0506-4 by The Squall

“Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.” -Peter Griffin Dexter High School - 2200 N. Parker Road Dexter, MI 48130

December 22, 2005 Volume XVI, Issue 4

Value meal two (entree, milk, fruits, vegetables, fries): student- $2.75 teacher- $5.00

Value Meal one (entree, milk, fruits and vegetables): student- $2.35 teacher-$4.00 + tax

entree: student- $2.25 teacher- $2.25 + tax

Photo by Brandon Mayotte

An expensive habit: According to Principal Jim Bannan it will cost close to $26,000 to have this sign in front of the school ﬁxed.

Reward offered for information on vandalism kim weisner staff writer

Ala carte: same price for students and teacher, except teachers pay tax

Specialty salad: student- $3.75 teacher- $4.00

Walking into school on Monday, Nov. 28, students noticed a new addition. In response to messy hallways, Principal Jim Bannan ordered 21 trash cans be put in the halls. Eleven of these trash cans were bought by Bannan from his special projects fund. Another 10 were bought by Director of Buildings and Grounds Don Price. The 21 trash cans Photo illustration by Brandon Mayotte cost around $1,100 according to Bannan. Although Bannan was pleased with the response to the trash cans, he said he’s shocked by the way students treat Dexter High School. Recent incidents of vandalism included about two dozen broken cafeteria she said. at least three years,” Faber said. “$2.35 and $2.75 have chairs, a sink ripped off the wall in the Nicole St. Pierre But this money doesn’t go far. Faber said F&N spends stayed the same.” However, Faber said that the price of a boys bathroom across from the counselstaff writer 20 cents per milk, 17 cents per fruit and 10 cents per veg- la Carte is completely different. Prices of these items rise ing office, marks on walls, power sockets and fall with the economy. gie. in the stairways broken, wastebaskets For many students the fact that the price of lunch ofFaber said, though, that F&N is not out to make a large “That alone is 47 cents,” Faber said, “and if you add ripped off the wall and defecation in the fered at the high school is sometimes twice the cost of last year and this year’s food dollars together, we receive profit, and if they did, the government would tell them. “I elevator . food found at fast food restaurants is upsetting. 39.5 cents per meal from the federal government.” can assure you that I have never made a lot of money,” “Why people do these things, I cannot “The price of chicken sandwiches and hamburgers are answer,” Bannan said. “But you can’t let This explains why the value meal prices are set at she said. ridiculous,” senior Neil Rion said. “I can go to McDonalds $2.35 and $2.75. With a single those people win.” But some students are still weary of and get a McChicken for $1.06.” In an attempt to stop these acts of cheeseburger or other a la Carte food prices, including the costs of healthHowever, Margee Faber, assistant director for Food item costing $2.25, students are vandalism, ier choices. and Nutrition, said that this difference in price is eas- pushed to spend the extra 10 Bannan also “I love how the specialty salads- one ily explained. “McDonald’s and Taco Bell don’t pay the cents and buy a meal. offered $100 of the only healthy choices on the menuwages that we pay,” she said. to any student “We want you to buy the costs $3.75,” Doletsky said. “I’m sure According to Faber, Food and Nutrition must provide lunch meal,” Faber said. “It is a with informasome kids can’t even afford to eat right in their 23 employees with better wages and employee ben- more well-balanced lunch, and tion leading to our cafeteria.” efits than are offered to fast food restaurant employees. we receive more money to purthe arrest and According to Faber, salads are expenIn addition, the money to pay F&N employees does not chase food.” prosecution of sive because fresh produce always costs come out of district funds. the vandal or • Neil Rion more than canned vegetables, and she Even if F&N has to make a “The district policy is that we have to be self-support- profit to pay their employees and vandals. senior added that F&N tries to stay under what ing and operate at a profit,” Faber said. “If not, we’ll drain invest in new equipment, many According fast food restaurants charge. to Bannan this money out of the district fund which should be used for students still say lunch prices are “Before we priced the specialty salads, money, too, educational purposes.” steep. we went to fast food restaurants and tore their salads came from So, yes, F&N does operate on profit. And according to “Prices are ridiculously outrageous,” senior Steve Do- apart,” Faber said. “We charge less than fast food restau• Jim Bannan the special Faber, F&N is allowed to make three months of their ex- letsky said. “A piece of pizza is $2.25, so I might as well rants, but we need to charge at least $3.75 to break even projects fund penses as profit by the government. Faber also said that buy a large, better quality pizza from Cottage Inn and get or make a profit.” Principal which is remost of F&N’s profits are made off a la Carte items like more for my money.” So while Faber said F&N is the most efficient business served money slices of pizza, ice cream or french fries. Numerous students like Doletsky and Rion wonder operation she’s ever seen, many students don’t think for things like sending teachers to workFaber added that F&N does not make money off value why prices are set the way they are. But according to the prices can be justified. “Something needs to change,” shops and rewarding Honor Roll stumeals because they are part of the National School Lunch Faber, value meal and a la Carte prices are based on the Rion said. “It’s not like the cafeteria is gourmet.” dents with ice cream. The majority of Program, a federally assisted meal program. Faber, though, said F&N tries really hard to keep the cost of food, fuel, labor and employee benefits. And lunch the money comes from donations, pic“Food and Nutrition receives 17.5 cents for every meal prices are raised only once a year, during the summer. price down. She said, “If you guys can’t afford to buy the ture contracts and an annual survey that bought last year and 22 cents for every meal this year,” “We haven’t raised the prices of our value meals in lunch, why are we here?” the school participates in. Bannan said he is also looking at cafeteria camera footage to see if he can identify some of the vandals. “We can’t use the footage yet,” Bannan said. “In it there is some suspicious behavior that we’re still analyzing. I michelle svetkoff most challenging classes.” school year. editor in chief know they can blow up images in ‘CSI’ so According to Peterson, colleges look at One problem with adding AP classes may I’m seeing if we can do it here.” be finding the funding though. Based on the AP courses because colleges have found that Bannan is also spending money from With only four advanced placement (AP) teacher’s contract, the first year a teacher the students who take AP courses do better his special projects fund to maintain and classes, Dexter High School has fewer AP teaches an AP class he gets an extra prep at college. improve the quality and the cleanliness classes than schools like Chelsea or Saline. hour. The second year a teacher teaches an The number of AP courses though is not of the school, including ordering parts However, no one at the district level seems AP class she gets a 10% stipend. Every year as big of a factor, as long as the student is for the lights in the stairwells. to know why. after that an AP teacher gets a 5% stipend. challenging himself. And Bannan said he’s not worried Neither Principal Jim Bannan nor in- AP classes also need many new resources “We will look strongly upon a person,” about people trashing the lights again structional consultant Sara Dansky could such as new textbooks, practice tests etc. she said, “who has gone beyond what the once they’ve been fixed. give a concrete reason why DHS has fewer however, said more AP classes high school offers, like dual enrollment.” Bannan, “I expect students to make an effort to AP classes than surrounding districts. should be added regardless of cost. Nevertheless, Bannan said AP classes are keep the school clean when seeing that Student school board representative Ali“Money shouldn’t stand in the way for good for students and the district needs to things are clean,” he said. “I’ve made an son Warr, however has some ideas. “Honest- giving the best education,” he said. “If (stu- adjust its priorities to meet students’ needs. effort. You don’t see a bologna sandwich ly, no one really ever took the time to think dents) want them, we could get them. Some He said, “Can we afford not to challenge the on the window for two weeks anymore.” about putting them in,” she said. Although AP classes are even available online now.” students who want to do better?” Bannan also said he’s ordering five she does think Dexter should add AP classes, Junior Dan Clark agrees with Bannan and But if more AP classes are offered, AP Bimore security cameras at $1,100 per she said no one has actually proposed the said the lack of AP classes puts Dexter High ology teacher Richard Grannis said students camera to help catch the vandals. idea to the board of education. School students at a disadvantage. “Colleges need to be aware of the time commitment of “Compared to other schools I’ve been So, Warr, along with her fellow board like to see you take a bigger range of classes,” these classes. “You should not (take them) at,” he said, “Dexter is the worst when representative Josh Gardner, are trying to he said. “Since other schools have the op- just to put it on a resume,” Grannis said. “Or it comes to vandalism and respecting change this and have the district add more tion, it puts us at a disadvantage.” you should not (take them) if you don’t have the school by keeping in clean. Going to AP classes to its curriculum. Dexter High School is a special opportuHowever, according to University of the time to put into them.” By first polling high school teachers to Michigan spokesperson Julia Peterson, low nity.” Grannis also said students need to beware see what AP classes out of the 35 available numbers of AP classes do not put a high that even the best students can only handle Although Bannan said he is doing evteachers would be willing to teach and then school at a disadvantage as long as students so much. “Are students capable of handling erything in his power to make the high Photo by brandon mayotte polling the students to see what classes are take challenging courses. school better, he needs a mutual effort 3, 4, 5 AP classes?” he said. “Some are, but Hard at work: Senior Jacob Stoll concentrates on his from the students. of interest, Warr hopes to use this informa“We take the curriculum very seriously,” the average topnotch student does not have work in Angela Chea’s AP US History class. AP US “This really is your school,” he said. tion to propose possible new classes to the she said. “We want to see that students have the time to do (the classes) and what they History is one of four advanced placement courses “We need to value what we have.” offered at Dexter High School. board and add them to the curriculum next challenged themselves and have taken the want.”

Higher prices, more questions

Many wonder why cafeteria food prices continue to rise but quality does not

Something needs to change. It’s not like the cafeteria is gourmet.”

Compared to other schools I’ve been in, Dexter is the worst when it comes to vandalism and respecting the school by keeping it clean.”

Students concerned with lack of AP classes

on the On inside

A time for giving?: Principal Jim Bannan says there will be no extra credit given for donating to the can drive. Page 2

Let it snow: Students enjoy the snow through various winter-time activities. Page 12

Winter fun: Great gift ideas depending on the situation, no matter if it is for friends, family or lovers. Page 7

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Xanga website, others blocked by school ﬁlter

austin shapiro staff writer

No longer will students be able to broadcast their emotions through the blogging web site Xanga during school because Principal Jim Bannan blocked from the districts server. While other similar web sites such as Live Journal and MySpace are still available to students, Xanga was singled out by Bannan for being what he called “troublesome and disruptive” to the school day. Many web sites are blocked on the district server, but most of these are blocked due to explicit content. “(Xanga) was blocked because it was bringing out-ofschool issues into school,” Bannan said. “Students were saying unkind things about other students on the web site, and they were posting using the school computers. If they want to do that at home, there’s nothing I can do, but I’m not going to let that happen here.” Many students, however, view the blocking of Xanga as an infringement on their rights. “It’s not fair for the school to block web sites that don’t say anything bad,” sophomore Andrew Monson said. “If the teacher doesn’t want the students to go to the web site, then they should just say so instead of just blocking something.” Freshman Ryan Lemasters disagrees. “If the school doesn’t want the students to look at something, then it’s up to them if they want to block it,” he said. “And besides, people will be able to survive even if they can’t check out their Xanga every 10 minutes. I don’t think they should censor things, but if the school is going to there isn’t anything we can do about it, so people shouldn’t complain.” Math teacher Jason Miller who also teaches a keyboarding class has found that Internet access sometimes causes students to not do their work, but he hasn’t had any issues with people saying mean things about others on the Xanga web site. “Some people talk on instant messenger,” Miller said, “but I haven’t had any issues with people saying mean things about others.” And whether or not students use Xanga appropriately, Journalism Education Association Press Rights Commission Chair John Bowen is against any sort of filtering, saying filtering is a bad substitute for teachers and their lack of supervision. “In all areas of curriculum, filters replace the teaching and supervision of the teacher,” Bowen said in an e-mail. “In the case of some filters, decisions of what is legitimate information on sites is left up to someone. Who knows who the person is or what training he or she has? The teacher, critical thinking, analytical learning and educational growth are all thrown out the window for safety that is not guaranteed. The best filter is a supervising, hands-on teacher who is normally entrusted with helping students learn. Filters force learning outside the school.” District Supervisor of Technology Richard Weaver did not respond to several e-mails seeking comment on how and why web sites are blocked by the district. But many say filters are flawed in that they can also block legitimate sites. The filter used by Dexter Community Schools, for example, does block many web sites that are explicit, but it also blocks those that have words such as “skin” in them. A site containing the word “masking” in its title, is blocked because “masking” contains the word “skin” within it. However, an Internet search of the words s---, a-- and b---- showed these words are not blocked by district filters. Regardless of how or why it happens, Bowen thinks Internet filtering is always a flawed concept. “(I) see no need for filtering or blocking any site other than visual, proven pornography,” he said. “That is all the law requires; anything beyond that is school decided and ought to be subject to the Hazelwood legitimate pedagogical concern principle.”

