Trojan Tribune Issue 8 2014-15

Trojan Tribune

The

WAYZATA HIGH SCHOOL

Volume 33, Issue 8

News page 2

January 21, 2015

Features page 6

Cold day standards change

Plymouth works to improve bridge light

northwestplymouth.com Features page 6

Op-Ed page 4

Supreme Court debates Oracle v. Google

gailtal-journal.at/ News page 2

Airline Safety

Flu epidemic masslawblog.com

aqcsl.com

Plymouth residents fill up at the Holiday Station on County Rd. 24 and Highway 55 for $1.99 a gallon.

Photo by Hannah Weas

Low oil prices come at a high cost

High supply, low demand, and political tension

By HANA KASSEM EDITOR IN CHIEF

Low oil prices are typically nothing to complain about, but what motorists don’t realize are the high costs that come with the low prices.

The drop in oil prices is a result of several factors. OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has not decreased production to account for the rising production in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, and geopolitical issues facing Iraq’s oil fields have not had a deterring effect.

Meanwhile, Europe and Asia are in a recession, lowering the demand worldwide.

While energy analysts say the biggest factor affecting current oil prices is excess supply, geopolitical issues also hold an effect. ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) attacked Iraq’s largest oil field in June 2014, causing the price of Brent crude (a global benchmark) to hit a nine-month high of $115 a barrel.

Oil traders expected prices to go even higher, but the opposite has held to be true. According to Bloomberg News, the

price of Brent has toppled to less than $50 a barrel, hitting a four year low.

Current gasoline prices across the country are averaging $2.08 per gallon, one of the lowest averages the nation has seen since the 2008 financial crisis.

According to energy and foreign policy experts, ISIS didn’t have the expected impact. Iraq, the second largest oil producer in OPEC, has security forces guarding the rich oil fields in the south to hold out against ISIS. While ISIS has captured oil fields in order to fund its operations, the radical group only controls a small percentage of the world’s oil supply, mostly selling to the black market in Turkey for around $40 a barrel, according to a recent Newsweek investigation.

Those sales have the potential to bring in up to $3.6 million a day. “$3.6 million per day divided by $40 per barrel would indicate production of 0.09 million barrels per day, or 0.1 percent of world production,” said U.S. Energy Information Administration spokesman Jonathan Cogan. “That would not be likely to have much impact on prices.”

Nevertheless, energy analysts say the

biggest factor causing current oil prices to plummet is excess supply.

The factors causing this surplus include slowing global growth, OPEC’s decision not to cut production in response to the decreasing demand, and soaring production in Libya, according to Robert McNally, founder and president of the energy consulting firm Rapidan Group.

Meanwhile, U.S. domestic oil production surpassed crude oil imports in October 2013 for the first time since 1995.

Although many are ecstatic about the drop in gas prices, it comes at a price.

This increase in domestic production and drop in oil prices is due to the use of an environmentally harmful technique called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, in which shale is fractured by a hydraulically pressurized liquid made of sand, chemicals, and water. The liquid is then shot into a wellbore to crack deep-rock formations in order to allow natural gas to flow more freely.

“Our current forecast puts 2015 production at 9.4 million barrels per day, which would be the highest annual average U.S. crude oil production since 1972,” said Cogan.

The Trojan Tribune {January 21, 2015}

Bridge traffic to be resolved

By ANNA RODRIGUEZ

The left turn light at Peony Lane and Schmidt Lake Road has caused lots of frustration and complaints, but according to Plymouth’s city engineer, Jim Renneberg, the situation is constantly improving.

Lots of changes took place in the fall. “We increased the green time for the left turn into the school from northbound Peony Lane as well as westbound Schmidt Lake Road into the school,” said Renneberg.

“Last week we were notified it wasn’t working properly,” said Renneberg. “I was contacted by the police officer with the school that talked to the principal. I received information last week that something was wrong with signal and we responded, so we have been working with them.”

This past Monday, city workers addressed more issues with the light timing according to Renneberg. “We believe we determined what the problem was and everything should be running smoothly again,” said Renneberg.

According to Renneberg, the city has also received information from the police department, street maintenance workers, and people with complaints.

