this was it.

As I creep nearer to graduation I hear the relief in my voice and others’: “I’m so glad to get out of Dexter.

It’s the most boring, most out-ofdate, most regressive place to live.

I’m ready to have fun, to have an in- nearby movie theaters, restaurants, teresting life - with options.” lakes, libraries, parks, bowling alDuring this trip I finally realized leys; the list continues. the lie I had been experiencing.

The fact is, even if all our wants I never saw how lucky we are. aren’t satisfied, we don’t have needs.

The class I saw plenty of 2004 had of unfulfilled some 30 stuwants in the “Larry B. Nickel, lifelong resident of dents go to the life of my dad’s Clark,” starts his obituary, 67 years University of relative.

Michigan, one “Larry B. living in one town ... Most of us, the of the most Nickel, lifelong seniors of 2005, wouldn’t admit to a prestigious resident of résumé like Nickel’s. universities in Clark,” starts the country. his obituary, We have 67 years living access to acain one town. demic facilities, sporting events, emHe served in Vietnam, was active ployment and other resources from in church, worked into his retirethe U of M. ment, volunteered as a firefighter.

Not only this, but Dexter has If there was anything the pastor

“

”

said that day, it wasn’t about any ground-breaking invention or life achievement.

It was about the smile he always wore on his face.

That coming from a man who lived in one house since marriage and whose children moved out, escaped if you will, to richer areas.

A man who saw the steel plants shut down and the weeds crawl up through the church building that should have been replaced.

That smile, that commitment, takes more than a high school diploma.

People paved over roads but never flattened them out, dams never got reinforced: if something broke, a fi x wasn’t always available.

Junk piles grew as factories

crumbled in dilapidation.

The fruit salad served after the funeral by the church ladies was the same my dad’s mom made – they only used fresh fruit when it was stocked in the grocery store.

Most of us, the seniors of 2005, wouldn’t admit to a résumé like Nickel’s.

Living in Dexter for the rest of my life?

I think not.

If I could just be a fashion designer in New York, a film director in LA, something better than my dad.

Once I get out of here I’ll fly over to Amsterdam and hang out with my friends this summer.

Then I can leave Dexter’s trash behind for good.

Right?

Thursday, April 28, 2005

THE ALL

the Squall

opinions

SQUALL CALL

THE SQUALL STAFF

School trip policy needs to change

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Sarah Craft MANAGING EDITOR: Michelle Svetkoff

Spring is a hectic time of year. Spring sports begin, exams approach and future decisions are made. Spring Break often provides the only relief for students.

When students have a chance to extend their Spring Break and miss some extra days through a school or family trip, however, they have to make a choice. Extend their break and fall behind in school or take only one week and keep their grades up.

Recently members of the band had a chance to take a trip to Florida to help fine-tune their skills. The trip cost $800 and included six days of fun. Three of those six days were school days.

Because of the number of school days students were forced to miss, many band students opted not to go despite the obvious value. Many teachers were also upset that this extra vacation time conflicted with their tight curricular schedules.

Many students who went on the trip struggled to play catch-up because the trip set them back three days. Many of the teachers upset were the ones teaching higher level classes.

They said it is hard to prepare students for Advanced Placement examinations when they miss several days of school.

As a result of the complaints from teachers, the school’s policy committee is taking action. Their proposal would make teachers who plan to take students out of school for more than two days get approved from the rest of the teachers first.

This proposal would be very effective. Teachers would be able to account for these absences when structuring their school year. This would also make it easier for students to come back to school after a trip because their teachers would know about it prior to the trip.

This plan does make it harder for teachers who do have educational reasons for taking students out of class, like the band, however. Band instructors said that the trip to Florida provided a wonderful opportunity for the band. It was extremely educational for them, and gave them a chance to perform as professionals, they said.

Despite the perks of trips such as this, something needs to change. The proposal currently under review by the policy committee would allow teachers to find a middle ground that allows both sides to agree on a single solution for the benefit of all students.