Who’s Hiring? Meijer 5645 Jackson Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (734)222-0300 Photo by Brandon mayotte

1. How many positions are available? 12

2. What hours/ how many hours do you offer? Varies depending on position, no more than 48 hours per week.

3. What is the hourly pay/salary for each position? $6.00 starting wage for any position

4. Are there any special skills/background you need to be hired. If so, what? None

5. What are three qualities you look for in your employees? Manners, strong work ethic, dependability

6. How old must you be to be hired? 16 years old 7. How does one get hired? Apply in store

Name of company: Meijer Address: 5645 Jackson Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Telephone number: (734) 222-0300

Bannan denies extra credit for can drive

ryan yuenger staff writer

Every year Key Club holds a can drive to collect food for those who cannot provide for themselves. But because of a new school policy prohibiting teachers from offering individual extra credit to students who bring in cans, club members won’t collect as many cans as they have in the past. In the past many teachers offered extra credit as an incentive for students to bring in cans. However, Principal Jim Bannan didn’t think this was right and said the law is on his side. “It is not only my own personal belief that individual extra credit should be offered to students when expenditures are made, it is a Supreme Court law,” he said. But English teacher Deb Marsh said that she tried to look up this law and couldn’t. And law or no law, Key Club adviser Amy Raus said this change in policy caused the number of cans brought in to be less than half of the number usually brought in. “Although Key Club has never taken the stance that we must have the incentive of extra credit,” she said, “the new policy has greatly affected our can turnout in a negative way. We have received less than half of our usual number of cans collected. We are one of the largest contributors of cans in Washtenaw County, and if we don’t contribute enough, there will not be enough cans to go around for those who really need it.” Despite this, Bannan said offering extra credit for things students have to spend money on is wrong. “You can’t give a reward academically for things that all students cannot do,” he said. “A student should not be punished for being ﬁnancially unable to bring in cans.” Marsh said she doesn’t understand this though. “I don’t know what the harm was with our old system,” she said. “I wish we could still give extra credit for things like bringing in cans. It would greatly help student participation in these activities.” And Raus said there were already processes in place to deal with those who couldn’t afford to bring in cans. “The amount of extra credit teachers gave out never affected the amount of cans that were brought in,” she said. “Different teachers have always had different incentives for their students to support our school.” But Bannan said the rule hasn’t been enforced in prior years because “we ﬁnally have someone at this school who knows how to enforce the rules.” Raus, however, said students were given other opportunities to help with the can drive to earn extra credit. “If it’s the money (Bannan) is worried about, there are always other opportunities for extra credit,” she said. “Eleven students last year worked for the can drive by packing cans into boxes for extra credit. There were also several students who made posters for the can drive.” Bannan said, though, even this approach is not OK.“If an equal opportunity is not provided, then there should be no extra credit offered for doing it,” he said. The people who are unable to help with the can drive should not be punished for doing so.”

New schedule in discussion for winter exams A new exam schedule has been proposed and is in discussion for the winter 2006 exams. Although there are many schedules being discussed, Principal Jim Bannan said, “Students will be in the buidling from 7:402:31 all three days of exams.” A decision is set to be made by Monday Dec. 19 but is a “positive maybe,” according to Bannan. “We needed structure in the day,” he said. “One of the problems we had was the huge automobile accident we had last year during open campus lunch.” One of the proposed schedules is two three-hour blocks in which the teacher can decide when to give the exam. Lunch will be in the cafeteria based on the second exam teacher’s lunch.

Scholarship given to female athletes

It is not only my own personal belief that individual extra credit should be offered to students when expenditures are made, it is a Supreme Court law.” • Jim Bannan principal

I tried to ﬁnd something that explained that law, but I couldn’t ﬁnd anything.” • Deborah Marsh English teacher

Eleven students last year worked for the can drive by packing cans into boxes for extra credit.” • Amy Raus Key Club adviser

The people who are unable to help with the can drive should not be punished for doing so.” • Jim Bannan principal

The Joan C. Banﬁeld Foundation is giving one $1,000 scholarship to a female athlete. “We are looking for girls who excelled in athletics, academics and community service, particularly who have helped mentor younger female athletes,” Russ Brewster, president of the Joan C. Banﬁeld Foundation said. The foundation was created to help support and improve the participation and quality of women athletics in primary education. The admission process starts Jan. 1 and ends May 1 for the fall college term. Last year’s winners were Jenny Heldt and Ryan Hilburn.

Scheduling in the CPA causes Wilcox to resign Because the community orchestra refused to move its scheduled concert dates in The CPA, drama teacher Harry Wilcox has stepped down from directing the spring musical. “I didn’t want to direct a musical where I couldn’t be on the stage directing,” he said. Wilcox said he was frustrated when the scheduling conﬂict occurred. “I reserved (the CPA) back in August and someone scheduled over me,” he said. After declining to direct, Wilcox informed choir teacher Beth Patterson that the position was open to her. However, Patterson does not know if she will accept the position. “I would have to think it over,” she said. “I haven’t been formally asked by the administration to direct it yet.”

Tougher curriculum approved this month State Superintendent Michael P. Flanagan’s proposed toughening of Michigan’s high school curriculum was unanimously approved by the State Board of Education on Dec. 13. The bill will now be sent to the State legislature for ﬁnal approval. The bill proposes that all high school students be required to take three years of science, including chemistry; four years of math; three years of social sciences, including economics; four years of English; two years of foreign language; one online credit; one year of physical education and one year of music or art. “The (proposed) changes in the curriculum won’t affect Dexter much, but it could affect other districts,” Principal Jim Bannan said. Dexter currently requires two years of science, two years of math, four years of English, three years of social sciences, including economics and one year of physical education.

Friday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Students consume caffeine tablets to make up for extreme exhaustion Students not aware of the dangers and the side effects involved with taking caffeine pills and continue use of these pills to stay awake during school christina ﬁeld education editor

It’s 3 a.m. and seniors Elize Jekabson and Melissa Jaynes each take a caffeine pill and end up with enough energy to feel compelled to dance. ”We took them, and we were dancing like crazy in a parking lot,” Jekabson said, adding that she and Jaynes received funny looks from people passing by, but they just had too much energy from the caffeine pills to care. They had to do something to get rid of it. “We were supposed to go to a haunted house, and it led to this parking lot,” Jaynes said. “While (our friend) ﬁgured out what was going on, we amused ourselves by polka dancing.” Jekabson said she and Jaynes also both found the pills effective to increase their energy. Caffeine causes these affects by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain that usually slow down nerve cell activity. But when caffeine molecules attach to those receptors and block these reactions, the receptors release adrenaline. The three main components of caffeine: paraxanthine, theobromine and theophylline, relax muscles in the lungs, allowing some with asthma to breathe easier, increase blood vessel dilation and increase urine volume, which is the reason many have to run to the bathroom after drinking coffee. Caffeine can also be used to treat migraine headaches. Senior Andy Kish often uses caffeine pills, too. He had his ﬁrst dose of No-Doz three years ago to help study for tests. “(I use them) to stay up late and do work and to have more energy,” Kish said. “I don’t like coffee because of coffee stains. I like coffee as a drink but not regularly.” Though Kish may use the pills to stay up studying, he said he doesn’t take them before tests. “I try to avoid taking them before tests because I get too antsy,” he said. Tiffany Sullivan, a third year pharmacy student at the University of Michigan, said this is smart. “If (caffeine pills are) tak-

en before a test, it can actually make you more nervous and unable to think,” she said. Though Jekabson knows people who usually take caffeine pills to stay awake or party longer, she normally tries to stay away from the pills. “One of my friends had a bad experience,” she said. “She had way too many, and she was shaking and crying and stuff at camp. She took probably four at once.” T h e warnings on No-Doz, Vivarin, Jet Alert and Stay Awake boxes advise those who take the pills to consult a doctor if these reactions occur. • Elize Jekabson With 90 senior percent of adults in America consuming caffeine on a daily basis, it is possible to grow a tolerance to caffeine and experience withdrawal symptoms when caffeine use is stopped. Kish said on the low end he takes one to three caffeine pills a month and his highest use is two to three pills per day. Though he said he takes these pills fairly regularly, he said he’s not addicted and hasn’t felt any withdrawal symptoms. Jekabson said she was a bit surprised at how easy the pills were to get though. always “I’d h e a r d about them,

“One of my friends had a bad experience. She had way too many, and she was shaking and crying and stuff at camp. She probably took four at once.”

QA &

and the first time I bought them I was at a gas station with my older friend and he just went in and got them,” she said. “There’s a bunch of them by the counter. It’s easy.” Despite how easy it is to obtain these pills, Kish said he watches how many he takes. “I find that I pretty much only use them when I need them,” he said. “I’m pretty careful about the dosage. I make sure to take 200 mg every six to eight hours.” Counselor Gerry Holmes said she finds it difficult to believe that in our caffeinated society people still need pills to stay awake. “I’m surprised kids still have to take caffeine pills. I can’t imagine them on top of coffee and pop,” she said. “The first time I took a caffeine pill, No-Doz, was in college,” she said. “To be honest, it wasn’t a good experience. I had chest pains. I had to go to the doctor. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I’d never drank coffee really, and I was thin then and I think it was a jolt to my system. I never took another one after that.” And taking more than the recommended amount of pills can cause a variety of side effects according to Sullivan. These symptoms include difficulty breathing, twitching, confusion, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, a rapid and irregular heart rate and hallucinations. “If you show these symptoms, you’ve taken too much,” she said. “If they weren’t availa b l e over the counter, (students) couldn’t abuse them.” Sullivan also said there are safer ways to stay awake. “Pharmacists don’t recommend (caffeine pills), but people still do it,” she said. “Try to cut down on caffeine gradually over days and weeks to avoid withdrawal symptoms.” She also suggests drinking other substances with less caffeine, maybe something hot like tea if you’re used to drinking coffee. never a good idea to take “It’s probably them, but it does the trick,” Jaynes said. “You should probably just get more sleep.”

With junior Shannon Emmons

sam harris entertainment editor

Photo by brandon mayotte

Q: If I were to give you one million dollars right now, what would you do? A: I have to say that I would ﬁrst save the majority of it for college, then invest it in some bonds and stocks and buy a sweet little car for myself. Everyone wants a fast car for themselves.

Q: What do you want everyone to read about you, considering this is going in the newspaper? A: Juniors Dan Seling and Jimi Clark say my name can be pronounced as “Sha-nan-nans” or “Shenanigans”. They are kind of weird. But I also like to race cars in my spare time. My favorite color is yellow. I like Nintendo 64. It was the best of all the systems and still is. Oh, and I love Abba. Sometimes when I am feeling luxurious, I like to bathe in warm goat’s milk. It is quite relaxing, really.

Q: If you could own any animal in the entire universe, or more so this world, what would it be? A: A platypus, because you inspired me. I learned

Cosmic bowling entertains students Juniors Daily and Hoelzer ﬁnd fantastic fun in bowling sara newell features editor

Dancing around, singing to “Thriller” while wearing crazy outﬁts with their hair on top of their heads, juniors Ally Daily and Heather Hoelzer often ignore the questioning looks they get from others. Both Daily and Hoelzer say the strange looks don’t bother them because they were having too much fun cosmic bowling to notice. For Hoelzer, ﬁnding new things to do is more exciting than sticking to the same routine. And this is why she enjoys cosmic bowling. “I like doing the unexpected,” she said. “Instead of just going to a movie, I’ll go bowling and make a fool of myself. It’s more fun that way, and usually other people really want to do it too.” Cosmic bowling is bowling with neon lights and loud music from all eras. Hoelzer said she loves hearing all of the different kind of music. “Sometimes there’s music from the 80’s and then other times they play the current hits like rap and stuff,” she said. “The music sets the mood for the night. Depending on what they play, it sets up how we’ll act for the night.” “If they play oldies then we’re more likely to cut loose and sing and dance all crazy,” she said. “Music makes it more fun.” Daily says she goes to have a good time, as well. “We go just to have fun, and to do something different,” Daily said. However Daily said the average age group for cosmic bowling id usually younger than herself. “A lot of middle school kids come on Friday and Saturday nights,” she said. “And then there are al-

ways a few older people enjoying (it too).” Even though the crowd is mostly younger than Hoelzer, she said it doesn’t bother her. “Dare to be different,” she said. “My friends and I don’t really care what other people think of us. We’re out to have a good time, no matter what.” Daily agrees and said that the older teen crowd is getting more into cosmic bowling. “Everytime we go, we bring more kids our • Hoelzer age (16 or 17),” she said. “So more and more kids will find out about it, and then they tell their friends about it. So it’s like this huge deal now. A lot of fun for every age.” “When we (Hoelzer and Daily) got dressed up, we wore the most ridiculous outfits, and put our hair up really high, with crazy makeup. We just went not caring what people thought. Yeah, we got a lot of weird looks, but we had no one to impress.” In fact, Daily said that the weird looks were the best part. • Heather Hoelzer “I had my baby with me for (Shirley Bitjunior ters’) Health and Wellness class,” she said. “So I got a lot of questioning looks, but I just didn’t let it get to me. It’s just not important to me what other people think.” Cosmic bowling may seem like it’s not for everyone, but Hoelzer says anyone can have a good time. “You don’t have to do the crazy outfits or anything like that,” she said. “It’s just about getting friends together and doing something different than you would normally do. Anything is fun when your friends are around. plus is doesn’t matter who you are, you can be a nerd or a football player and it will be a good time.”