NEWS EDITOR

There are several ways the city implements these changes. “In this case, there’s a lot of activity going on around it, so we’re going to monitor that signal there at Schmidt Lake Road and Peony Lane,” said Renneberg.

Many factors affect the improvements being made. “With the new Peony Lane and homes going up, there’s going to be changes, and we’re going to monitor that each year. We’re going to make changes as we see appropriate,” Renneberg said.

“With the construction there’s going to be more traffic on Peony Lane, there’s going to be more through traffic at this intersection. There’s going to be more north/ south traffic as well as going into the school so we are going to monitor that so people can get through that intersection at a reasonable time,” said Renneberg.

The intersection isn’t a “smart intersection” that electronically adapt to the flow of traffic. “In the morning there’s more green time for the left turn into the school. It’s set at 90 seconds, but in the afternoon it changes to 45 seconds,” said Renneberg.

The police department believes that there’s no longer a need for an officer on the bridge. Plymouth Police Captain Pete Johnson said, “The traffic isn’t such an is-

Remembering Steven Westley

Senior Steven Westley passed away at the age of 17 on Tuesday December 23rd. He is survived by mother, Christine Westley; father, Mark Tran; step-mother, Sheila Tran; sister and brother, Ashley and Tyler Tran; grandparents, Patricia Westley, Nancy Tran and Paula and John Koch, aunts and uncles, cousins, and many friends. He will always be remembered for his infectious smile and shining personality. “Steven was

sue anymore. We had our planning department, our traffic unit, and maintenance go out and redo the timing on the light to accommodate the extra traffic.”

Improvements on other lights were made in the fall also. “We made changes to the signal timing at Vicksburg Lane and Schmidt Lake Road as well as County Road 47. Over the past six months we have

one of my favorite classmates.

We had many classes together just in this past semester, and he definitely was one of the people I could really be myself with and joke around with him,” senior Mahdy Michael said.

Steven will be missed by both the student body and teachers of Wayzata High School.

His legacy will live on through the students and teacher’s lives he touched. made some additional changes to help with traffic in northwest Plymouth,” Renneberg said.

“We’re watching everything evolve because things change every year. There’s new homes and roadways going up. There’s projects left and right. We are trying to keep up with all the growth,” said Renneberg.

Flu epidemic hits the halls

By ELLIE RONNING S O P H O M O R E S TA F F W R I T E R

This year, flu season has hit Wayzata High School hard, and the rest of the country isn’t too far off.

“Prior to winter break, the health office was seeing well over 100 students a day with illness,” said district nurse Susan Abraham. “We were sending almost a third or more home.”

“Since we’ve come back from break, our daily office visits have been lower, with only about eighty kids coming in per day, and we only send about a tenth home,” said Abraham.

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), influenza (the flu) is caused by the influenza virus, which comes in many different strains. It is currently a nationwide problem, with an average of 20.1 cases per every 100,000 hospitalizations this year due to the virus.

By the standards of the CDC, this year’s flu has surpassed the

epidemic threshold, making widespread infection very dangerous.

“The geographic spread of influenza in Guam and 46 states was reported as widespread; Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and three states reported regional activity; and DC and one state reported local activity,” according to the CDC. Minnesota is one of the states with widespread flu activity.

According to the Minnesota State Health Department there have been 619 influenza school outbreaks. Wayzata is among the schools that have maintained outbreaks.

The Health Department has recorded 944 hospitalizations due to influenza A so far this year, with more expected.

“We know from health offices and other reports that the flu has not reached its peak,” said Abraham.

According to the CDC, this year’s flu vaccine included preven-

tion for two types of influenza A (H1N1 and H3N2) and one or two types of influenza B, which differed in location.

“The combination of viruses has been the same for the past three years, and this year, the viruses changed, not quite mutated, but were altered just enough so the flu shot is not as effective,” said Abraham.

According to the Minnesota State Health Department, the majority of influenza related hospitalizations have been caused by influenza A, either the H3N2 or an unspecified strain.

The Health Department has also reported that of those hospitalizations, the majority have been either citizens sixty five years of age or older.

There is also a greater risk for those living in the Metro area; 51% of the state’s hospitalizations are among people who live in this area, according to the Health Department.

As far as prevention and treatment for the virus, the CDC recommends that people get the flu vaccine prior to the start of “flu season”. They also report that supplies of tamiflu (a drug that treats the flu after it has been diagnosed) are low.