EDITORS FEATURES: Jenny Heldt ENTERTAINMENT: Samantha Harris NEWS: Kyle Muse OPINIONS: Thomas Leonard PHOTO: Brandon Mayotte and Teri Chiado SPORTS: Lee Hoggard DESIGN: Mike Vickers COPY: Hilary McCown

MANAGERS BUSINESS: Stephanie Rushlow MORALE: Raleigh Holmes and Molly Brewster PHOTO: Christina Field and Kendall Goode CIRCULATION: Jennifer Allen and Sara Newell

STAFF WRITERS David Ager Matt Gauntlett Robert Kuzon TJ LaRosa Daniel Monson Seth Porinski Jonathan Williamson AD DESIGNER: Eric Wilkinson CARTOONIST: Jared Myers Illustration by Jared Myers

Dear Editor, I wanted to say how proud I am of the DHS Drama production of “Blood Brothers.” I worked very closely with the cast and crew and thought they did a great job.

Because I have a background in theatre and wanted to work with the DHS Drama Club, I volunteered to direct another show this year.

This show, “The Last Dance of Dr. Disco” by Eileen Moushey was specifically written as a murder-mystery dinner theatre production.

Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7, the audience will be stepping back in time to the late 1970’s when disco ruled the dance floor. The Mill Creek Landing will be turned into the “Landing Discothèque” and Dr. Disco will introduce the victims ... er ... the guests to something far out and freaky.

It will be a mind-blowing experience. Mind Blowing! HAHAHA. Tony and Angie, the Landing’s featured dancers, will teach a new dance to some guests who really know how to boogie.

The evening will include entertainment, a full dinner, a clue hunt that will test your knowledge of the 70’s and prizes for those who can solve the mystery.

This event is perfect for groups of friends, office gatherings, families and anyone who dares to wear polyester.

The cast of “The Last Dance of Dr.

Disco” includes Brittany Batell, Tally Chomic, Sebastian Gerstner, Stephanie Herrlinger, Ben James, Nathan Magyar, Eva Neil, Tom Neil, Jackie Stotlar and many others who will help with the clue hunt.

I am still looking for a student to “DJ” the evening and others to help with the clue hunt.

Tickets for “The Last Dance of Dr. Disco” are $20 per person or $150 per table of 8 and are available at Dexter’s Country Market.

Seating is limited. Ticket sales end Wednesday, May 4. Be prepared for a totally groovy time and Disco attire is encouraged.

For more information or to help, please call Mrs. Chomic at 734-4498402 Congratulations DHS Drama for a great season!

Sincerely, Mrs. Francyn Chomic

‘Blood Brothers’ exceeds student’s expectations Dear Editor, The toil of shuffling feet and anticipating warble of conversations grew as the audience filed into the CPA. While meeting many of my friends, who also came to see the performance, I couldn’t help but wonder in the back of my mind what the show was going to be like or what to expect.

I knew only the basic story line and also that the play went through seg-

ADVISER: Rod Satterthwaite

POLICY:

Letters To The Editor Parent encourages students to see new production

9

ments of time, skipping seven years ahead in the lives of their characters.

From all the pictures I saw, I almost expected them to play little kids while standing on their knees.

As the lights dimmed, nervous chatter subsided, and once again I could hear the hearts of our young actors, fluttering behind the heavy velvet curtain in anticipation and thrill. The theater’s darkness melted away with the final melancholy notes of the overture.

I knew that “Blood Brothers,” written

by Willy Russell and directed by Harry Wilcox on our Dexter stage was meant to be a tearjerker. After seeing the play, however, I thought its advertisement to put you “down in the dumps” if you expected a fairytale ending did it no justice.

Not only did it soften you emotionally, but also it carried at least one instance, if not more, that people in the audience experienced in their lifetime.

Whether it was the runaway train of adolescent life coming on too fast or “haves” and “have-nots” jealousy, losing an object or person dear to you, or playing the summer away with your friends, first love, or wishing to be in someone else’s shoes.

These and many more carried on a prominent segment in the melodrama.

