September 2016
Volume 92
Issue 1
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Cody Kinney Reporter Council Bluffs Community school district had a mission in mind when they announced plans for a new athletic complex, and after putting in many upgrades and new facilities, the complex enters its final stage and is near completion. The idea behind the Council Bluffs athletic complex was started in 2014 and over these last 2 years there has been a ton of work done to build, re-do and improve facilities. Over the recent months the complex has seen some major upgrades done, especially the football stadium. With the additions of a brand new state of the arc video board, completed concession stands and new locker rooms, the Gale Wickersham stadium has seen many upgrades and is one step closer to being finished. One of the key upgrades
Wickersham Stadium update made to Gale Wickersham Stadium was the installation of a brand new Daktronics video board in the North end zone. With the new videoboard comes many great new opportunities for both students, the community and teachers, one of those teachers who will be heavily impacted is a Tucker Center teacher Randy Lau. Lau who has taught within the district for many years and has been involved in different forms of media, broadcasting and journalism for the majority of his life. Along with the videoboard, a new class with many cool opportunities for students has presented itself, as now Lau finds himself teaching a college level sports and entertainment media class at the Tucker Center. The videoboard made its debut at AL’s first home football game of the season. Stadium continued pg. 2
Photo of new score board at CBCSD stadium. Photo by: Jordan McAlpine
BLink wifi launches new phase
Photo provided by: Jordan McApline
Jordan McAlpine Reporter The BLink wifi project has expanded and phase II is now live throughout Council Bluffs! “The announcement of phase II is just one more step towards a really big goal of making the whole city a wifi hotspot and the best part of this is that it’s just not the school district, but it’s for the entire city.” David Fringer.
On Wednesday the city of Council Bluffs held a press conference at Gale Wickersham Stadium. With this press conference came the announcement of the expansion of BLink (Bluffs Community Wifi Network) into a new phase of the project. The expansion means more of Council Bluffs will now be included within the radius of the BLink wifi network, including the area surrounding the Gale Wickersham stadium. This phase
Also in this paper....
Page 1 Stadium enters final stage Busses are leaving students BLink wifi launches new phase
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will also improve wifi capability in downtown Council Bluffs and the area around Bayliss Park. So far Matt Walsh has been very impressed about the progress made on BLink and where it is heading. “We think it speaks volumes about where council bluffs is heading. To be on the cutting edge of technology and to be able to offer people free wifi, who in some cases can’t afford it or would rather just use the free wifi network, it tells people that
Page 2 Stadium(Continued) Volleyball Jackets win
Busses leaving students Adriana Ibarra Reporter
During the 2015-2016 school year times were changed in hopes to cut $4.5 million dollars from the district budget. When the news broke people became concerned. Both AL and TJ offer classes at the Tucker Center. As the school year began the buses were not on time or either forgot the students at their school or the Tucker Center. Lori Thomas, the human biology teacher here at TJ stated, “For me personally it’s not as a big of an inconvenience, but I feel sorry for the students because it is putting a hardship on them.” Students have walked into class late 30 minutes leaving them without instructions and disturbing the class. As the school year unfolds students hope that their bus will arrive on time. “If I was a parent, I’d be re-
Photo provided by : Adriana Ibarra
Page 3 BLink (Continued) Release of the iPhone 7 Walk 26 miles Page 1
ally upset if that was my son or daughter who was missing that much of school”, Thomas said. “It has gotten better and I hope that it continues to get better but, it is really unfair to the student when they have to miss school because the buses aren’t there when they’re supposed to.” Monday schedule: 1st hour: 8:18-9:05 2nd hour: 9:22-10:07 3rd hour: 10:10-11:05 4th hour: 11:10-12:27 1st lunch: 11:05-11:27 2nd lunch: 11:35-1:57 3rd lunch: 12:05-12:27 5th hour: 12:32-1:30 Tuesday-Friday 1st hour: 8:10-9:19 2nd hour: 9:24-10:33 3rd hour: 11:10-12:42 1st lunch: 11:05-12:42 2nd lunch: 1:45-12:08 3rd lunch: 12:19-12:42 4th hour: 12:47-1:56 5th hour: 2:01-3:10