According to Abraham, all high school students should take care to prevent the flu by using kleenex, washing their hands, drinking water, eating healthy, and getting plenty of sleep.

According to AP biology teacher Amanda Laden, she has had to alter her expectations for the students that have missed school due to the flu, and has often extended due dates of assignments.

“Even as a teacher I don’t have enough energy,” said Chinese teacher Sheen Heng.

“It is stressful for me and my students,” said Heng. “They get sick and behind in class.”

This year’s Heart Week charity: Cakes from Grace This year’s Heart Week charity is personally relevant to members of the WHS community. Cakes From Grace is a non-profit organization that makes cakes for kids with congenital heart defects, whose families often don’t have the luxury of purchasing a cake for a special occasion. Becky Hunt, founder and president of Cakes From Grace, founded the organization after giving birth to Gracia Lorraine Hunt on August 2nd, 2012.

Gracie was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and had to have her first open-heart surgery when she was just six days old. In the months following her birth, Gracie’s health fluctuated, and she

passed away on October 23rd, 2012. Her mother, Becky used her talent for baking to feel closer to her daughter after she died. Cakes From Grace was born in honor of the hundreds of cakes Becky would have baked for Grace. Becky hand-makes beautiful cakes for children who have congenital heart defects to brighten their day and bring some “normal” back into their lives.

Becky bakes cakes for birthdays, heart

surgery anniversaries, and to celebrate coming home from the hospital. She also bakes thousands of cupcakes for events and fundraisers, giving 100% of the pro-

ceeds to the charity. Becky Hunt is the sister of Wayzata coach and teacher Brandon Heebink, a member of the Cakes From Grace board.

The week of February 7th14th is National Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC, congenital heart defects are a leading cause of infant mortality. Minnesota is one of 31 states participating in this annual observance.

The Trojan Tribune {January 21, 2014}

Opinion Exchange

She was arrested for the first time in 1994 for prostitution.

The next 20 years of her life were split between prison and the streets, committing crime

By HANNAH WEAS after crime just S E N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R to survive.

On the streets, she spent her days doing whatever she needed to do to score her next high.

This vicious cycle created a vortex that kept her spinning out of control.

Nevertheless, her troubles began years before, in a small town in Southern Minnesota. She was a freshman in high school at a small Catholic private school, her whole future ahead of her.

Rape was the last thing she was worried about until the night it happened to her. Shortly after she was raped, she

The importance of health care for all was told she was pregnant. That night she bought a bus ticket to Chicago. 14 years old, pregnant and homeless, this became her grim reality. The streets of Chicago pushed and pulled her into a life of crime. It started with prostitution. The first time she was arrested she was only kept in jail for 6 months.

When she was let out she was put back on the streets to fend for herself and began “boosting” (shoplifting and reselling department store goods). This became her crime of choice for the next 20 years. Her last arrest was in Minnesota for shoplifting at the Minneapolis Macy’s. Her latest release date was July 28th, 2014. Because of legal and medical confidentiality she remains anonymous.

Minnesota Legislature mandated an expansion of health care in January 2014. This expansion extended benefits to ex-convicts and young adults under the poverty line. This expansion was Governor Mark Dayton’s response to a proposal that gave states power over their healthcare with the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Under the

expansion, Minnesotans gained access to an online insurance marketplace for those who qualified.

The implementation of a state-bystate designed health insurance program aids in providing a tailored program to meet the needs of individual states as opposed to the nation as a whole. Not only does this expansion provide a specialized health care plan for each state, but it also aids a whole population of previously uninsured citizens including Minnesota’s ex-convict population. Citizens of the United States have the right to health care, yet on too many occasions, those who need care the most are unable to receive it because of restrictions placed on Medicaid.

Her reentry into society occurred just months after Minnesota adapted the Medicaid expansion, a program under the Affordable Care Act, that provides medical care for ex-convicts.

Since her release she has been provided with medical care, mental health counseling and proper drugs for her mental illnesses. For the first time in 20 years

she has a home, a job and, according to her parole officer, has been sober ever since her release. Although her story is one of success, it is not every ex-convict’s reality.