The audience was fooled and captivated by the time the intermission came. We were kept on our toes through the first act.

The darker undertone, foreshadowing something unstoppable and mysterious with an array of superstitions, at times faded with laughter.

Some actors did an admirable job getting into character.

My favorite scene and the one that everybody bought was the one where the two kids meet for the first time. They are shy and hesitant, both a little afraid of what might happen; this pure innocence, too often lost in the “unspoken rules” of social conduct in high school life, brought back my own memories of making new friends.

Another memorable scene stuck in my mind was the real state of poverty Mrs. Johnston was living in. It almost tore my soul when I saw her come back from the hospital with the twins, just in time to see her things confiscated and carried away.

They took all to pay off her debts, and she is left with nothing but the audience’s sympathy.

Her voice in resounding clearness is a beacon of hope, though her expressive tone makes a plea for pity, and you believe all the emotional distress right until the end.

After the fabulous standing ovation, I didn’t come out depressed or in a rotten mood.

The show gave me many ideas to think about as the music still rang in my ears for several hours afterward.

It surpassed all my expectations, and I was impressed you don’t have to walk on your knees to play a seven, almost eight, year old child.

I hope those who went to see it, and having tasted its bittersweet, will still remember it with a cherry on top for all those moments we can relate to our own and remember.

Sincerely, Margarita Malysheva sophomore

The Squall is distributed monthly to 1,083 students and reaches an estimated 4,332 people with each issue. The Squall is printed by The Owosso Argus in Owosso, MI and is produced by the third hour newspaper class.

TALK BACK:

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E-MAIL: letters@thesquall.com WEB SITE: www.thesquall.com ADDRESS: The Squall Dexter High School 2200 N. Parker Rd. Dexter Mi, 48130

Dreads in the hall Should students be allowed to miss school for organizations such as band right before breaks?

Nathan Magyar, freshman “Yes, this way it doesnʼt take up their whole spring break.”

Mark Wisnieski, senior

Amy Jackson, junior

Jaime Dudash, teacher

“Yes. I mean what do students like more than missing school?”

“Yes, because if youʼre in an activity you are obligated to follow through with it.”

“Three full days was a lot of time. When youʼre expecting 30 kids and you have 18, itʼs tough to run a class.”

Mary Cebula, sophomore “No, itʼs not fair that other people get out of school early and I donʼt.”

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the Squall Thursday, April 28, 2005

sports

Division 1 hockey an option for some female players next spring

Lee Hoggard sports editor It’s time to start thinking about the future.

And it just so happens that a few women hockey players might be involved in the future of women’s college hockey.

Seniors Kristen Burrows and Jenny Heldt have both decided to play women’s club hockey in college.

Burrows is headed to Western Michigan University. She said she would like to play for Western’s club team, since they don’t have a varsity program.

However Burrows said she still needs to try out for the team in August.

Heldt is attending Michigan State this Fall.

“State has been one of the best club teams in the nation the past few years,” she said.

“I’m really excited to have the chance to play for them.”

Both Burrows and Heldt say they have State has been worked hard since they one of the best were very young and still want to play hockey club teams in in college even if it’s not for a varsity program. the nation the There are also two past few years, junior girls hoping to contribute to the future so I’m really exof women’s hockey.

Juniors Lauren Hamcited to have the by and Kelly Hughes both plan to play Divichance to play sion 1 or 3 women’s colfor them. lege hockey.

Hamby played for Honey Baked Hockey Jenny Heldt, senior club this year.

She plans to continue playing for them next year too.

“I’ve received a letter from Ohio State and heard that Wayne State might be interested as well,” Hamby said.

Hamby also said that many schools will make more contact over the summer and into next year.

Hamby said she will be taking the summer pretty easy.

However she will attend a skills camp in Colorado.

She could be offered scholarships as early as the summer.

Hughes is the other junior with hopes of playing Division 1 or 3 college hockey.

Hughes has talked to four different schools.

Bemidji State University is a Division 1 program that belongs to the WCHA hockey conference.

Bemidji has shown interest in Hughes.