“We wore the most ridiculous outﬁts and put our hair up really high with crazy makeup.”

Illustration by kendall goode

just two minutes ago that they have poisonous tails, and they grab onto you with their feet, swing their tail around and sting you. That is crazy. They look so cute and innocent. All I know is that if I ever have a palace, it will be guarded by hundreds of platypuses, instead of Siamese cats or peacocks. Oh, and the royal mascot would be a platypus, too.

Q: If you could bring back someone from the dead, who would it be? A: My cat. He was my childhood cat. I had him ever since I was two-years-old. I really miss him. He was really fun to play with and cool. It’s so sad when a family pet passes over.

Q: What’s your favorite band or genre of music?

A: I’m a hard core Gothic. On the weekends, when I don’t see anybody from school, I like to paint my body black and draw tears down my cheek with eyeliner. After I get done with that, I sit in a corner in a dark room and spend about four hours there. No, not at all. I like a variety of rock: hard rock, soft rock, classic rock. My parents raised me on classic rock ever since I was little so it has stuck with me. Q: What important survival fact do you know? A: Not to eat a seagull’s stomach. Supposedly it will expand in your mouth until you choke to death. Kind of like a massive ball of chewing gum. Plus, I don’t think it would taste very good either. I want to take some survival classes and test myself by being dropped off in some remote forest in Montana on the mountains.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Girls sew warmth into the holidays

Fighting among girls on the rise sydney ross morale manager

As junior Katelin Davis was getting ready to leave A lunch, she felt a pain in her chest as an Ice Mountain water bottle, pelted at her over her lunch table, hit her. “I was really confused at first, but I wanted to know who did it, so I went over to the table across from mine and asked who threw it,” Davis said. Before Davis knew it, she said she heard a loud voice as sophomore Rita Wallis lunged towards her. “She grabbed my sweatshirt first and then started pushing me back towards the window, pulling my hair,” Davis said. “I didn’t want to fight back, because I didn’t want to get suspended, but I got caught up in the moment. I grabbed her chin and then punched her across the face.” Davis said fighting is not in her nature, but she said she just wanted to know who threw the water at her. “It’s not that I wanted to fight,” Davis said. “I was just annoyed that I got something thrown at me, and I just wanted to know who did it.” According to Wallis, things happened a little differently. “After Katelin got water thrown at her, she came over to my table, and she was just yelling at all of us, demanding to know who threw it,” Wallis said.

maggie craft circulation manager

Illustration by kendall goode

“Her table threw food at us first, so I threw food back. I told Katelin that I did it, and then she started pushing me. I had no intention at all of getting in a fight with Katelin, but once she pushed me. I wasn’t about to just let that go, so I fought back.” Students in A lunch tried to hold Davis and Wallis back from each other, but it didn’t matter because the damage was already done. “I got suspended for a day and a half for fighting,” Wallis said. Davis received a one day suspension as well. “I’ll get over it,” she said. “It’s not a big deal. Life goes on.” Davis also said that the whole thing got really out of hand, and there shouldn’t have been a fight in the first place. “I was just asking who threw a water bottle at me. I wasn’t looking for a fight,” she said.

But Davis and Wallace deserved their punishments according to Assistant Principal Andrea Glynn, “People who get in fights usually receive a suspension, unless they were defending themselves, which is very hard to prove,” Glynn said. “To not get suspended for fighting, you must use self-defense which is really hard and means the student has to try to do everything in their power to prevent the fight.” The fight between Davis and Wallis is just one of the three fights between girls that has happened this year. And while this number may seem higher than in the past years, Glynn said that the number of fights between girls is similar to the number of fights from last year. Earlier this year senior Sam Rich-

ard was also involved in a fight with another girl. “Some girl was trying to steal my boyfriend and starting rumors about me, and it was pissing me off, so I did something about it,” Richard said. Richard also got suspended for a day. But for Glynn a one-day suspension doesn’t do enough to discourage fighting between students. “Suspending students for a day doesn’t really get the point across of what we are trying to prove about fighting,” Glynn said. “I feel that if students were suspended for four of five days, they would see that fighting is not worth it. They have to miss a whole bunch of school work that they can’t make up, and also if a student fails a class due to suspension, they cannot appeal it.”

“It’s not that I wanted to ﬁght. I was just annoyed that I got something thrown at me, and I wanted to know who it was.” •Katelin Davis junior

Teen learns to cope with mother’s loss of hearing

Deaf isn’t always a disability hilary mcCown copy editor

The laundry bowl was leaking as three-yearold Mary Vu followed her mother up the wet stairs. As she was climbing up, she slipped, smashing her head against a rock when she hit the bottom. Little did she know, this accident would change her life forever. “I assume it was the bump on my ear that caused the damage,” Vu said. Though she had this bump removed many times, it continued returning until she moved to America, where surgery ﬁnally made the bump disappear for good. However, the damage was done as soon as she hit the rock. No amount of surgery or money could return Mary Vu’s hearing. The news that she was deaf took a toll on Vu. “When I found out that I wouldn’t be able to hear (ever again), I was very depressed,” she

said. But it wasn’t just the knowledge that her hearing was gone forever that was difﬁcult for her to cope with. Learning to live with the disability was just as trying. For Vu, the most demanding task was that of conversing with different people. “It was very hard,” she said. “It was difﬁcult trying to understand the other people and communicating with them. I could only understand a little bit of what the people were trying to say.” It wasn’t until she moved to America that Vu acquired the tools she needed to live with being a deaf person in an active and extremely communication dependent society. “In Cambodia, I never went to school,” she said. “When I came to America, I went to a school for adults where I learned English, math and sign language. I went to school for three years.” Those years of education were of great im-

portance to Vu. Because of them, she is now able to communicate with others through the use of sign language. While being deaf may prove to difﬁcult for Vu, her daughter, sophomore Marianne Vu, views life with a deaf parent as nothing short of normal. Just as most kids learn to talk as babies, Marianne has been learning how to communicate with her mother since she was very young. “I started learning sign language at the age seven months,” she said, though she says she isn’t quite sure how that worked since neither her mother or father could talk. Just as learning to live with a mother who is hearing impaired came as second nature to Marianne, the things that she must do differently from other kids her age, come just as naturally. For instance, not many students have to go with their parents to appointments and meet-

ings to translate for them. But this is something that Marianne does regularly. “I’m used to it,” she said. “I don’t mind it (at all).” Mary agrees to some extent, but feels that life would be less challenging if she were not deaf. “I do regret it,” she said. “If I was hearing, it would be a lot easier for me to communicate with others.” However, she, like her daughter, has learned to cope. “I don’t mind being deaf, since I can communicate (now) using sign language,” Mary said. Regardless of the seemingly difﬁcult lifestyle, life for the Vu’s runs just as smoothly as life for any other middle class family. Over the years, Mary has learned to appreciate her mother’s’ situation and doesn’t wish it to be any different. “I don’t regret it,” she said. “I don’t wish my mom could hear.

Polar Fleece, elastic, scissors, a sewing machine and two girls from Dexter High School have made a difference for those trying to keep warm this winter. Freshman Emily Hattie and junior Janet Zalucha sew polar fleece mittens and donate to those less fortunate as a part of their 4-H Ambassadors Program. “I like (4-H) because I like helping others out in my community a lot, and it is just a really fun way to express myself,” Hattie said. Zalucha agrees with her fellow ambassador. “I enjoy 4-H because you get to learn about different lifestyles and you can apply them to when you don’t have your parents around to do everything for you, like sewing your own clothing when you don’t have enough money to buy clothes from a store,” she said. The 4-H ambassadors, 10 total, started the mitten project in May and set a goal of making 500 mittens by November. They got this idea through last year’s ambassadors and they passed their goal and have made about 600 mittens. “We are sewing until the polar fleece runs out,” Hattie said. Hattie said she goes home from school and either cuts, sews or puts elastic in the unfinished mittens until it is all done. Even though the girls will end their position as ambassadors after this year due to a one year membership limit, they say they will still help with sewing the mittens next year even though they technically do not have to. “I’ll still help as long as they need my help,” Zalucha said. Hattie and Zalucha also asked Girls Scouts, members of the Dexter senior citizen center and their families to help them sew even more mittens. These finished mittens are donated to Faith in Action, SOS Crisis Center, Shop with a Cop and Motts Childrens Hospital. “We also give some to students if they don’t have gloves at recess,” Zalucha said. Hatti’s mother, Jane, a paraprofessional at Creekside, delivers the mittens to the different organizations and to the children at recess. “I help because I feel that our community is just as important as anyone else’s, and I just want to make it easier for those who may not have enough, Zalucha said. “We try to use our skills to the best of our abilities to transform our feelings for the kids in need, to give them warmth on their hands.”

Thursday, Decemb er 22, 2005

The Squall

Opening Pandora’s magical music box Web site helps people ﬁnd music that suits their tastes kelsey schultz morale manager

The magical window pops up on his computer and he is sucked back in to the endless world of music with thousands upon thousands of songs at his finger tips. Typing keys furiously, junior Ryan Winchester continues his journey in search of a new artist to become obsessed with. Many students might turn on MTV or top 40 radio and decide what music to listen to based on what’s popular. But not Winchester. He goes to the web site www. Pandora.com where a music genome project has been created. At Pandora a person can find hundreds of songs and artists they’ve never heard of but would love based on their existing favorite bands. The site is easy to navigate, and it takes only a few seconds for it to compile a list of songs you might like. “It’s ungodly simple,” Winchester said. To begin, type in the URL www.Pandora.com. The site will load and then a flash pop up will appear. In big letters the word ‘EXPLORE!’ appears. Below it is a box where you type in an artist or song to search. After typing the word and pressing “create” the site begins to search through it’s database of music to find songs with similar characteristics of the artist or song you chose. A window will say, “We are now creating a station that will explore songs and artists that have similar qualities as (whatever you typed in).” Next the window will change and talk about the qualities the artist or song you chose contains and how they picked songs based on these elements. A song will begin to play with the artist, song name and album cover showing.

Sometimes the song playing doesn’t appeal to a person’s taste. Winchester said he is extremely picky about his music tastes and for him there were more songs chosen by Pandora that he didn’t like than he did like. In this case the user can choose the arrow in the right hand corner to go to the next song. There is also a “Guide Us” button in the bottom right hand of the screen. Someone who clicks that button can choose from a thumbs up: “I really like this song”, or a thumbs down: “I don’t like this song”. Both choices will give a response either saying, “Cool. We’re glad you like it. We’ll be sure to play more songs with similar musical qualities.” Or, “Sorry about that. We’ll try something else and never play that song again on this station.” Pandora also has an e-mail address for you to offer suggestions about artists they should include in the site. You can even submit your own music if you are a struggling artist or band member. “I sent in a request and someone actually responded to me,” Winchester said. Despite the fact that Pandora may be lacking some of his favorite artists, Winchester found it to be the best site out there. “I’ve been to the same exact music sites before, but none of them even compare,” he said. When Winchester visited these other sites, he said he was presented with bands that weren’t even remotely similar to the ones he liked. Pandora was created in January of 2000 by founder Tim Westergren and two co-founders, Jon Kraft and Will Glaser. Westergren is a musician, and his experiences are what led to production of Pandora. “I’ve spent many years playing in bands,” Westergren said. “I’ve had ﬁrst hand experience as a musician trying to be recognized.”

In 1999 Westergren saw the Internet as a great opportunity to help other struggling musicians. “There are a lot of really talented people, but no real way for them to ﬁnd their audience,” he said. “We wanted to change that with Pandora.” At Pandora music analysts take in to account everything from rhythm, melody, vocals, lyrics and a arrangement of the song when matching musical tastes of consumers. Pandora also completely disregards what artists are on the Billboard Top 100 chart. “You don’t get recommended because of your popularity,” Westergren said. “We can be really good at recommending unknown artists.” Pandora has been up and running for a couple of months, and although it is increasing in popularity, it is still a secret to many. “I think very few people know about it, which sucks.” Winchester said. “The simple-minded folk that prefer the ‘hot beats’ of master minds such as 50 Cent or Young Jeezy probably couldn’t comprehend how to use and enjoy such a simple and interesting resource.” And as a resource Winchester has found Pandora to be helpful and addicting. “I spent three hours going through it last night,” he said. “I’m going downtown tomorrow to by some of the CDs that I like”. Winchester is one of many who has been sucked in to the world of Pandora. He said, “Any music fan should love to waste hours away trying to discover new artists, and this just helps.” And this is what Westergren hopes to achieve with Pandora. “The grand vision for me is to really change the way music is consumed,” he said. “Music is societal glue. I would love it if (music) became the common language of the world.”