Page 4 AHS season six TJ performs with Foreigner Paranormal club
Sports
Stadium continued So far it has been a team effort and learning process. Throughout the game both students and teachers worked together on the cameras and operating the videoboard, which features many graphics and replay that will be shown throughout the game. “I think visually the little things like the intro that we play the teams will have a tunnel walk now, so we’re making more of an experience now for the ballplayers. For the parents, everybody wants to go to the ballgame and have a great time, whether it’s baseball, football or basketball,
you want to have a good time when you go there and having a quarter of a million dollar videoboard to do this with will make it that much better,” said Tucker Center teach Mr. Lau Although it is a small sample size Lau is very impressed with the new board. The videoboard features many cool features and brings a lot of excitement. “After the first week I was extremely impressed with the quality, the size of it and the students who came in after 2 days of school and came in and volunteered to run cameras and help with the video board.” Lau looks forward to the rest of the
season hoping people will enjoy that game experience more. Other upgrades have been made over the last 2 years, as baseball and softball fields saw many upgrades done to their facilities. The softball field got a brand new turf field and saw the addition of a new press box, also an additional new softball field was added to the mix. Fields saw new dugouts and new lighting added which will improve the games for everyone. The baseball field added a new press box and a new set of bleachers to go with the press box. All fields also received new scoreboards. Athletic Director Jeremy
THE SIGNAL Stuckenholz is very pleased with the progress of the complex, “I feel great about the progress on the complex. It’s getting ready to start the last phase and the locker room buildings are just about done. So I’m really excited, we’re pretty much using it all, we just don’t have everything quite done, but it’s great so far and the soccer stuff will be ready for the spring.” With these final upgrades being done the complex is closer to becoming one of the most featured complexes in the city.
Jackets volleyball falls short in first away game Dylan Harold Reporter
The Thomas Jefferson Girls volleyball team played in a triangular at Omaha South High School on Thursday night against host school Omaha South and Roncalli Catholic High school. The Jackets took on Roncalli to start off and junior Josey Starner and senior Alexis Fetter, led the way for the Jackets, with a combined total of 8 kills, and 3 block, in the two sets played. The first set went to Roncalli by a score of 25-14 and the second set was close, but the Jackets fell just short by a 25-21 final. After a strong end to the first game, the Jackets were able to carry the momentum into their second match of the night and
played a tough match against Omaha South. Josey Starner was the key player of the game with 8 kills, 5 blocks, and 2 aces to lead the players. Seniors Mary Harrill, Deziree Aguillar, and Alexis Fetters also had good games and combined for 5 kills, 6 digs and 1 ace. The girls came together and won a very competitive first set 29-27, but dropped the second and went on to lose the third set 25-18. The Jackets Volleyball team will be participating in a tournament that will feature the Jackets along with Omaha North, Omaha Benson, Omaha Mercy, Omaha Northwest, and Omaha South.
Editor-in-Chief Morgan Barth Copy Editor Cami Wagaman Nyamouch Pal Paginator Morgan Barth Adriana Ibarra Photographers Adriana Ibarra Morgan Barth Staff Abigail Edie Adriana Ibarra Alexis Shepard Cami Wagaman Chancey Travis Courtney Jones Cody Kinney Dylan Harold Jordan McAlpine Morgan Barth Madasyn Davis Nyamuoch Pal Shae Wilson Tiana Larsen Adviser Rob Lindquist Phone: 712-328-6493 Facebook: CBJacketJournalism Twitter:@TJHSJournalism
Thomas Jefferson’s girls volleyball team gathering at a timeoutvs. ALHS on September 8. File photo by: Dylan Harold.