Along with Bemidji, many other smaller schools such as Gustavus and Lake Forest also showed interest.

Hughes plans to continue to play for her team The Pride and also plans to attend many showcases including The Prospects camp this summer.

Hughes has also received a letter from the University of Connecticut.

She said, “I’m just going to continue to work hard over the summer and into next year and hopefully I will have the chance to play in college.”

“

”

Future women hockey players and their options for the fall: Kelly Hughes: Bemijdi State University, Gustavus University, Lake Forest University.

Lauren Hamby: Wayne State University, Ohio State University.

Jenny Heldt: Michigan State University Club Hockey. “I am excited to play because a lot of the other players on the team will be better than me and able to push me to succeed,” Heldt said. “I think that it will also be a great experience for me to have that I will probably remember the rest of my life.”

Kristen Burrows: Western Michigan University Club Hockey.

“Western has a really good girls team and they won the WCCHA this year. They were 22-0 and the coach is very good which means I will get better by playing on it,” Burrows said.

“Overall I am really excited to be play for the club team next year. I think it will be fun.”

Photos by Sarah Craft

Hi-Ya: Senior Erin Hoyer punches senior Dan Thomas. Karate has been around in the world as early as 1422 when the people of Okinowa learned to train and fight in hand to hand combat to battle Chinese and Japanese invasions.

Senior karate master shows her moves Erin Hoyer spends years perfecting her karate to have it pay off in a black belt Eric Wilkinson ad designer Sitting in the library, several students exchange worried glances as they see a girl perform a tornado kick in the corner.

Senior Erin Hoyer, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, demonstrated several Karate moves when asked about her ninja skills.

Hoyer, who recently became a first degree black belt, has been taking Tae Kwon Do lessons for four and a half years and is also a teacher at Keith Hafner’s Karate.

“I also do weapons karate,” Hoyer said, “My specialties are nuchukau and escrima sticks, which are my favorite weapons, but I’m pretty good with a bo-staff.”

The weapons class is only for people who are at least at the level of a brown belt, which is two belts below a black belt.

When working the way through the classes of Karate, the belts range from white to black, with eight levels in between.

While teaching lessons, she also furthers her own skill level.

Recently becoming a first degree black belt, she has many degrees left until she becomes a master.

“There are ten degrees of black belt, but the last one, the tenth degree is only awarded after death. It’s mostly for honor and show,” Hoyer said. “However, if you make it as far as fourth degree black belt, you are a master.”

While karate, to most people, seems to be lessons in beating people mercilessly, Hoyer says that is not it at all.

“Karate is good for mental health as well as physical health,” Hoyer said “Being a black belt is not about kicking a--. It’s about not having to kick a--.”

Karate, as much as it is good exercise, entertainment, and training, a lot of it is for show. “There are a lot of ceremonies and shows,” Hoyer said.

“Breaking boards and bricks doesn’t teach you anything real about self defense, and many of the moves are something you’d never actually do if you had to fight someone, but we hope to never use them anyway.”

Hoyer is not the only black belt in the school though. Seniors Brian Grosso, Kason Van Doren and Tom Rich, as well as junior Cynthia Doucette are a few names she mentioned who are among the many black belts in the area.

While karate is a good way to get fit, it really helps to be fairly in shape prior to beginning, or else it will be hard to keep up. But don’t let that discourage you from trying.

People who take part in karate seem to really enjoy it, and the awards of gaining ranks and belts is a worthy goal to work towards.

While Hoyer demonstrated a “Tornado Kick” in the library, senior Bryan Vessels took it upon himself to give it a try. “It isn’t as easy as it looks,” Vessels said. “I think I might have pulled a muscle in my leg.”

Although in karate people learn moves that could injure someone, Hoyer hopes to never have to have them come in handy. “I just hope that I never have to use my skills to defend myself,” Hoyer said.

“Just because I can take someone out, doesn’t mean I want or need to.”

Chillin’ out: Hoyer sits and stretches to calm herself down.

Hoyer said she stretches before doing any sort of karate to loosen up.