A guide to crappy sequels samantha harris entertainment editor

From crazy gophers to a pimped out leprechaun, we’ll tell you what to skip

• Caddy Shack 2

“I’ve been to the same exact music sites before, but none of them even compare.” • Ryan Winchester junior

• Matrix Rev.

Cheap and easy winter fun $ molly brewster sports editor

Winter is the season of cuddling. But when you’re short on funds after buying holiday presents and don’t want to stay at home watching movies, you might ﬁnd there are plenty of other things to do under $20.

1. Go to a Michigan basketball game- De-

pending on the team the Wolverines are playing, the tickets can be as low as $13. Michigan games can be a nice change from Dexter sporting events, and the times they are held are spread all over, so going to a game can easily ﬁt into your schedule.

5.Go to downtown Ann Arbor- After get-

ting something warm to drink at the Chocolate Cafe, walk around and window shop. You will ﬁnd plenty of things that will catch your eye and can spend hours wandering around.

6.Make a surprise breakfast- Over win-

ter vacation surprise your signiﬁcant other by making them breakfast. Just like baking cookies, making breakfast is inexpensive and you can make it as fancy as chocolate chip pancakes or as simple as making Egos.

7.Dollar movies- Madstone Movie Theater at 2.Ice skating- At most ice rinks when you rent Briarwood shows $1.50 movies. Although the movies skates you also get admission to open skating which usually cost around $4 a person. It’s a good chance for you girls to pretend you’re a bad skater so you can have an excuse to hang onto your date whenever you “fall.”

3.Sledding- You can head to Vets or Cardiac for

a date that won’t cost you anything. After sledding, head back to your house to warm up with hot chocolate and a cozy ﬁre.

have been out longer than movies at Quality 16, the more money you save on the ticket, the more you can spend on concessions.

8.Hands-on

science museum- It’s the place where every child wants to go, and once you’re inside, your will remember why you liked going there so much as a kid. Admission is only $5, and it will guarantee you hours of fun.

9.Go bowling- At Belmark Lanes on Monday 4.Making cookies- Guys might roll their eyes and Tuesday you can bowl a game for $1 plus shoe

at this suggestion, but it can be fun and boys can make the best cooks. Also, if you eat enough cookies or cookie dough, you won’t have to go out to dinner later.

rental for $2.50. If you’re sick of only hanging out with your boyfriend or girlfriend, this a good place to go on group dates.

10.Planet Rock- A day pass cost $15 a per-

• Poltergeist

son. You can laugh at each other’s inability to climb up the wall. One person climbs at a time while the other stays on the ground for support, so it’s a good opportunity to build trust.

11.Shop

Value

• Grease 2

World- For under $20 you and your date can pick out outﬁts for one another. If you want to show them off, you can use whatever money you have left over to ﬁnd something cheap to eat.

12.

Foggy Bottom- Most nights of the week you can ﬁnd live entertainment that you can enjoy for free. Chances are you might want to buy something to eat or drink, but there are plenty of things on the menu that won’t break your budget.

• Basket Case 2

13.

Build a snow fort- This is perfect for snowdays when you can meet somewhere and build the snow fort of your dreams. Once it is complete make some hot chocolate to enjoy while sitting in your house.

14.

Get massages- If your boyfriend or girlfriend is bad at giving massages go to Relax Station in Ann Arbor. You can get a 10 minute massage for $10.

• Leprechaun

15. Eat late- If you are still looking for some-

thing to do past midnight go to Panchero’s, Pizza House or Jimmy John’s in downtown Ann Arbor. All are open until 3 a.m., and if you chose carefully you can ﬁnd some good things to eat for under $20. • Evil Dead 2

Caddyshack II- In an attempt to live up to the original’s mastery, “Caddyshack 2” fails miserably. Dan Akroyd is no Bill Murray, and it is sad that he thought that he could compare to the brilliance of Carl, the gopher-chasing groundskeeper from the original. Producers are always looking to make just a little bit extra money off a good movie, but almost always, they end up crossing the line and destroy a legend. This movie should be seen by all-- that is, if you need something to make fun of on a boring day. The Matrix RevolutionsThere obviously was a cult devoted to Neo. But this is another example of when producers take their creation overboard, possibly in an obsessive manner. What was this movie even about? Neo gets blinded and Trinity is impaled by a bunch of poles, end of movie. What kind of name is Neo? Does anyone recall Neopets? This was horrible. Poltergeist III- How many are there? Is this the last of its kind? Some creepy minister guy that stalks a family and molests children is the gist of this story. It is so bad I don’t remember any of it, and I believe it’s best left that way. But if one feels like wasting away a perfectly good day while in recovery from surgery or having wisdom teeth pulled, have a Poltergeist marathon, but the Vicodin won’t have you rating this movie any higher. Grease II- I’m sorry to offend any hardcore fans of this movie but, the ﬁrst “Grease ” was supposedly a “classic,” and they should have hit it and quit it. People don’t enjoy watching a bunch of 30-year-olds play the roles of high schoolers. This movie sucks and nothing can save it. To Hell it goes. Basket Case II- If you have no idea that this was a movie, it is probably best. Just the name of the title is ridiculous. But actually sit down and watch the movie and it becomes hysterical. An evil Siamese twin that a brother keeps in a basket causes mayhem, somehow? In this horrible sequel the two brothers try to hide their identity from the intrigued press but with no luck they decide to end the lives of the reporters. An outrageous plot, terrible actors, this makes for probably the worst sequel of another bad movie. A double duo. Leprechaun In The HoodEver since I was a little kid I was always afraid of this demented leprechaun. But one day I sat down and watched one of the sequels, which turned out to be one of the happiest days in my life. No matter how much worse you think the movie could get, it will surprise you time after time! Pimp canes, “bling-bling” and a marijuana smoking leprechaun are just a taste of this movie’s summary. “A friend with weed is a friend indeed,” quote Warwick Davis who plays this gruesome creature. In order to steal back a magical pimp cane that was originally stolen from Ice T himself, the main characters, one of them being Coolio, smoke the leprechaun down, dressed up as women and subdue the dwarf. In the end you’ll be left horriﬁed by this horny, perverted, drug using leprechaun. Evil Dead II-Considering this is a hilarious movie for its horrible graphics, it basically is a remake of the original. A group of strangers are stranded in the woods in a deserted cabin where demons possess them. Bruce Campbell saves the day.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Movie: ‘Just Friends’ raleigh holmes opinions editor

When I saw commercials for the movie “Just Friends,” I thought it would be a great romantic comedy. Sadly to say, this movie was neither romantic nor funny. In such movies as “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder” the star of the film Ryan Reynolds is really funny, but he is definitely a let down in this one. The funny parts were mainly shown in the commercials. Sure, there were a few other parts that were comical, such as when Samantha (Anna Faris) set all of Jamie’s (Amy Smart) Christmas decorations on fire, but there were not nearly enough scenes to call it a comedy. The character of Samantha, who is supposed to be a pop singer, gets old as soon as she enters the movie. Samantha is obsessed with Chris (Reynolds), and he can’t stand her but ends up being stuck with her for the holidays because of work. It was supposed to be funny how she was constantly annoying him, but her character just made the movie worse. Dusty (Chris Klein) was also aggravating because everybody immediately fell in love with him because he was such a nice guy. He kept making Chris look bad which was just frustrating, not funny. The heart throb during high school, Jamie, was played well but, once again, her character was written annoyingly. She kept putting Chris into the “friend zone” and screwing him over by doing things such as surprising him on a date by bringing along Dusty. Towards the end of the movie her role was

‘Trapped in the Closet’: CD written a lot better, but not good enough to make up for the first half of the film. The main character, Chris, was a fat kid in high school who moved to L.A., got a high paying job, lost some weight and came back to town to win over Jamie. I found his obsession over her creepy, not cute. The writers made Chris so obsessed with Jamie that it was just sad. Other then the sparse one liners that were mainly seen in the commercials, “Just Friends” is a definite don’t see.

he met in a club. Once they finish, her phone rings, and she finds out her husband, Rufus, is on his way home. She rushes Sylvester into a truly genius hiding spot, her husband’s closet. Rufus arrives home and greets his wife, but then he hears a cell phone go off in the closet. Even though Sylvester “tried to quickly put it on vibrate,” he is caught. In the next chapter, we find out that Rufus is a homosexual pastor having an affair on his wife with a man named Chuck. The following 10 chapters feature more of the same laughable occurrences as more characters are introduced in this seemingly never-ending parade of idiocy. The lyrics change each chapter, but the same monotonous beat is kept throughout, a habit Kelly tends to have on other records as well, such as “Happy People” and “Step in the Name of Love.” It’s hard to tell whether Kelly is being serious by continuing to make chapters of his song or whether he is just capitalizing off an audience who eats crap like this for breakfast. Kelly is undoubtedly a great recording artist with a string of hits (and a 15year-old girl) under his belt, but I have to wonder what compelled him to record such a strange song. While the song may provide a few guffaws, drawing it out into 12 chapters makes me question Kelly’s, and the music purchasing nation’s, sanity.

There comes a point in every musician’s career when their conﬁdence reaches an impossibly high peak. It is at this point when songs that were previously impossible for him or her to record without being laughed out of the industry are produced and received almost too warmly by the listening public. Such is the case with R. Kelly’s latest gift to the music world, a hip-hop soap opera called “Trapped in the Closet.” Good thing he included a receipt. The entire song is split into 12 different chapters (i.e. episodes). The ﬁrst chapter features the main character, Sylvester (Kelly), sleeping with a woman

THE RATINGS * Stay away from this abhorrent mess ** Acceptable in gift form but not worth your money *** If there’s nothing else to do, go for it �� **** If it seems to suit your tastes, �� you need to give it a chance ***** Fun for all ages

maggie craft circulation manager

There are so many great elements to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky that make this a great book for people at any stage of their lives to read. This story is told through letters written by Charlie, the main character. His letters are so personal and so genuine that it makes the reader really believe that they are best friends with Charlie. The story is about a boy named Charlie who finds himself a lonely high school freshman without his best friend, who had taken his own life in middle school. Charlie makes friends with two senior siblings, Sam and Patrick, at a football game, and ends up becoming great friends with them. He falls in love the first time he sees Sam and never stops loving her throughout the book. He and his friends have experience with drugs, homosexuality, love, loneliness, friendship, family problems, abortion, literature, sex, music and abuse. He is extremely intelligent and keeps to himself, and as a result he analyzes every situation and watches from the sidelines as a “wallflower”. The way Chbosky develops his characters and plot makes readers get in to the book and all that is going on. Chbosky’s writing style is very conversational and simple, yet it has so much depth to it. There is never a slow, unimportant event in the book. Everything that goes on is felt so much by the reader that they feel they are actually one of the characters going through the experience. All of the characters in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” are very developed so that even if they do something wrong, there is still sympathy for them.

frank dufek staff writer

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is similar to “The Catcher in the Rye” because both stories are about teenagers going through life telling their own stories. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a more sincere book because Charlie’s letters and experiences are more touching than Holden Caulfield’s, the main character in “The Catcher in the Rye.” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a very developed story of a young man’s experiences with growing up, and this book should be read by all.

*****

ian williamson staff writer

Oh Fiddy, you truly are a king among men. Oh, yes, your grand empire does stretch across all that you survey. And like any good king, you have seen ﬁt as of late to grace us, your humble followers, with a bounty of quality products to further your glory. With multiple hit records and a movie already sustaining our empty souls, you have graciously seen ﬁt to add another title to the cornucopia of quality that is the 50 Cent brand. “50: Bulletproof,” however, may

Book: ‘The Perks of Being a Wallﬂower’ MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAVE A CANDY CANE! the interim princi-cat

become a chink in your holy armor. With a series of well-produced videos and a veritable bouquet of Cent-related special features available, it is sad to see that the game strays so far from the stark street realism and class expected from a Fiddy-based game. The first enemies in the game are commandos. Commandos with M-16’s and corny faux-German names like Van Sykes. Now I’m not saying 50 Cent has never fought commandos. Quite the contrary, I simply think that the number of commando’s that 50 had to fight is unrealistic. He could kill twice as many as are in the game. How are we supposed to accurately relive 50’s life if the game cannot even recreate the rampant commando-based violence of his youth? Aside from historical inaccuracies, the game suffers from one of the worst cameras ever encountered. The camera slides through walls, phases though 50’s head, and otherwise tries to obscure the player’s view of the FBI agents who are firing grenade launchers at our hero. Controls also behave in a sluggish manner, falling far short of 50’s natural cat-like reflexes. Often times a commando-fired rocket will reach you far before your digital-Fiddy has even begun to summersault away. For a game that has so much to offer in the way of special features (the number of videos and music is staggering), it’s quite disappointing that it has little in the way of quality game play.