The Signal is a school-sponsored publication of Thomas Jefferson High School 2501 W. Broadway Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501. The Signal’s office is located in room C128. The Signal is printed by OH-K FASTPRINT in Omaha, NE. The Signal is a schoolsponsored-publication and therefore recognizes its responsibility to stay within the boundaries that the school administrator sets. The Signal will therefore inform its readers using a high standard of morals and ethics. The Signal encourages readers to respond in the form of letters to the editor, which can be sent to room C128. The Signal’s editorial staff reserves the right to edit the letters for grammatical errors and to remove any profanity. The editors also reserve the right to exclude letters that are false in their statements or accusations. The Signal will not accept advertisements that promote activities illegal to minors. Advertising rates are available upon request.
NSPA Member Publication IHSPA Member Publication
Jackets kick off season with win
Date/Time: Opponent: Friday, Sep 9th 7:30pm Abraham Lincoln Friday, Sep 16th 7pm Sioux City West Friday, Sep 23rd 7:30pm Des Moines North Friday, Sep 30th 7pm Ankeny Friday, Oct 7th 7pm
Jake Axtell running the ball across midfield during his 91 yard kick return for a touchdown, during the second half. Photo by: Kellen Dean.
Jordan McAlpine Reporter Denison, IA- The Thomas Jefferson football team opened up their season August, 26th with a 43-24 win over the Denison Monarchs. Ending last year with 1-8 record, The Jackets are ready to leave that behind them and start 2016 on a good note. Before the game, head coach Brant Anderson says that his team is prepared and ready for the upcoming season. “We had a really good off-
season. We had a lot of time in the weight room, and did a lot of speed and agility work during the school year and throughout the summer. We also played in a couple passing leagues during the summer so we got a lot of action and got in a lot of football before we put the pads on,” said coach Anderson. Although last years’ record wasn’t what the team wanted, coach Anderson believes they can build positively from the previous year. Anderson wanted to see
physical football from the team, and that’s exactly what the Jackets gave him. With a solid defense and a strongly ran game, throughout the night the Jackets grabbed ahold of a first quarter lead and never looked back. With 518 rushing yards and a strong defense the Jackets are now 1-2. For a more in depth look at this football game, and for more daily updates on sporting events go to bit.ly/CBSignal.
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Urbandale
Friday, Oct 14th 7pm Lewis Central
Friday, Oct 21st 7:30pm Des Moines Hoover
For daily sports updates go to bit.ly/CBSignal
NEWS
BLink starts phase II “Council Bluffs is a place where things are happening.” When initially released in October of 2015, the BLink network reached from 14th street to 23rd street north of Broadway. Now with this new phase and future expansion of the network, the wifi will cover much more of Council Bluffs. There are now more than 150 Ruckus outdoor wireless access points which will continue to rise as the process moves along. BLink is a one of a kind wifi network and is one of the largest free wifi networks in the country. Once completed, the BLink network will cover 20 square miles of the city and provide over 40,000 people in the area access to free wifi. Although the BLink network will provide many people access to free wifi, it is not a replacement for your home wifi network. BLink will provide internet access to many in Council Bluffs, but the project is not designed for online gaming systems and media streaming. It’s main purpose is to enhance internet surfing and communication on your portable devices, which will drastically improve technology usage for many.
The network could face potential problems with overuseage. If too many people try to access the BLink network at the same time, some may assume there would be difficulties, but that won’t be a issue. The stadium holds more than 5,000 users can connect to the BLink wifi network. At these events many people frequently use social media and access the internet, so BLink will only help provide that and improve the game experience for many fans. Just to show the amount of demand and use for BLink, from August, 28th-September, 4th, there were more than 11,000 different users. At the same time the network saw 320 gigabytes of data used. Recently there were
Phase 2
more than 1,000 users connected to the wifi at the same time. In a press release that was issued over this new phase expansion, Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh said the community has been very committed to this project. The city has a plan to see the wifi access stretch across the city. “Our continued commitment to this project, which does not use any tax dollars, demonstrates the city’s vision for communitywide access and growth,” said Walsh. Mayor Walsh was one of many on hand at Wednesday’s press conference to officially announce this phase. Along with Walsh were Google Operations Manager Mike Wolf, Council Bluffs
Phase one and two of BLink wifi. Graphic by http://blinkwifi.org
Phase 1
Broadway
Recently members of the Thomas Jefferson student section we’re told that they can no longer tailgate in the stadium parking lot. Athletic Director Jeremy Stuckenholz sent out an email to all students advising them that they are not allowed to put up tents or use grills in the parking lot. Students were told that they can use Pirate’s Cove parking lot as a tailgating spot. The use of grills and tents are still prohibited.