The colors of karate

• White signifies a birth of a seed.

• Yellow signifies the first beam of sunlight which shines upon the seed • Green signifies the growth of the seed as it sprouts from the earth.

• Blue signifies the blue sky as the plant continues to grow toward it.

• Red signifies the red-hot sun as the plant continues to grow toward it.

• Black signifies the darkness beyond the sun. A black belt continues to learn more about karate. http://www.itatkd.com/http://www.itatkd.com

the Squall Thursday, April 28, 2005

sports

11

Lots of new students cause athletes to move up to Class A Basketball and volleyball are two major sports affected by the change from Class A to Class B

Lee Hoggard sports editor

1,058 is the magic number for Dexter athletics this spring. It’s the

enrollment of Dexter High School, and Dexter’s growing enrollment has caused it to become a Class A school.

But what does this mean for athletics? Not a lot if you’re talking in terms of the regular season.

“Dexter already plays a lot of Division 1 schools in both the SEC conference and out of conference regular season schedules,” Dexter athletic director John Robinson said.

This is true. Being in the SEC helps Dexter in all of its sports. When you play schools like Saline, Chelsea and Pioneer it helps you prepare for the post season.

That’s where the change from class

B to class A is going to make the difference.

Dexter will no longer be playing smaller Class B schools in their district tournaments. They will have to play bigger Class A schools from now on.

The sports that this change will directly affect next season are sports like basketball and volleyball. They will now be playing larger schools in their district tournaments.

Men’s basketball, for example, played Milan, Ida and Dundee in their district this year. They have three-peated as district champions the past three years.

However the change from Class B to Class A could drastically impact their chances to win next year.

Instead of playing smaller Class B schools from around the area in their district tournament, the basketball team will probably be playing bigger Class A schools from around the area.

This is also true for volleyball.

They play in the same format that basketball uses, where teams play in a district tournaments and then the winners advance to regional.

And just like the basketball teams the volleyball team will be affected right away by the class change.

They will also have to play bigger Class A schools in their district tournaments, making it harder for them to advance to regional.

Some sports could potentially be helped in the long run by this change however.

Sports that don’t have district tournaments and go straight to regional like hockey, for example, could potentially get out of the tough class region which has most of the private schools in them.

However no one is really sure how much that can really help a team because you never know who you’ll draw in the regional tournament.

At this point it is very unclear as to what the impact of moving up to class A will have on Dexter athletics.

However as long as all the sports teams keep working hard and progressing there is no reason as to why this move from Class B to Class A should have a negative impact on the athletic programs.

MHSAA does not just look at the enrollment in schools, they first look at how many schools they need to be in Class A, B and so on.

Then they split the schools up based on enrollment, meaning there is no set number that puts you in one class or another.

Athletic trainer offers independent study Linda Nareski helps students get experience by providing a class offering hands-on work as a trainer

Busy busy: Linda Nareski works at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube in the mornings and at the high school in the afternoon.

gives me some experience and the basic knowledge you need to move onto a higher level of education,” Robert Kuzon she said. “It’s a lot of fun and you Staff Writer learn a lot.”

Although it is not required, HilFor the past four years students burn sometimes helps Nareski at have had the opportunity to parthe Medsport Center at the Ann ticipate in an athletic training proArbor Ice Cube and has even been gram headed by Linda Nareski, the to Dominos Farms a few times as district’s trainer. extra training.

“I had my “Athletic first student training is in 2001,” not an easy Nareski class as many said. people may “It was sort think,” Hilof an acburn said. cident, but “It requires since then a lot of knowlI have had edge and at least one spending a lot student.” of your own Nareski time to help said she has out.” several stuYou pretty dents who much have to have gone go to everyon to more -Ryan Hilburn, thing, or try to advanced at least. senior schooling When there to become are no games athletic trainers.

Maegan Michalik and I usually split Among them are Chelsea Sparthe time who will stay after school row who is currently attending the to help cover practices.” athletic training program at Lake It isn’t all work though. “We got Superior State and senior Ryan Hilinto some trouble with Connie one burn who plans to attend Eastern time when we borrowed the gator Michigan’s training program next and had too many people on it. It fall. was really funny,” Hilburn said.