‘50: Bulletproof’: Video Game MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAVE A CANDY CANE!

WHY THANK YOU. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AS WELL

THANKS. YOU TOO.

by Kendall Goode

YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!! CHRISTMAS ISN”T THE ONLY HOLIDAY MERRY CHRISTMAS! YOU KNOW! YOU’RE THE HAVE A CANDY CANE! PRINCIPAL. YOU NEED TO SET AN EXAMPLE. I CAN”T BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAVE A CANDY CANE!

SWEET! FREE CANDY CANES!

THANKS MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Happy holidays everyone.

a little more

S Q UA L L

Section Thursday, December 22, 2005

Christmachanukwanzaka

re-gifting

The art of

own homes and do not subscribe to the overabundance of holiday purchases that Just about everyone has most shoppers do. received presents they never For many re-gifters like put to use or just never wanted in Williams, it’s the thought that the first place. counts. Whether it is a She said re-gifting doesn’t mean hand-knit sweater from your she doesn’t put thought into her grandmother or a CD of a despised gifts. band, the holidays leave many In fact, she stills thinks of the belong in with gifts that don’t person she is giving a gift to and then our possession. selects a present that is perfect for them. with a They also leave us “No matter where I come up with the gift dilemma: what to do with these for a friend, I still put thought in it,” she said. Re-gifting unwanted presents? Despite the many advantages that re-gifting nundrum. brings, there are still people who do not believe it is an is one solution to this coIs there shame in passing one of acceptable gift giving strategy. your unwanted gifts along to a friend for whom the Junior Emily Fischer, an opponent of re-gifting, said present may be perfect? re-gifters are cheap. Not for junior Katelin Davis. Davis is a firm believer “I think a lot of people re-gift because they don’t in re-gifting, giving someone a gift that had originally want to spend their money, and that’s kind of cheap,” been given to them. She sees nothing wrong with this she said. practice which has become more and more popular. Anti re-gifters say if you know a present will never be For Davis, re-gifting came in handy when she found taken out of the box and will only serve as a surface for herself with an unattractive picture frame and no gift for dust bunnies, you must keep it. That present was gifted a good friend. to you by someone who cares about “I had this picture frame that you and thought that you would “I wouldn’t be mad didn’t really match my room and like it. (about re-gifting), but I wasn’t really my style,” she said. “So These people say it would be when Christmas rolled around, I rude not to keep the present, even just think that going to wasn’t sure what to give one of my if it will only go to waste. friends. I found the frame in one of the mall and picking out And re-gifting can be risky bemy desk drawers. I put a picture of cause there is always the potential a present adds a my friend and I in it, wrapped it up for someone to be offended by your and gave it to her.” re-gift. personal touch.” Davis said she felt no guilt for this People like to feel special and to re-gifting. think that what they receive for the “I just thought I’d kill two birds • Lauren Westphal holidays is special, and for some, with one stone,” she said. “I got rid of there is nothing special about givjunior ing away an unwanted gift. something that I didn’t want and gave it as a gift to someone who I thought For junior Lauren Westphal, rewould better appreciate it.” gifting is never an option. Like many other holiday giftIn addition to being a quick and easy solution to giftgivers, she said the act of going to the mall and selecting giving dilemmas, many believe re-gifting can also cut a gift is a holiday tradition. down on the stress and excess associated with holiday “Shopping at a busy mall starts the holiday spirit shopping. off,” Westphal said. With re-gifting, there is no need to make a trip to Although she has never re-gifted for someone, she crowded and noisy shopping malls. finds humor in re-gifting in general. Re-gifters don’t need to battle housewives who are “If someone re-gifted for me I would think it was out to get the best deals and obnoxious children visiting funny,” she said. “I wouldn’t be mad, but I just think Santa. Everything they need to re-gift is right in the that going to the mall and picking out a present adds a comfort of their home. personal touch.” Many re-gifters also say re-gifting helps them rest So for this holiday season, you have a choice. You easily because it does not force them to contribute to the can pass on that old *NSYNC CD you never listened to greed and excess that holiday shopping can bring. your little sister who will love it, or you can go to the Senior Clarissa Williams is another re-gifter. mall and buy her something brand new. “We are given so much for the holidays, and if you There is no right or wrong answer for what to do have a gift you have never used, if you don’t re-gift, the when you find yourself with a holiday gift dilemma. gift is just going to waste,” Williams said. As Davis said, “Re-gifting isn’t for everyone, It’s reRe-gifters say they cut down on the clutter in their ally up to you.” katie fricke staff writer

Gift ideas for the holidays robyn shepard staff writer

Skip-its. Furbys. Beanie Babies. Ribbon dancers. Easy Bake ovens. Spider Man comic books. Power Ranger action ﬁgures with light up swords. Lite Brites and Tickle Me Elmo. These are the classic toys. But now technology brings CD and MP3 players, iPods, PSPs and XBox 360s. These acronyms leave many wondering, what is a toy anymore? Because of this confusion, shopping is not easy. We’re basically given all year to try to brainstorm gifts for family, friends and that special someone. So how come when it’s three days before Christmas or Hanukah or Kwanzaa, you have no idea what to buy for anyone? After grueling hours of searching aisle after aisle, after you’ve pulled your hair, and after you realize that maybe there isn’t a such thing as a good gift, take a deep breath. There’s a solution. A list of fool-proof gifts. With this list maybe this year shopping won’t be so miserable. Maybe this year you can buy gifts for people other than yourself. And maybe this year, the gifts you give won’t be the last minute, poorly wrapped, atleast-I-tried gift so many of us are used to and known for.

Family:

��

The gift certiﬁcate– When all else fails, let your family pick out their own gift. Whether it’s to their favorite store or the movies, it’s something you know they will enjoy 100% since it’s being picked out by them.

Friends:

The cookie basket– All friends love food, especially yummy treats. So spend a Saturday making treats for them. Find cute bags to place your homemade treat in. You don’t have to be rich to let someone know you care. Remember it doesn’t have to be just cookies. You can ﬁll the basket with anything.

(Favorite Show) on DVD– This is the perfect thing for either guys or girls. It won’t be hard to ﬁgure out what they like because they’re your friends. So go on over to Best Buy or Target and invest in something you know they’ll watch.

Take your friend out– No matter who you are, you know it’s nice when someone else pays. So go to a movie or out to lunch. Spend the day catching up. This says, “Merry/Happy (your holiday).” I enjoyed spending the day with you. “

��

Relationships:

The “I Like You” gift– For guys, ﬁnd out your girl’s favorite ﬂowers and surprise her with them when you ask her out on a date. For girls, get him that video game he’s been dying to play. And if he plays it all the time, he’ll be thinking about you all the time.

The “I Heart You” gift– For guys the best thing is a stuffed animal (from Build-a-Bear Workshops) that your girl can cuddle with. She’ll know you spent the time. For girls, this is your opportunity to dress your man how you want him to look. Go to a favorite store of his (or yours) and get him that shirt you’ve always wanted to see on him.

��

Illustration by: kendall goode

A recordable DVD player– Instead of buying everyone in your family something individually, give them one big gift. If there are four people in your family and you budget about $30 a piece for them, you’ll have $120, which is plenty to ﬁnd a dependable DVD player your whole family will love and use.

WHAT WHAT NOT NOT TO TO RE-GIFT: RE-GIFT: ��

A homemade ornament– Haven’t you heard the saying, “The best things in life are homemade”? Try baking a pretzel in the shape of a frame and placing a picture of you and whoever inside it. For the baking impaired, try the local bakery.

The “I Love You” gift– This is easier than it sounds. Make a keepsake box. Put in the DVD of the ﬁrst movie you saw together or the tickets from it. Put in any little inside jokes the two of you may have together, or any other little mementoes that say, “I remember.”

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Uproar of feminine attitude: girlﬁghts erupt robert kuzon managing editor

Sittin’ crooked on D’s and swangs I am always up for a watching a good fight. There is nothing better than the pleasant surprise of seeing the drama unfold to the point where there are two people going at each other mere yards from your lunch table. The adrenaline, the mob of people surrounding the fight, the street-like environment, the ultimate form of human conflict. Pure perfection. Recently things have changed though. Straying from the norm of guy on guy battles, this year I have noticed a spike in feminine hostility. This fall alone, I have seen more girls fight than I have that I have in the last two years of high school. In fact, before this year I can’t honestly say that I have seen two girls get to the point where the are actually striking each other. Sure, there have been “cat fights,” some mean spirited notes, and the usual rumors and gossip. But if I had to compare this year’s duels to previous ones, I would probably use a metaphor that went something like this: the last two years is to a common house cat as this year is to a much larger cat, maybe a mountain lion or a puma. This increase in female aggression baffles me. The only real explanation is that maybe it’s global warming. Or maybe it is one of these l e s s likely theories, including: * Females have somehow developed the ability to produce testosterone. * The planet Venus (also Venus, the goddess of the feminine) is only three miles from the earth’s surface causing a chemical reaction to occur and forcing female’s inner animosity out. * Females have become primitively territorial and think they need to mark/defend their territory. Unfortunately, girl fights are not the type of girl-on-girl action that is commonly desired in a male fantasy. It is more like a combination of hair pulling and pushing with an occasional right hook. Although girl fights are not necessarily as destructive as male fights, it doesn’t mean that they are any less entertaining. There are a few main factors that make up a good girl fight. One, there needs to be a long dramatic build up. Such as week of nasty notes or hall confrontations, yelling at each other in public places or events and maybe even some male intervention. Next, the location of the fight is very important. Popular places for fights are the halls, in front of the main entrance and the cafeteria. My personal favorite is the cafeteria. It serves as an ideal location for a fight because of the large space and public location. Not only is the cafeteria a good fighting location but a good spectating location as well. While the larger, more beefy people push their way to the front of the crowd, the smaller people can find a good tabletop perch to view from. As a last resort, a person can always try the stairways or the catwalk to watch, although the distance makes the fight less enjoyable to watch. Another factor of importance to a good fight is that other people get involved. When a friends or staff enters the scene to try to break things up or to hold the fighters back, depending how you look at things, good or bad things happen. Either, for staff, they end up getting hit themselves, which is always a good story, or in the case of friends it becomes more of a battle royale. The last key factor of a fight is a strong aftereffect. It is not a truly memorable fight unless it disrupts the general flow of the school day. People must be late to class, get called down to the office and at least one person should be sent to the emergency room. Without one of any of the key factors, a fight is not one for ages. Although mildly entertaining, it is not the best of the best. Why this uproar of feminine anarchy is occurring, not even I can say. All I can say is relax and enjoy it boys.

This year I have noticed a spike in feminine hostility.