This woman’s story, though inspiring, is among a few success stories. The fact of the matter is, about one third of released prisoners return to a life of crime within three years after their release date. The Medicaid expansion has shown to help low income adults find the medical care they need in order lead a healthy life. Furthermore, by aiding the ex-convict population the possibility of ex-convicts leading a normal and crime-free life becomes an attainable reality for many. In order to keep ex- convicts off the streets and out of jail, Minnesota needs to continue to provide healthcare to this population, for without it they would be giving up on a population who has the potential to become a working part of Minnesota’s society.

Sportsmanship in the NFL the ground three times, in a myriad of ways. Suh has been fined repeatedly – once $100,000, the most expensive fine for on-field play in NFL history,” McCoy writes.

Many can agree that this behavior by a professional athlete is unacceptable. As a national icon, Suh heavily influences younger athletes who are following in his path. Suh is not the only NFL player to have committed such unsportsmanlike actions. Albert Haynesworth was a defensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout his ten-year career from 2002-2011, according to ESPN. According to an ESPN article, Haynesworth was suspended for five games and five paychecks after stomping on Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode’s head during the game between the Titans and the Cowboys in October of 2006.

Why mention these acts? Why should

we care about the actions of an individual player? Primarily, because Haynesworth is very skilled in the game of

“

It is important that the NFL recognizes unsportsmanlike behavior by professional athletes as an issue that needs addressing.

“

The National Football League is entertaining for many people across the but

By MAGGIE FRANKE country, J U N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R currently, it is very frustrating to watch so many players disrespect each other throughout the course of the game. Ndamukong Suh is a 6-foot4, 305-pound defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions national football team, according to ESPN. Although he is famous for his 8.5 sacks this season and 36 sacks throughout the course of his 5-year career at Detroit, Suh is also infamous for his $216,875 in fines, according to a Washington Post article written by Terrence McCoy about the player’s poor habits.

“The league has punished Suh’s behavior, which has ranged from kicking a quarterback in the groin to slamming an offensive lineman’s head into

football. Secondly, other young players will see his efforts on the field and possibly decide that they need to play dirty in order to play well. Football could emerge into a different game if the future players of the game decide they need to play with the same unsportsmanlike actions as Ndamukong Suh and Albert Haynesworth.

As scandals emerge off the field,

maybe some of us should be looking at players on the field. Their actions during a game may very well mirror their actions in life. Granted, not every one of the 250 fines the NFL gave out during the 2014 regular and preseason were career-threatening or committed by people with the wrong intentions on the field, but it is important that the NFL recognizes unsportsmanlike behavior by professional athletes as an issue that needs addressing.

I’ll leave you off with this quote by Jets offensive lineman Matt Slauson, who played with Suh during his college career at Nebraska: “It’s one thing to be an incredibly physical player and a tenacious player, but it’s another thing to set out to end that guy’s career.”

Since 2002, the NFL has given out $94,089,562 in fines and 62% of those fines were given to defensive players, according to NFL.com. In other words, defenders should tackle offenders in order to end the offense’s drive, not to end their careers.

Title IX hasn’t gone far enough As a senior in high school, postsecondary plans are omnipresent in

By HANNAH OLSON my thoughts.

GUEST WRITER Will I go to college? Will I be able to find the right program for me? How about make friends or, alternately, how will I figure out how to do my own laundry? Will my roommate and I get along? What if I fail a class? That’s one expensive F, right? Most of these questions are normal for incoming freshmen as they enter a new chapter in their lives.

Nevertheless, among the sea of normal thoughts, there are many questions that have a grim connotation, such as “Will I be safe?” or “Should I take a self defense class?” The fact that these questions even appear in my mind, let alone, in the minds of young women across the country should say enough

that there is something extremely wrong going on.

The overwhelming statistic that 1 in 5 women will face sexual assault before they graduate college, found by Senator Claire McCaskill after a nationwide survey, there are some serious concerns that, as a woman, I have about Universities around the nation. With Universities across the nation not complying with these standards. Under Title IX, a law passed in 1972, it became a requirement to offer the same classes, extracurriculars, and protection for both genders from any type of sexual discrimination. Every university that accepts public funding is required to have protocols in place to deal with sexual assault.