“The biggest benefit of the class is that you get a lot of hands on exHilburn highly recommends the perience,” Nareski said. class to everybody who is interested “All of my students are very hard in athletics and is thinking about a working and eager to learn.” career in health or training.

“Overall I like my job a lot,” NaThe Independent Studies Athreski said. “I’ve always loved sports letic Training class is not as easy to and watching sports.” get into as others. Students need Linda works a split schedule to fill out paper work confirming spending three mornings a week that they are eligible for the class, it at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube helping needs to be signed by the principal people with physical therapy and and parents or guardians. workout plans and then comes to “I think that the class is extremeDHS every day for various sports ly beneficial to anyone who is interpractices and games. ested in athletic training,” Nareski Nareski is a Dexter High school said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s a graduate and says it is the main realot of fun if you are willing to put in son that she chose to work in Dexthe time.” ter.

Nareski already has six students She had to take four years of signed up for the program for the college courses to earn her bachcoming year. elors degree necessary to become a trainer.

Hilburn, who is taking an Independent Studies Athletic Training Interested students: class sixth hour when says working with Nareski comes in gives her If you are interested in taking some on the job training.

Independent study with Hilburn says that spending time Linda Nareski, please go to with Linda has really helped her to the counselors office and prepare for her future.

“I want to be a athletic trainer, so it register for next year.

“

I want to be an athletic trainer so it gives me some experience and the basic knowledge you need to move onto a higher level of education.

”

photo by Thomas Leonard

Looking for success: Junior Jared Kovacs and senior Jay Leadley look up at the basketball rim waiting to see if their shoot went in during their after school game.

Problems on the court Students cannot play on gym floor without adult supervision Thomas Leonard opinions editor

For a few weeks in the middle of March there was a minor controversy brewing. And according to assistant principal Andrea Glynn, “No, it hasn’t really been resolved yet.”

After the conclusion of the men’s basketball season, the gym temporarily went unused after school until women’s soccer tryouts began in the spring. So a group of students decided to use this available space for some recreational basketball.

“After basketball season ended, there was still snow on the ground,” senior Dave Birmingham said. “There weren’t any sports using the gym.” So Birmingham decided that this was a prime opportunity relax with friends and play pickup basketball.

“We played basketball for a week and no one had a problem,” senior Jay Leadley said. “Then football players started coming down and playing too.”

What started as a game of pick-

up basketball devolved into a series of announcements forbidding students from playing basketball after school without supervision. Heated arguments sprang up between weight room supervisor, math teacher and coach Brian Baird and the ball players.

Baird said he addressed the players as soon as he was aware of their games. He said, “Just because they weren’t caught before doesn’t mean it’s right.”

Birmingham was reluctant to argue with a former coach. “I was a captain on the football team,” he said. “I understand that Mr. Baird wants to get his football players up in the weight room; they should be up there. But I’m not in football, and I’m 18, so I should be able to play.”

According to administrators, however, the issue is not age, it is the fact that students are on school property without someone checking footwear and preventing injury.

“It’s a safety and liability issue,” Baird said. “There needs to be supervision because the school is liable, not just the students.”

Leadley then decided to seek a gym supervisor in order to continue playing. “After the first day (of the incident) I went to Mrs. Glynn and asked

her about getting a supervisor, and she said she would bring someone down,” Leadley said.

“But when I came back the next Monday, she told me I needed to bring someone to her.”

Leadley said he could not find a faculty member willing to supervise the gym and gave up his mission.

Glynn said Leadley didn’t approach her with the subject and she didn’t have funds to pay for supervisors.

“People can come to me with a supervisor,” she said. “The gym schedule is pretty crowded, but we can find times.”

Even with a tight schedule students have found time to play basketball and run on the track.

“People are running on the track without supervision and Dexter graduate Nate Morrill cracked his head open running on the track,” Birmingham said. “It seems as if the people on the track should be affected if we are.”