Photo illustration by kendall goode

Deck the halls,

h a r o n e m e h t t e g r o but don’t f frank dufek contest manager

Hansel...so hot right now Gazing at the moon through a frosty window as the snowﬂakes dance their way to the ground, a tear rolls down my face. I stop chopping onions and make my way into the living room of my home. I gaze up at the beautiful evergreen tree adorned with festive ornaments and Christmas lights. “Thank God I’m not Jewish,” I say as I take a festive sip of eggnog. Choking on my eggnog, I begin to panic. Does this make me anti-Semitic? I’m not, I assure you. I have many Jewish friends. I’m down with the dreidel. What I mean is that I love Christmas, and I’m very thankful that I don’t have to light candles and spin a piece of wood in order to protect my stash of golden chocolates every year instead. It must be unbearable for Dexter’s Jewish population to see the town adorned with Christmas decorations and Nativity scenes, and, much like Jesus, I can’t help but feel sorry for them. Every year they are forced to watch the Gentiles eat ﬁggy pudding and sing “Oh Holy Night” while they dine on Latkes and sing “Dreidel.” I like to call the condition they are put in every December “Lonely Monojewcleosis.” (LMJ)

Chronic sufferers of LMJ typically develop a twitch and a lazy eye around Christmas time. Confidential Hebrew sources have informed me of a recurring dream common among the Jewish population. In this dream, they see Moses part the Red Sea and save their people, but instead of a clear pathway for them to walk on to salvation, there is an army of rogue Christmas trees charging at them with menorahs composed of eight sabers in place of candles. Public schools’ respective winter/inoffensive, non-denominationally named breaks (formerly known as Christmas Vacation) typically do not extend to accommodate Chanukah. Those of the Jewish faith must still attend classes and head to work on their holiday, significantly less enthused than normal. Put yourself in the yamaka of a Jewish boy who has just gotten back from a rough day at school. In first hour he was forced to take his yamaka off due to the school’s no hat policy. In second hour he had to graph a Christmas tree on a coordinate plane. In third hour he was assigned an article on the joys of Christmas. During lunch he was haunted by his friends’ green and red Rice Krispy treats. In fourth hour he endured a lecture on the history of Christmas. In fifth hour he was forced to make a chemistree, and in sixth hour he had to write a personal narrative on his very first memory of Christmas--no exceptions. After reflecting on the dissatisfyingly festive day he was forced to endure, he realized he had an absolute cornucopia

of homework to do, but how could his teacher have assigned an essay on the different kinds of pine trees the night he was due to light his family Menorah’s seventh candle? , ” you would shout, since “ you’re hypothetically a cultured Jew. So to take a break from his culturally biased homework, our stressed Hebrew takes a walk downtown. Here he sees the Nativity scene and is forced to stare at the Christian’s savior, Jesus Christ, in all his post-immaculate conception glory for a good three or four weeks every holiday season. If the previous perils of your hypothetically Hebrew life weren’t enough to send you into a shame spiral, consider this: Chanukah begins on Christmas day this year. Which holiday do you think will get more press? I’ll give you a hint. Not Chanukah. But it’s OK to take your imaginary yamaka off now. You can go back to the visions of sugar plums dancing in your head. Just remember that not all people are afforded that luxury, so cherish it. Continue walking down the streets humming “Jingle Bells” and greeting passerby with a holly/jolly “Merry Christmas!” but just remember who you are hurting when you do it. And by the way, don’t apply the tolerance I have just preached to Scientologists; feel free to mock them any day of the year, especially March 13th, the birthday of L. Ron Hubbard, whose works of science ﬁction inspired their non-ﬁctional beliefs. This is not meant to take away from their superiority in discovering the true secrets of our world however.

‘Gay’, ‘retarded’ misused as slurs jennifer allen advertising manager

I went to school with 27 Jennifers In the duration of just one Humanities class, I heard either the phrase “That’s so gay” or “He/she/it’s retarded” 14 times. Considering that what the students who said this were talking about was neither homosexual nor mentally disabled, all I could think about was how horribly disrespectful the entire ordeal was. And if it bothers me, when I’m not gay or retarded, think about how much it bothers people who are. The sad thing is that the words “gay” and “retarded” have become socially accepted vulgar slang. They are used as derogatory words or insults such as “This class is so gay,” which not only doesn’t make sense, but is ignorant of the cultural issues that face society, adding to the prejudice facing homosexuals. The words “gay” and “retarded” both have two meanings. The word “gay” is

deﬁned in the dictionary as “showing or characterized by cheerfulness and lighthearted excitement; merry” and also “of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.” While both meanings are commonly known, in most cases the term “gay” means someone who is homosexual. “Gay” is probably the most frequently used insult that I’ve heard in high school. Apparently, anything can be gay; the computer is gay when it’s not working properly; it’s “gay that it’s so cold out,” the pencil is gay because the lead broke; it’s “gay that the test is today,” etc. So many things have sexual preference that I would have never guessed. A friend challenged me when I protested his use of the word “retard,” arguing that it has a deﬁnition that means “too slow,” so when talking about certain things (“Whoops, I’m retarded”), he is actually using the word correctly. But even then not everyone understands what that word really means. Rather, they consider the word to mean mentally disabled and don’t always think about the context they are using it in. Some people don’t even consider the word “retarded” as meaning mentally challenged but rather consider it an accepted adjective that is used to convey their feelings of discontent with something. It’s really annoying and ignorant, considering there are both gay and mentally disabled students who attend Dexter Schools, many of whom attend

The sad thing is that the words “gay” and “retarded” have become socially accepted vulgar slang.”

It’s not as uncommon as you might think Hate Crimes •73% of the general public in America in 2001 knew someone who is homosexual • Typical hate crime laws criminalise the use of force, or the threat of force, against a person because they are a member of a speciﬁc protected group. • In Michigan 556 hate crime related incidents were reported in 2004. • Bias motivated offenses, percent distribution, hate crime incidents in America religion - 16.4% sexual orientation - 15.6% ethnicity - 13.3% race - 53.8% multiple bias - 0.2% disability - 0.8% wikipedia.org, fbi.gov, religioustolerance.org

the high school and may be offended by the vulgar terms used in the hallways. It’s disconcerting that students throw these words around without a second thought. Even people who don’t swear use these words. But “gay” and “retarded” are worse than swear words because at least with using swear words you aren’t using someone’s sexual preference or mental condition as an insult.

Vandalism reﬂects students’ disrespect for the school kyle muse news editor

The blingin’ continues For some people, the school looks fine and they don’t have a problem with the growing number of destructive acts. Principal Jim Bannan feels differently. “Of all the schools I’ve been to, this is the worst vandalism I have seen of this kind.” Bannan said. “I’m not saying that it reflects the students that go here; it is just a fact.” I disagree completely. I think that it is a complete and utter reflection on our students. Every sink that is broken off, plug that is smashed, and deuce left in the elevator is how we feel about our school. New trash cans? By the continually dirty halls, you wouldn’t know that Principal Bannan spent $1,100 out of the High School Special Projects budget to put them there. But this is what students are portraying themselves as, trashy slobs. Do you go home, open a Pop-Tart, take off the wrapper and just drop it? Or crumple up a test or book cover and just leave it on the floor five feet from a very accessible trash can? I’m going to guess that you don’t, and if you do, then you probably are a trashy slob or a spoiled little brat who has your mother or father or maid take care of you and coddle you like a four-year-old. In this case, you, should be down with the first graders who probably clean up better than you do anyway. Vandalism is cool, it makes you look tough because you can throw a pop or gum at a hanging light bulb in the stair well, because hey, if you can do that and not care, no one can mess with you. I hate being in the school as much as you do. I mean, I’ve been in this school for four years, and I am ready to graduate. However, unlike the miscreants who love to trash things, I think that we have one of the nicer schools in the area, and I don’t feel like having the school we spend six hours a day at look like your rat infested, dirty, trashy house. I also have an inkling that it isn’t the upperclassman who are being so maliciously destructive. I have a feeling it is both the underclassman and the people who don’t know what malicious means. I have a feeling it is the underclassmen that think that they run this school and are tough. If vandalizing and littering makes you tough, we have a bunch of warriors in our school. But why not use your toughness? Why do things that no one will see or that you can’t take credit for. Go to the parking lot and pick a fight with one of the principals, because if you do that, not only will you speed up your destiny (prison), you can claim, “I beat up a principal,” rather than “I kicked in a power socket in the hallway.” If you don’t care about the school why are you even here? Now, just a long shot-guess, but I think that if you looked at kids getting caught for vandalism and crimes and grade point average or even ACT scores, they would correlate pretty well. The higher the GPA and ACT score, the fewer crimes. The lower GPA and ACT scores, the prison bound. Instead of dropping paper on the ground to prove your strength and toughness, go out to the parking lot and pick up a car with your bare hands and move it two feet, then I will respect you. Or pass for 1,895 yards like Jeff Ziegler or bench 335 pounds like Jared Westwood, then I will respect you, and I will bet that everyone else will too. So instead of throwing that paper on the ground, pick up a book and read because at the rate and direction you are heading, you will be the one in an orange jump suit getting splashed with the puddle of water I hit with my Bentley. Or even more probable, you might be the lifetime prisoner I watch on a jail documentary on my 100 inch plasma flat screen TV in my 20-seat movie theatre.

If vandalizing and littering makes you tough, we have a bunch of warriors in our school.”

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

LETTERS

THE ALL

SQUALL CALL

Paying students to report vandalism is a bad idea It’s true that school vandalism seems to have increased.

As it turns out, Bannan said 10-12 students came forward

The sign at the Parker Rd. entrance has been smashed twice,

with information about the vandalism. While he said he has

Foundation offers female athletes scholarships

over two dozen cafeteria chairs have been broken, a sink has

some promising leads, Bannan still has not caught anyone.

Dear Editor,

to the editor

The Joan C. Banfield Foundation was organized in 2004 and is dedicated to building an endowment to enrich the quality, participation and support of the female athletes ages K to 12th grade in the Dexter community. It is a nonprofit, volunteer organization comprised of parents and business leaders from within Dexter. The goal of the Joan C. Banfield Foundation is to provide financial support for participation opportunities, organizations and coaching of female athletics with an emphasis of building consistency between the formative grade school years through to the high school. In addition, the Foundation provides one $1,000 scholarship to a deserving Dexter High School graduating female who has excelled in athletics, academics, leadership and citizenship. The JCB Foundation accepts scholar applications from Jan. 1 to May 1 for the following fall semester. Each application will be reviewed by the JCB Scholarship Review Board, which is comprised of Dexter Female Athletic Coaches and JCB Board Members, and then their nominee is submitted to the Board of Directors for conformity with the goals of the Foundation. The Foundation wishes to encourage and recognize, through its scholarships, the promotion of participation in female athletic programs and pursuit of higher education. Last year’s winners were Jennifer Heldt who won the Founder’s Award and Ryan Hilburn who won the President’s Award. No children or relatives of JCB Foundation board members are eligible for scholarship. Please call or contact any Board member with questions or comments or visit the Foundation’s web site www.JCBFoundation.org. Questions may be directed to me at FoundationJCB@aol. com Sincerely, Russ Brewster, parent

been ripped from the wall in a mens rest room, light ﬁxtures

None of these students were given money for their infor-

in the stairwells have been destroyed and someone defecat-

mation, though we are told this is to prevent students from

ed in the elevator.

making false accusations.

In light of these events, it is only natural that adminis-

However, Bannan still thinks his approach is working.

trators try something different than the previous pleas and

“The vandalism appears to have stopped,” he said. For in-

threats to stop the vandals.

stance, the decorations set up for the Winter dance are still

However, The Squall thinks bribing students with money to incriminate their classmates is not the way to go about

S D A in the hall DRE

Q: What do you think about Principal Jim Bannan offering money to students who give information to help catch the school’s vandals?

hanging, something which even we ﬁnd abnormal given the destructive nature of some of our student body. It is within the student body that the solution lies. While

it. At the end of November Principal Jim Bannan an-

The Squall thinks money should be spent buying more secu-

nounced a $100 reward to any student who could provide

rity cameras and monitoring them, it is still up to students

information leading to the conviction of these vandals.

to put an end to the vandalism.

Karl Kumbier, freshman

The problem with this, however, is that there is no way to

Cutting wires in the parking lot so no one can see when

tell for certain if a student is telling the truth unless one of

they go outside at night is not “funny.” It’s not “cool” to

two things happen. Either the vandal must confess, or they

break chairs and tear sinks from the walls.

must be caught in the act.

“I don’t think kids should be paid to turn in other students.”

It is nothing more than disgusting to take a crap in the

We all know that most vandals won’t confess, and with our school’s lack of quality security cameras, it is a slim to none chance that the culprits will be found. So what is to stop students from lying to get some free money?

elevator. Why students do these obnoxious things is beyond our comprehension. Students should have a bit more pride in their surroundings. It’s terrible to walk around a school where you see pe-

And what would happen if two or three students came

nises on the wall and swear words written on the windows.

forward with “information”? Bannan wouldn’t give $300 to

While we may not be able to force anyone to have exces-

kids with nothing more to say than, “I saw Bobby Joe taking

sive pride in their school, we would at least ask that students

a crap in the elevator.”

show some self-respect and respect for others.

“It’s not right because people will make stuff up to get the money.” Megan Dinser, sophomore

Corrections from last issue: The column about the war in Iraq in the last Squall should have noted that some of the research for the column was obtained from the following sources: www.inthesetimes.com and www.smirkingchimp.com The soccer photo on page 10 should have been credited to Mary Kumbier.