Sexual assault has been in the news as of late. Emma Sulkowicz of Columbia University was raped and as a result chose to base her senior thesis off of her experience. Her message was extremely powerful as she carried the

mattress she was raped on around campus until her rapist was expelled. This sparked nationwide protests.

Thousands of college students joined Sulkowicz’s peaceful yet powerful protest. California also passed a law called “Yes Means Yes,” to replace the outdated standard “No Means No,” to enforce that saying yes and giving consent is much different than saying no. By law, unless both parties agree to sexual acts with the word “Yes,” it means no. This law decreases the conception that “they were asking for it” or “they were dressed promiscuously, what was I supposed to do?” since the answer to these simple phrases are easy: they never said yes.

The scariest part about university rape statistics is that there are some schools that have no--and when I say no, I mean absolutely no--reported cases of sexual assault. While the eightythree reported rape cases at Harvard from 2010-2012 is quite alarming, at least there is a system in place where

victims feels safe. If reporting the rapes is the goal of Title IX then shouldn’t large schools, such as The University of North Carolina at Greensboro with 18,516 students, have more than zero reported cases in a three year period?

As awful as that may sound, this discrepancy sheds light on an even bigger problem. There are several other large publicly funded Universities, that seem to have no clue what is going on with students when it comes to sexual assault.

With nothing in place to protect them, these schools are failing their students when events taken place in their time that may come to haunt them forever.

Referencing back to what I asked earlier, whether you choose to take a selfdefense class or always carry pepper spray is up to you. Regardless, do not walk into college blind, know the facts, ladies. Protect yourselves, it is your body after all. No one has the right to tell you otherwise.

The Trojan Tribune {January 21, 2014}

Hey, why don’t you act ghetto?

As one of my favorite rappers and comedians Donald Glover, known more popularly as Childish Gambino, once said, “There’s something really funny about racBy MAHDY MICHAEL ism… when it’s S E N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R small.”

If it’s small. If it’s tolerable. If it’s laughable.

It looks as though some of the most heinous acts or concepts can be made inconsequential when paired with a good punchline or enough exposure, which seems to have had a desensitizing effect on masses of Americans.

There comes a time when one grows tired.

When going to school or logging onto twitter means seeing a racial fire blaze red hot under the unsuspecting noses of my peers and, for the most part, the rest of society.

When trying to shed light on the lack of human rights granted to people with melanin levels similar to mine, earns me backlash from my peers. When part of my college selection process is choosing a location where my chances of being treated poorly or ending up dead because of the color of my skin are lowest. When constant questions about if my hair is real, why I don’t act “ghetto” like the rest of my “people,” or how I’m “pretty for a black girl” aren’t recognized as being patronizing and as having prejudiced undertones.

And I have become tired.

Situations have come and gone where the murders of black men are justified by their acts of petty crime and where groups are applauded for blaming the state of the country on minorities and so on and so forth. Seeing stereotypes and racial tensions so prevelant in our society, it has become an arduous task to just sit back and see and hear many of my peers, despite very real indicators, deny the continued existence of racial issues without falter.

Albeit, I’m not perfect; I’m often guilty of succumbing to stereotypical ideas which is something I try to avoid.

This in mind, in the same way that I cannot say that I know white privilege benefits all

caucasians just because I’m exposed to privilege, it makes little sense for people to come to the conclusion that racial bias no longer exists just because they’ve been exposed to race issues.

In an attempt to conceal the fact that my skin color is something I struggle with regularly, I frequently joke about my race and some topics that concern racial tensions online and with friends; often I find I get lingering stares when I’m in a predominantly white location or get followed when I’m shopping by myself or even with my mom in stores or malls. To the outside world, I’m ‘skirpy’ enough to cause suspicion, but here at school, I’ve often been told that I’m “not a real black person.”

Do I not see what everyone else sees when I look in my mirror in the morning? In my own identity, I must be mistaken because I do not perpetuate the kinds of stereotypes I’m expected to. To some, even, my ACT score is shocking because I don’t seem to exude that level of intelligence. On the other hand, most of the people I know have yet to encounter a black person that didn’t follow a set of negative stereotypes, so can I really blame them for thinking the worst?

Too often, I see different forms of racism at school regardless of whether or not people know exactly what judgments they’re expressing to others. The most blatant and personally offensive form I’ve seen for years is the accessorization of the Confederate flag by some of my fellow seniors.