Baird said the track and weight room are open to the community, not the gym floor.

Further problems existed. Secretary Joan Whitehead said, “Most of the kids were in street clothes,” she said. “They need to be in proper attire and basketball shoes. The street

shoes mar it up.”

With such a pristine floor she said the school wouldn’t want to resurface the floor any sooner than necessary.

Athletic Director John Robinson said the ballpark figure for repolishing the gym floor is $5,000 or $1215,000 for sanding and polishing the gym floor.

In addition to the clothing issue, “We don’t want kids unsupervised in a room after school,” Whitehead said. “That’s the basic school policy at issue.”

Now that students have moved outside to play basketball, the situation won’t be an issue until next year. “I could see in the future school employees watching out for students playing in the gym after school,” Glynn said.

Birmingham considered another option.

“I don’t know if it could work if I went to the office and said, ‘I’m 18 so I’m going to keep track of these guys,’” he said.

Although Glynn wasn’t sure if an 18 year old would qualify, she indicated that only school employees will supervise.

“We just want the floor to stay clean,” Glynn said. “And we don’t want them getting hurt.”

Pack & Mail Plus 7073 Dexter- Ann Arbor Rd. Dexter, MI 48130 (734) 424-9700

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photostory

the Squall Thursday, April , 28

NHS food auction raises $1200 for muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis Brandon Mayotte photo editor

As a large group of seniors shuffle into the lunch room during third hour, food donated by the staff lies before them.

Four auctioneers get up and start the ceremonies.

Seniors Ryan Bruder, Eric Kumbier, Andrew Morse and Trevor Sherwood stand in front of their class taking the role of auctioneers for the day and the bidding begins.

Within a few minutes the seniors get rowdy. “There was a lot of yelling and stuff. It was really funny,” senior Alex Gardner said.

Students spent as much as $50 for a few slices of pizza and a pop. Seniors Jay Leadley, John Dobrei, Aaron Cooch and Josh Cebula spent over $160 for one lunch.

“It was a really good way to make some money for a cause,” Cooch said.

Pizza and pop were not the only thing that sold well at the auction.

“The variety was really good,” Gardner said.

A big hit at the auction for the past few years has been peanut butter pie made by social studies teacher Ken Koenig “It takes two hours to make six pies,” Koenig said.

“I got the recipe from the Common Grill cookbook. I think the senior food auction is awesome. It shows the kids have a sense at putting money to a good cause.”

According to NHS adviser and science teacher Cheryl Wells, this year’s auction raised a record breaking $1200 and was split between charities for muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.

Wells said the first food auction 19 years ago raised $400.

The event is organized by NHS and Wells.

“I try to think of it as the first senior event that they get to come together and celebrate and is something that will always be in there memories when they look back to high school,” Wells said.

Students were surprised at how much money the auction raised in such a short amount of time.

“I didn’t think we could raise that much in that amount of time,” senior Kim Evanski said.

Wells also thinks the auction went well.

She said, “The auction was a great success.”

Photo by Sarah Craft

He got soul: Senior Ryan Bruder and three other auctioneers helped auction food donated by staff members. NHS adviser and science teacher Cheryl Wells said over $1200 was raised in 45 minutes.

Photo by Mike Vickers

Next item for sale: In the madness of the scene, senior Tara King places a bid on the item up for sale. Seniors Jay Leadley, Josh Cebula, Aaron Cooch and John Dobrei pooled together over $160 for a pizza, cake, pop, candy bars and rocky road brownies.

Photo by Mike Vickors

Getting in on the action: Trying to get the auctioneer’s attention, senior Tom Syzmanski calls out his bid on pizza, cookies and pop. Syzmanski said he spent $45 at the auction.

Photo by Sarah Craft

Cake fight: Seniors Leah Sullivan and Anna LaForest dig into their newly acquired cake.

The group of ten seniors bought the cake made by social studies teacher Susie Walters for $64. “Mrs. Walters makes really good cakes,” Laforest said.