Cartoon

by Jared Myers

“I think it’s funny we have to bribe kids to try and stop vandalism.” Kerry Brower, junior

“It’s a good theory, but it won’t work.” Jon Roberts, senior

“I think it’s a good idea if it works, but it runs the risk of not working the way (Bannan) had hoped it to work.” Anissa Boukhris, French teacher

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Michelle Svetkoff MANAGING EDITOR: Robert Kuzon FEATURES: Sara Newell ENTERTAINMENT: Samantha Harris NEWS: Kyle Muse EDUCATION: Christina Field OPINIONS: Raleigh Holmes PHOTO: Brandon Mayotte & Spencer Ryan SPORTS: Molly Brewster DESIGN: Kendall Goode

COPY: Hilary McCown

Jon Williamson, Ryan Yuenger

MANAGERS: BUSINESS: Jennifer Allen MORALE: Sydney Ross & Kelsey Schultz CIRCULATION: Maggie Craft CONTEST: Frank Dufek & Katie Fricke

AD DESIGNERS: Brandon Mayotte & Spencer Ryan

STAFF WRITERS Derek Ager, Scott Campbell, Nick Dodson, Frank Dufek, Katie Fricke, Kevin McLaughlin, Austin Shapiro, Robyn Shepard, Nicole St.Pierre, Kim Wiesner, Ian Williamson,

ADVISER: Rod Satterthwaite

CARTOONIST: Jared Myers

TALK BACK: The Squall is an open forum for student expression. It accepts letters to the editor from

any and all concerned parties. The Squall reserves the right to screen and/or edit any and all letters for inappropriate content and length. All letters must be signed. Requests to remain anonymous will be considered by the editorial board. ADVERTISING: Requests for advertisements can be called into the Business Manager at 734.424.4240 x7407. Ads must be called in at least two weeks prior to the issue’s publication, which is at the end of each month. E-MAIL: letters@thesquall.com

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Fast and furious

Senior Paul Jakubik races to dreams of NASCAR

kevin mclaughlin staff writer

He hops out Paul Jakubik: of his superAbout racing charged race car jakubik said, at Springport “It’s competiMotor Speedway tive, and you get and shouts for to drive fast.” joy. The youngest racer in his race circuit, senior Paul Jakubik has just ﬁnished in second place. He’s very proud. Racing has been one of the loves of Jakubik’s life for a long time. His parents initially got him involved in it at a young age. He describes his mother as “having a love for cars,” and his father has been racing competitively for over 20 years. Jakubik’s father, also Paul Jakubik, describes himself as the proverbial proud papa. At 10 the younger Jakubik’s interest in racing skyrocketed. “Once I could understand cars, I took it from there,” he said. He also started idolizing professional NASCAR drivers

and immediately took a liking to Tony Stewart because Jakubik said he was the best driver on the circuit and has an attitude and was a racer he would like to mold his racing style after. According to Jakubik’s father, his son was bred to be a racer. “(Paul) has been around racing his whole life,” he said. “Ever since he was young, he had a Richard Petty toy car. He has always had the tenacity and the aggression.” However, Jakubik’s father said young Jakubik has a different attribute that makes him so successful on the racetrack. “He’s smart about how he drives,” Paul’s Dad said. “He has a maturity that many other drivers never even achieve.” Young Jakubik raced for his first full year last season, racing in the Performance Northwest Automotive Street Stick Series where he is the youngest racer in the circuit. “(Racing) with older people is a little bit intimidating because they have more experience than I do,” he said. However, that did not seem to affect him, because he finished sixth overall in points out of approximately 25 racers, with his best finish coming in second place. Jakubik will begin racing again in April. His father will also begin racing, but he will be racing super late car models. Jakubik was voted “Sportsman of the Year” by his fel-

low drivers. He is the youngest racer to ever win the award, and his father said his son’s maturity provided the award. Jakubik’s love for racing stems from his competitive nature. He loves racing because he said, “It’s competitive, and you get to drive fast.” He also loves the originality of the sport. “(Racing) puts you into a lot of situations you normally wouldn’t be in other sports, and it’s a lot more dangerous.” Racing has also done a lot for his life. “It has made me understand cars and meet a lot of nice older people and become competitive,” he said, adding racing has also allowed him to “drive really fast and be able to hit other cars and not pay for damages.” It’s also a very dangerous sport, something that is to be expected with men driving supercharged cars hundreds of miles an hour around a racetrack, and the younger Jakubik has crashed before. “I’ve had two serious crashes,” he said. “Last summer I slammed into a wall, and I was knocked unconscious and rode in an ambulance to the hospital.”

His father was also there. “It was kind of unusual because I didn’t realize that he had hit the wall that hard, and I was shocked when it was announced that he was being taken away by an ambulance,” he said. His father goes to every one of his races, as a mix between a crew chief and a concerned parent. “I am mostly concerned that the car will fail, and I’m really excited and full of energy when I watch him race,” he said. Racing has opened up new opportunities for the younger Jakubik and has allowed him to meet new, interesting people that he otherwise • Paul Jakubik would not know. This could be part of the reason senior why he hopes to involve racing in his life when he is older. Jakubik’s father thinks his son could make the big-time. “(Paul’s chances) are probably better than average,” he said. “He has the talent and the maturity shows in his driving.” With his love for racing Jakubik hopes to have a career with it. He said, “I hope to get into NASCAR or probably something involved in racing.”

“Last summer I slammed into a wall and was knocked unconscious.”

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT PAUL •Youngest racer in his circuit and sixth overall in point standings •Best ﬁnish was second at Springport Motor Speedway •Youngest to win “Sportsman of the Year” from circuit

•Idolizes 2005 Nextel Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart • Has been in two serious crashes •Built the car he races in

Sport seasons may change in ‘06

Teachers start ski and snow board club jonathan williamson staff writer

ment in general.” The ski club was planning to make a special trip this year to Vermont’s most famous resort Killington. Martin, who is joining the club for the ﬁrst time, said, “I’m really exited about our trip to Vermont. It should prove to be an excellent time.” Unfortunately the much-anticipated trip looks like it will have to be canceled due to lack of interest. Martin said, “I’m really bummed to hear that the trip is going to be canceled. I was • Dan Seling really looking forward to being junior able to ski a few more days this year.”

“The ski club is just a good way to get more skiing in.”

BOYS BASKETBALL: • 12/27 Winter tourney @ 1,3,5,7pm • 12/28 Winter tourney @1,3,5,7pm •1/13 vs. Lincoln @7:00pm •1/24 vs. Ida @7:00pm •1/27 vs. Chelsea @ 7:00pm •1/31 vs. Adrian @7:00pm •2/24 vs. Tecumseh @7:00pm •2/28 vs. Saline @7:00pm

Junior Dan Seling, a snow boarder who will be joining the club for the ﬁrst time, said, “It’s too bad the trip got canceled. I was really looking forward to it. But we will still be able to get a lot of good days in. Plus most of the country is getting really good early season snow.” Seling said he likes to go out to the local hills like Mt. Brighton and Mt. Alpine whenever he can. “The ski club is just a good way to get more skiing in,” he said Seling often skis with his friend, junior Alex

Photo illustration by kendall goode

As snowflakes dance merrily from the heavens to cover the land in a snowy white blanket, junior Andrew Martin finds it’s hard to concentrate on anything but skiing. When the winter months hit, his mind shifts gears completely. “I am thinking about skiing all day, especially when we are getting some good snow,” he said. Martin is not alone in his passion for snow sports. English teacher Zach Lindke and science teacher Daniel Kimmey have been snow boarding or skiing for most of their lives. When they came to Dexter, they both agreed that the school was missing a place for young snow riders to get together and have a good time. So for the students sitting in class yearning to ski, there is hope. The ski and snow boarding club. “The club’s goal is to provide a fun environment for these kids to socialize and ride,” Lindke said. The ski club is in its second year with plans to continue and expand. Martin who has been skiing the better part of his life was ecstatic to learn that the school would be creating a club in which he could engage in his favorite activity. “I take any opportunity I can find in order to ski more.” Martin said. Sophomore Kaitlyn Young will be participating in the club for the second year in a row. Young said, “It’s really an enjoyable time. Everyone is really laid back. You just ski with your friends and have fun.” Last year the club made a trip up north to ski areas Shanty Creek and Shuss Mountain. Young said, “It was a really good trip. There weren’t that many people, but we still had a fun time. If you’re interested in skiing or snow boarding you should definitely look into the club. Even if you’re not that good at riding. It’s just a really calm environ-

court system for nearly seven years. “The question of seasons changing was brought about by a group of Student athletes in Michigan will volleyball players and their parents have to wait until summer to find on the west side of the state,” Athout whether there will be a change letic Director John Robinson said. in seasons for the 2006-2007 school “They felt their daughters were at a disadvantage to be recruited because year. A decision on July 27 by the US the college volleyball season is in District Court confirmed that Michi- winter.” The MHSAA is worried that the gan schools must realign their high concerns of the students has been school sports seasons with the rest of overlooked since the case has been in the country. This decision was appealed by the the courts for so long. “The MHSAA is trying their best Michigan High School Athletic Asto have the process sociation (MHSAA) expedited,” Johnson which is against the Possible new sport said. “We want athchange because they letes to know with fair seasonal changes say it will lower parwarning whether or ticipation in high not their season will school sports. FALL be changing.” “Several sports, Girls soccer Robinson said he particularly girls, Girls volleyball has already prepared have the potential Boys football the district for posto change,” John sible changes that Boys soccer Johnson MHSAA could happen as early Communications as next school year. WINTER Director said. “Girls “During the winter basketball season Girls swimming and diving season we could powould be in winter, Girls basketball while girls volleyball Boys swimming and diving tentially have six basketball teams needwould be in the fall. Boys basketball ing to use the gym for Girls tennis and boys Wrestling practice and games,” golf would move he said. “Luckily, we from fall to spring, have the facilities to SPRING changing places with easily accommodate Girls tennis boys tennis and girls that. Some smaller Girls softball golf.” schools will find that According to Girls golf to be a problem.” Johnson it will be Boys tennis Traditionally, girls early next year before Baseball basketball games are the original three Boys golf held on Tuesdays and judge panel will reThursdays while boys evaluate presentaare held on Tuesdays tions from those for and against the change based on the ruling of the US and Fridays. If the seasons are combined, RobSupreme Court. inson said on one week boys will “Both parties are still waiting for have games on Tuesday and Friday dates from the court for their presentations,” Johnson said. “It is mad- while girls will play on Thursday with dening because we are at the mercy the schedule switching the following week. of the court and their time table.” “As of now athletes won’t have After the presentations it will be to worry about making a choice bebetween 30 and 90 days before the tween sports. All we can tell schools court will make a ruling that will be is to stay tuned,” Johnson said. “We subject to appeal. Because each decision has been will eventually get a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ anappealed, the case has been in the swer and will just have to trust it’s in the best interest of the students.” molly brewster sports editor

Krausman who has joined the ski club as well. Krausman said, “I enjoy the club because you get to ride with your friends and you save some money.” Apart from long weekend trips the club is planning to make several trips to Mt. Brighton. By paying a single ﬂat fee of $45 a member of the club can ski up to three times at Brighton. The club also plans to use snow days as opportunities to let loose on the hill. The high school group is also joining forces with the older and more established middle school program in order to provide cheaper tickets and easy transportation. The club hopes to raise interest this year which would enable them to do bigger, more expensive trips. Seling said, “The more people there are the more fun there’s bound to be. And you can never have too much of a good thing.”

WINTER SPORTS: Home game schedule GIRLS BASKETBALL •1/12 vs.Lincoln @7:00pm •1/29 vs. Bedford @7:00pm •2/9 vs. Chelsea @7:00pm •2/14 vs. A.A Huron @7:00pm •2/16 vs. Saline @7:00pm •2/21 SEC @ 3:00pm

HOCKEY: •1/4 vs. Cabrini @7:30pm •1/18 vs. Notre Dame Prep @7:30pm WRESTLING: BOYS SWIMMING •1/28 vs. Waterford- Kettering @7:30pm •1/24 vs. Livonia Stevenson @6:30pm •12/22 vs. A.A Pioneer @6:00pm •2/1 vs. Lincoln @7:30pm •1/26 vs. Tecumseh @6:00pm •1/27 vs. Saline @6:30pm •2/11 vs. Crestwood @7:00pm •1/28 Dexter Invitational @9:00am •2/15 vs. Saline @ 7:30pm •1/28 9th/JV Invitational @9:00am •2/2 vs. Adrian @6:00pm •2/3 vs.Lincoln @6:30pm •2/18 vs. Pinckney @7:00pm •2/8 vs. Battle Creek Central •2/10vs. Chelsea @6:30pm •2/22 vs. Canton @7:30pm

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Hockey, basketball teams play their own game

“I don’t think all the guys on the hockey team are bad guys. They just need to be a little more respectful.” •Chantel Jennings junior

Rivalry leads to pranks, hard feelings on part of both teams rob kuzon managing editor

As fans began to pour out of The Dread Dome late on November 3, after the women’s basketball team had just defeated the Tecumseh Indians, the minds of many people were not on the previous two hours of basketball but the mob of people surrounding senior basketball player Jenny Cowen’s car in the visitors parking lot. At ﬁrst it was unclear what had happened to Cowen’s car. But as the mob moved closer they could start to see the snow. Lots of snow. Because parked around Cowen’s car were several pickup trucks full of it. And although it was cold, there was not a ﬂake of snow on the ground. There was a lot on the car, however, as the hockey team had managed to transport three truckloads of snow from Vets Ice Rink during the game. They piled the snow onto Cowen’s car until the only visible section of the car left was the roof. So what led to this prank, one of the many the girls basketball team and mens hockey team have played on each other? According to junior Adie Heyne, it all started because of the hockey team’s attitude towards women. “They would take pictures of girls then put them on a board in their locker room, marking the ones they had hooked up with,” Heyne said. So when the basketball team saw that the hockey team had attached a car door to the rock in front of the high school, they decided

to take it. “It started when we were all joking around,” Heyne said. “We came into practice one day, and they were all running around doing something so after practice we drove out and we saw the rock with their door on it. So we took it.” “It was all fun and games until they took my door,” hockey senior Chad Green said. The door that the girls took belonged to Green’s blue Chevy Blazer which the hockey team considers their mascot. But the reason the team considers the door their mascot made the members of the basketball team even more angry. “Chad told me that they considered the door their mascot because most of the team had hooked up with somebody in his car,” Heyne said. And although administrators say they do not know much about the feud, they wanted to put an end to it as quickly as possible. “I just know that it happened,” Principal Jim Bannon said. “I asked the girl’s coach to have them give the boy’s door back so the boys would stop doing the things they were doing.”