Flying from trucks, embossed on belt buckles, worn as scarves, and in many more ways the Confederate flag has become a personal symbol for a group of students here at Wayzata who insist it doesn’t mean what I think it means--what history class taught us it means--and therefore are confident and unimpeded in their task of donning their flag-adorned personal items.

Another example includes a select few teachers who, whether intentionally or otherwise (I hope otherwise), seem to target kids in class, alienate them, make them feel uncomfortable, et cetera because they profile these students.

Seeing things like this regularly, it’s hard to

Innovation or theft?

Today, nearly everyone has a screen or device within an arm’s reach. Companies scramble to put new products like phones or tablets on shelves

By MAX ZIMMERMAN while mobile apGUEST WRITER plication fads simultaneously permeate the market. Since Tim Berners Lee created the world wide web in 1991, the technology industry has been rapidly expanding and seeping into every aspect of modern lives and the government has had to keep up. American companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and more dominate tech markets, but the complexity of the industry can cause problems on our home soil.

The obligation of the United States government to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution has led to a hefty amount of litigation surrounding technology in the last two decades. Computer coding is always evolving and difficult for courts to interpret.

Corporate copyrights on code are an even more uncharted area of law, due to the lack of specific legislative intent, accompanied by the lack of judicial precedents. That being said, if the government intervenes too much, competition in the industry will suffer. For these reasons, our courts have wrestled with such cases. Although modern issues can be difficult to interpret, the Courts should go to great lengths to maintain the free market

qualities of the technology industry.

The high court has heard tech cases ranging from Free Speech concerns in Reno v. ACLU, to Fourth Amendment digital information concerns in Riley v. California, and many more. The latest technology case petitioned to the Supreme Court involves two American technology giants: Oracle and Google.

It started with Sun Microsystems, a California company that sold software and computer components until it was acquired

by Oracle in 2010. In the early 90’s, Sun developed the platform and coding language called Java. Sun’s creation is known as an API - an application program interface. A relatively simple, universal piece of code, Java is the invisible force behind a lot of software.

On the other side of the courtroom, Google is a silicone valley superpower responsible for creating Android phones.

The issue that the Supreme Court is being petitioned to decide is whether or not Google infringed on Oracle’s copyrights when Google rewrote a version of Java that was implemented in the unveiling of the Android operating system in 2008. While Oracle owns the rights to Java, defenders of Google accurately say that “you’ve got to start somewhere” in their ideology that Java’s concepts were fairly used.

Now things are beginning to heat up. Bloggers, scholars, and technology industry moguls believe the Supreme Court Justices tend to be technologically illiterate, so it was no surprise when the Justices asked the Solicitor General for advice from the Obama admin-

step away and see issues such as this one from all the different perspectives, even feigning to do so proves difficult.

With this in mind, I try my hardest to be as considerate as possible whilst I voice my opinions or try to speak up for people of my own race against judgment and/or injustice, but I’m often misconstrued for setting out to attack Caucasian people. Even so, if the things I say resonate with someone, I suppose then maybe there’s a reason.

When I say that, collectively, Caucasian people cannot fully understand a situation because it has to do with a race issue, that is because, in a way, it’s true.

In recent events regarding race, rioting has been the cause of unrest between the races. This is largely do to the fact that rioting means and accomplishes two different things for blacks and whites. When white people riot, there is no collective responsibility. For example, the events in Keene and Morgantown are not taken as “proof ” that whites are inherently lawless or more prone to violence than anyone else where as events like Ferguson are used as public shaming for the black race.

When white people riot, is it not because of the moral failure of white culture, white parents, or white leadership. No one asks how many of the rioters in Keene and Morgantown came from “fatherless families,” or questions their “work ethic.” Often I encounter some folk who, instead of hearing and trying to understand the reasons for black peoples actions, try to push back with accusations in defense of themselves--ranting about reverse racism and the like.

I guess I could sit here behind my keyboard and passive aggressively go on all day about the ways inequality still seems to find a home in our local and national communities, but my goal--and what should be everyone’s--is to promote positive change by informing the masses.