Walk 26 miles in Sept.
Release of the iPhone 7 Nyamouch Pal Reporter
On September 7th, 2016 Apple officially revealed the new water resistant iPhone 7. The body of the iPhone 7 is fairly similar to the last generation, iPhone 6s, with a rounded aluminum body although there are many differences amongst the two. The iPhone 7 now comes in a glossy “jet black” color option. The new iPhone has a new and improved stereo speaker, better battery life, a dual-lens camera for the phone, plus a flush and pressure sensitive home button. The new iPhone does not have a headphone jack, in order to connect your headphones you would need to bluetooth or equipped with a Lightning connector. Apple will send Lightning EarPods and a 3.5mm Lightning adapter with the
Community School District Chief Technology officer David Fringer, and Katheleen Rapp of the Iowa West Foundation, who all talked about this new phase. In addition, several students and staff members from Woodrow Wilson Middle School were in attendance. These students, along with many elementary school students will all be greatly affected by the BLink expansion. For more information on BLink network and to view a map of the area covered by BLink, check out their website at http://blinkwifi.org On September 7th, 2016 Apple officially revealed the new water resistant iPhone 7. The body of the iPhone 7 is fairly similar to the last genera-
25th St
Jordan McAlpine Reporter
Chancey Travis Reporter
Photo of the new iPhone 7. Photo by telegraph.co phone. Since the iPhone 7 no longer has a headphone jack, it is now replaced by a second set of speaker holes which are largely cosmetic. On the left side of the device is a microphone, the rest of the phone is to match the design on the right side. Stereo speakers are located on top and bottom of the phone. The new phone features a new 28mm 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. It also has a second 56mm telephoto lens for dual camera functionality that enables a better optical zoom. Both of the iPhones will have
a new four LED flash that will be 50% more brighter and stronger. The phone also comes with an upgraded 7 megapixel facetime HD camera with new sensor technology. With the iPhone 7 no longer having a physical home button. It was replaced by a sensor, which is not really a button, but uses vibration when it is pressed. Both versions of the iPhone 7 storage has been bumped up and now comes in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB models. The iPhone 7 starts at $649; the iPhone 7 Plus at $769.
It has been announced that the city of Council Bluffs will now be hosting health walks throughout the month of September. Starting Monday, September 12 at nine am, a health walk and run run through Friday September 30th. The walk will be called the ‘Sidewalk Marathon.’ The main purpose of these walks are to make Council Bluffs residents healthier and to get people into shape. The hope is for people to walk 26 miles throughout the month of September. Another cool thing that will be offered with these walks is the opportunity to walk with Council Bluffs mayor Matt Walsh. If you want to walk with mayor Walsh you can now do that, he will be participating in the sidewalk marathon. Mayor Walsh will make his walk public and anyone in the city of Council Bluffs is welcome to join in and be apart of the campaign to make
Mayor Matt Walsh, photo by www.councilbluffs-ia.gove Council Bluffs healthier. These walks will feature 18 opportunities to walk in these sidewalk marathon walks and the goal is to get to 26 miles. If half of Council Bluffs was to walk the goal of 26 miles, as a city, we would combine for a grand total of 805,597 miles. These walks are a great opportunity to participate in a cool event and at the same time get yourself in better shape. If you’re interested in taking part, these walks start Monday, September 12th.
Even more stories online!