Bannan did not issue any consequences for the pranks pulled by either team. “I think that if lessons are learned, then handing out consequences isn’t really necessary,” he said. And members of the hockey team don’t even consider what’s going on a feud. “I didn’t think there was a feud,” said Green. “I was just messing around, having a good time, just going with the ﬂow. You know?” The hockey team also doesn’t think that their wall of girls was the main reason for the feud. “They are just jealous because we get more fans than them,” senior hockey player Cole McNabb said. “They hate us because we are more popular.” After the hockey team got its door back, feelings between the hockey team • Chad Green and the basketball team senior are no longer so harsh. “I have no problem with most of the boys on the team,” Heyne said. “There are just a select few that I think are very disrespectful and don’t know how to treat women.” Heyne said, though, that the feuds are over and that there will be no more pranks this year. “We are over it,” she said. “We don’t even have a problem anymore, as long as they can be a little more respectful.”

“I didn’t know there was a feud. I was just messing around having a good time, just going with the ﬂow.”

“I don’t know what they have against “The extreme the is hockey thing that ateam. lot They’re of crazy peoplejust looking are around andfor something to comstuff is cool!” plain about. They • Louis Armstrong are just whiners.” • Jacob Lavalli senior

Hunting not just for men Wrestlers cutting the weight More females take to the ﬁeld on opening day

Wrestlers watch the scale and miss some of their usual diet derek ager staff writer

Counting carbs: Bastion has wrestled for 13 years. This year, his third year on the varsity team, he has already cut 10 pounds and weighs in at 119.

And for dinner he is allowed a little leeway. He can The smell of left over cherry pie from fifth hour’s party filled the air of Richard Grannis’ sixth hour AP Biology have a variety of meats including chicken, fish or even classroom. The pie just sat there, tempting anybody who venison. “I miss everything I used to eat,” Bastion said. “I miss caught a quick whiff of it. Most students got to indulge, but senior Jon Flowers, a wrestler who was trying to cut eating school cookies, those are really good, and drinking pop, especially Coke.” weight, had to sit and watch. For some wrestlers, the hardest “Cutting weight is the hardest part of the diet is the start of it. “It thing I have ever had to do,” Flowers is the hardest at first because you are said. immediately deprived of the foods If it’s so difficult, then, why do you are so used to eating,” Flowers wrestlers cut weight? Flowers said said. “But after a while you just get wrestlers have a responsibility to cut While not cutting weight: used to the flow, and it doesn’t bother or maintain correct weight, to give you as much.” the team a certain advantage. Exercise is the other key to cutting Wrestlers wrestle in certain weight Breakfast - 1 big bowl of weight for wrestlers. They usually classes and their weight determines cereal run three to four miles even before the wrestlers they compete against. Lunch - Sandwich, yogurt, they start practice. For example, the lightest weight fruit and pudding “When you run three to four miles class is 103 pounds and below. So if Dinner - Potatoes (fries), before practice you lose a lot of waa wrestler weighs 95 pounds, he can meat, salad and vegter,” Bastion said. “You have to take wrestler against anybody who weighs frequent breaks to hydrate yourself.” less than 103 pounds. etables Knowing your limit is one of the The advantage behind cutExcercise - 1 mile running most important things to remember ting weight is so that a wrestler can and weights for a little when cutting weight according to match up with somebody who weighs while Flowers. “I think the reason why you less than him. “It is a big advantage don’t hear a lot of stories of people wrestling someone who weighs less passing out and things like that is beWhile cutting weight: than you,” senior Matt Bastion said. cause we know limitations,” he said. “Someone who drops a weight class “When I feel dizzy while running, I has a muscle mass compared to their Breakfast - 2 eggs: 1 with force myself to take breaks before I weight.” yolk, 1 without yolk continue.” Bastion has a lot of experience in Lunch - 1 can of tuna or a With weight cutting being a big cutting weight. He has been wressalad advantage for wrestlers, the idea of tling for 13 years and has been on the extreme weight cutting can harm kids Dinner - Chicken, fish or varsity team for three. according to head coach Jeff Vern. “I This year Bastion has already cut venison personally don’t like wrestlers losing 10 pounds, going from 129 pounds Excercise - 3-4 miles of weight,” he said. to 119 pounds. But how does he cut running and then wrestling According to Vern, fair and safe this weight? A harsh diet and lots of practice weight loss for wrestlers is regulated exercise. by the Alpha judges. Dexter’s Alpha Wrestlers eat very little when they judge is Athletic Trainer Leah Gaare cutting weight. But it is more gnon. “The Alphas do a bunch of tests about what they eat than what they to make sure the kids are healthy,” he said. “No coaches don’t eat. Bastion’s whole day of meals are changed. He wakes are allowed in the room, so it is fair.” In the end, Bastion feels that even though he has acup in the morning and eats two eggs, one with yoke and one without yoke, before he goes to school. At lunch he complished a difficult task, he is more relieved than anyeats either a can of tuna or a lean salad as he watches thing. “After I weigh in, I feel like I can eat,” Bastion said. other students indulge themselves with pizza and French “You learn to discipline yourself for what you can and can not do in order to reach your goal.” fries.

Matt Bastion’s diet...

scott campbell staff writer

yet,” she said. So does this mean men are better hunters? Does she feel awkward hunting, being that hunting is thought of single gunshot rings out across the quiet as primarily a man’s sport? “Not at all,” she said. “I mean, I was brought up landscape of a tranquil winter, shattering around it. I was always around that stuff, and I always the once silent forest air. Its echoes resonate off the thin trees, now leafless from found it interesting.” Sophomore Rebecca Koch is another lady hunter. the cold November air. Koch had much the Up from the skies, fluffy same to say, from her white flakes of frozen rain start in hunting to precipitate down onto the whether or not women hard ground, its stiff surface can hunt. masked by a layer of soft, “Pretty much everynewly fallen snow, drifting one in my family hunts lazily down from the gray except my Mom,” Koch clouds above. said. “People around On the nearly trackless me always encourage it. snow-covered land lies a When (people see me), single slain deer, its flesh they probably don’t think and fur penetrated by a CAMPBELL: FOSTER: much of it. Just, ‘Oh, it’s lead missile propelled at another hunter. I should hundreds of feet per second walk the other way.’” Critters killed: Critters killed: from a smoking barrel. Koch has been tak0 13 Common stereotypes say ing opening day off since that a man stands on the eighth grade, so she has shooting end of this grisly Years hunted: Years hunted: to have scored bigger scene. But it is no man. 0 10 than a four point. Sophomore Kayla Foster A brief snippet of the pulled that trigger. interview: Lady hunters are not a Guns owned: Guns owned: “OK, so what’s your daily sight on the cover of 1 BB gun 6 biggest kill?” “Peterson’s Hunting.” Nor “Three point.” are they commonplace in “Oh, Kayla’s got a Pez eaten per Pez eaten per Dexter. point on you. She got a year: year: But in the school there four point.” are at least two killing la150 45 “What? Kayla shot dies, one of whom is Fosone?” ter who had her hunting So battles brew beseeds planted when she was tween the two it seems, a eight. duel of hunting prowess “It’s a tradition,” she (see fact box). said. “I used to go out with And while animal lovmy dad when I was eight to ers may not like the idea just tag along, and I was alof shooting deer, Koch ways really interested.” had a different take on So interested that she the hunt-or-don’t-hunt eventually started taking argument. opening day of deer season due to excessive pez “It doesn’t really off school to go hunting. ingestion per year bother me,” she said. “I had a math test this “Everyone has their own year, and my teacher opinion of what’s right.” wouldn’t let me miss it,” In the same way Koch Foster said with a subtle isn’t miffed by other’s tone of disappointment in views on hunting, Foster her voice, hinting at her love isn’t phased by views conof the sport, “so I didn’t go.” One would think she has gotten a big deer by now, cerning women hunting. “My cousin Donna does it too,” she said. “My family but her biggest one is only a four point. “Nothing big never said, ‘No, you can’t go because you’re a girl.’”

SCOTT CAMPBELL

THE LADY HUNTER

WINNER:

SCOTT CAMPBELL

Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Squall

Winter fun nick dodson staff writer

Hanging on for dear life: Instead of just going down a hill, seniors Kevin McLaughlin and Frank McAuliffe have added a new twist to the age-old activity. “We tie a rope onto the back of a golf cart and drive around through trails,” McAuliffe said.

Holding tight : Extreme sledding can be seriously dangerous senior Frank McAuliffe said. “One time, I fell off the sled and the rope was around two of my ﬁngers, and I had to yell up to Toby (Puuri) to stop.”

Novel idea: The idea of sledding with a golf cart started when senior Bennett Washabaugh saw his brother and sister do it. He thought it would be fun. “It’s fun, and it’s better than doing crack,” he said.

“Sledding is a true man’s sport,” senior Bennett Washabaugh said through clenched teeth. “OK , it may not be a sport, but it sure beats the heck out of sitting around a warm fire with a mug of cocoa.” “What are you talking about?” senior Kevin McLaughlin responded as he brushed the dirt and snow off his neon pink sled. “I’d much rather be sipping on some cocoa than have snow in my long-johns.” McLaughlin and Washabaugh are among the few men (and women) who brave the cold winter weather for a rush of adrenaline and barrel of laughs. The night started out with a few friends, including seniors Ryan Yuenger, Toby Puuri and Frank McCauliffe meeting up with Washabaugh and McLaughlin on an icy Tuesday for some fun. “First thing first,” McAuliffe pointed out. “We gotta tie a rope to the back of this beast.” McAuliffe was referring to Washabaugh’s golf cart, which is an ideal off-roading vehicle for towing around a few kids on sleds. Washabaugh jumped into the driver’s seat, and they were soon off. McLaughlin and Yuenger were the first up, sitting feet first on some sturdy plastic sleds while snow flew into their faces, and they were jerked all around the yard. After a few minutes of crazy driving by Washabaugh, McLaughlin took a tumble and Yuenger was soon to follow. “Somebody get on that sled,” Washabaugh told the crew, and McAuliffe and Puuri jumped off the cart and onto the sleds. More twists and turns were given at break neck speed by Washabaugh as the others cheered on and laughed at the misfortunes of the brave two being dragged. However, tragedy soon struck. As Washabaugh was making an especially tight turn, the trusty rope used to tie the sleds to the back of the cart snapped. The two unfortunate souls being given a ride took two respectively ugly spills where McLaughlin ended up in a bush and one of the durable sleds was broken. As the gentlemen regrouped to decide what to do next, ideas flew from everyone. “It’s a sign,” Puuri said. “We should call it a night and go inside.” “No way, We can’t just give up,” McAuliffe retorted. “I have an idea,” Washabaugh said. “Let’s go to the gravel pit.” The group unanimously agreed. They trucked over to the gravel pit, sleds in hand and proceeded to attack the pit with great intensity and fury. There were some particularly nice runs, as well as some particularly awful ones. Finally, the group regathered for one last run. “You guys know what time it is,” Yuenger said as he looked at all the guys, “Time ... for a train.” The five friends mustered up the last of their energy and grabbed hold of each other. With a woop and a yell, they all slid down the gravel pit as one big, multicolored train. Coming back up from the final run, many high fives were given out, as well as a few hugs. “This is what winter’s all about,” McLaughlin said, “hanging out with friends and just having a good time.” The others agreed as they walked back to Washabaugh’s house for a nice mug of hot cocoa.

Dodging danger: S ledding can be scary according to senior Bennett Washabaugh. “It can be dangerous going down hills if you speed up and go under the cart,” he said.

Daredevils: When a person falls off a sled, instead of letting go, they often hang on to the rope and continue going, senior Bennett Washabaugh said. Washabaugh said he likes to hang on to the rope so he can have more of an adventure. All photos by brandon mayotte and spencer ryan