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ENTERTAINMENT
Photo provided by Screen Rant
?6: AHS Cami Wagaman Copy Editor
The new season of American Horror Story (AHS) has definitely sparked some interest in the viewers’ minds. The sixth season of the show is rumored to be inspired by many horror stories and old legends, as seen in the released promos. Such inspirations are believed to be Creature from the Black Lagoon, Children of the Corn, Rosemary’s Baby, and Nosferatu. The sixth season of AHS will air on September 14th, 2016, at 10 p.m. ET. Ryan Murphy, producer of the show, has said that
the sixth season will involve children in some way, which explains some of the believed inspirations for the season. Previous seasons of AHS have been set in many different time periods, like the 1960s (Asylum), and the present also. AHS ?6 is said to be more similar to Coven in the setting. Season 6 is rumored to be primarily set in the present with many flashbacks into colonial times in the south. Along with being inspired by horror stories, ?6 is also reported to be linked to season one of
AHS, Murder house. During the first season of AHS, Sarah Paulson’s character mentioned the story of Roanoke, otherwise known as the “Lost Colony,” where 117 people died unexpectedly, and according to a legend, went on to haunt Native Americans neighboring them. An elder Native American cast a banishment spell on the spirits, by collecting and burning possessions of the dead. The spirits appeared after the summoning, but before they could cause any harm, the elder muttered a
TJ performs with Foreigner
single word that would banish the ghosts forever, “Croatoan.” The same word was found carved into a tree at the abandoned colony. Although the creators of the show are releasing teaser videos for the new season, the actual theme of the season has not been confirmed by Murphy. John Landgraf, the President of FX, said a while back that the majority of AHS ?6 promos are simply misdirects. Many stars are expected to make appearances in the new
season, also. The stars rumored to be returning include Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare, Matt Bomer, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, and more. Cuba Gooding Jr. (Boyz n the Hood) is also making his debut into the AHS family this year. The mystery that is American Horror Story: ?6 will be unravelled on Wednesday, September 14th, 2016 at 10 PM. The viewers are strongly anticipating seeing the reveal of the new season.
Paranormal Club
Photo provided by: national-paranormal-society.org
Foreigner lead singer Kelly Hansen performing at Stir Concert Cove on July 14. Photo by: The Pit
Madasyn Davis Reporter “I want to know what love is/ I want you to show me/ I want to feel what love is/ I know you can show me,” Some students may know this song from movies, commercials, or even their parents. However, Thomas Jefferson’s choir knows those lyrics because of a concert they performed at Stir Concert Cove. Foreigner, visited Council Bluffs July 14, 2016. “It was kind of funny because at first the students didn’t know
who they were. I started singing the songs and then they were very excited,” said Walker. Travis Walker, choir director got a message from his accompanist that said the manager from Foreigner wanted to talk to him about his students performing. Walker said when he got the message from Foreigner, he didn’t think it was real. He was confused and surprised. So as soon as he could, he called to make sure it was a real deal. “It was kind of funny because at first the students didn’t know who they were. I started singing the songs and then they were
very excited,” said Walker. Head vocalist, Kelly Hansen likes to bring high school choir groups from the local areas to help sing one of their songs at a concert. TJ also sold Foreigner’s CDs at the concert to raise money for the Grammy Foundation. TJ left the concert with $500 donated from Foreigner. As a musician, Hansen understands the happiness people get from music. So, asking the choir groups to perform was much more than that. It was also to show the meaning and appreciation of music programs as well.
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Shae Wilson Reporter A new club has been announced here at TJ, which allows kids to get in touch with their paranormal side. The Paranormal Club shines light on many paranormal things that have happened. The club has had a great turn out so far, and many of the students are excited for what the future may hold for this club. This club will be discussing any and all things related to the paranormal world, and will be going on several field trips to various locations. For those of you who are wondering, paranormal is defined as the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without
scientific explanation, such as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other supernatural phenomena. The club is led by Junior, Vincent Kight, and it seems to be overflowing with students that are very excited to learn all things paranormal. “I feel like there’s a lot of space for improvement, but I think that the club has potential,” mentioned Senior, Sarah Rinner. This is the first year that TJ has ever had a Paranormal Club, and the 2016-2017 school year has many things in store for the students involved. The Paranormal Club holds meetings every Thursday in B221, right after school. Be sure to stop by if you are interested!