Part of the problem is willful ignorance and unfortunate naïvitey in our society, but the important thing to take away from this is that racism exists--not just in history or in corrupt countries but in America, and in our community.

istration.

For the sake of innovation, the lower courts decision should be reversed. Recognizing an infringement claim on Java and affirming the lower court would set an impermissible precedent for APIs that would hinder creativity and innovation in the technological industry forever.

Oracle first sued Google in 2012 for copyright infringement in a Northern California district court, which yielded the ruling that APIs are not subject to copyright, taking Google off the hook. In 2013, a frustrated Oracle appealed the ruling to a California Federal Circuit court and a year later celebrated the reversal of the lower courts ruling.

The appeals court recognized the infringement claim and granted that the APIs are copyrightable, but left open the possibility that Google could have fairly used Oracle’s idea in mimicking Java and creating Android.

Many consider this to have been a disastrous decision as it would set a narrow and uncharted precedent, while restricting competition and innovation.

If and when this case is put before the Justices, it will be a landmark decision that anyone interested in technology will want to follow closely.

While upholding the legality and viability of copyrights is equally important, one must ask, should innovation be squandered for the sole financial benefit of Oracle Incorporated?

This decision will have a ripple effect in the creation of technology, regardless of the outcome.

Opinion Exchange TROJAN TRIBUNE EDITORIAL STAFF Editor in Chief Hana Kassem News Editor Anna Rodriguez Sports Editor Hayden Farmer Graphic Designer Hannah Weas Advertising Manager Mahdy Michael Advisor David Motes

MISSION STATEMENT To address issues that Wayzata High School is facing; to investigate with courage, persistence and passion; to report the news with accuracy and without bias; to encourage thought, investigate events which incite praise and those which incite criticism; and to make connections between people in this community.

EDITORIAL POLICY Editorial policies and content decisions are made by the student editorial board. The opinions expressed in the editorials, columns, and opinion pieces are those of the Trojan Tribune staff and are not necessarily the opinions of the advisor, administration, students, faculty, or District 284.

The Trojan Tribune follows guidelines of the Associated Press Stylebook and is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association.

ADVERTISING We accept ads that provides goods and services for the age group this publication serves, as long as they conform to the school and district regulations.

Inquire for an ad sheet.

The Trojan Tribune works jointly with the advanced television production class to produce Wayzata NewsBreak. Comments concerning NewsBreak may be sent to the address below.

This publication is a limited open forum within the community of Wayzata High School. The newspaper is the product of Journalism students and others and is not the curricular work of a single class.

Opinions, discussion, and input are always welcomed and encouraged. Comments, questions, thoughts, and ideas may be addressed to: The Trojan Tribune 4955 Peony Lane Plymouth, MN 55446 david.motes@wayzata.k12.mn.us

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The Trojan Tribune {January 21, 2015}

2014: A year of plane crashes or unprecedented aviation safety?

From a mass media perspective, 2014 didn’t seem to be a good year for airplane safety.

There were four incidents worldwide resulting in all passengers and crew members on board being reported dead or missing.

The week following July 17th alone had three major airline crashes, resulting in almost 500 deaths.

Accordingly, when asked about their perceptions of airline safety given the past year, WHS students were skeptical. “More people died this year [in plane crashes] than any other year,” said one WHS student. Other students are searching for somewhere to place the blame. “It’s an issue with the government. It’s not really air safety,” said another student. Said another: “We rely too much on technology to run our aircrafts, and really our world.”

But maybe there’s no one to blame. In fact, maybe we should be giving credit to those involved in air travel, whether it’s airlines, governments, engineers, scientists, or any other combination of officials and experts.

Statistically speaking, 2014 was one of the safest years in airline history.

The trend throughout the last few decades has moved overwhelmingly toward less fatalities per million passengers.

One passenger death is a tragedy. But compared to the 2,429 commercial aviation deaths in 1972, the 761 deaths this year reported by the Aviation Safety Network, makes airline safety look promising, especially when you factor in how many less total passengers were flying 40 years ago compared to today.

So why do we perceive 2014 to have been a year of such horrifying incidence?

“You’re thousands of times more likely to

By MADDIE ORZESKE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

get hit by lightning than to die in a plane crash,” said William Skerbitz, a WHS AP Statistics teacher. “We as humans are not good at dealing with probability intuitively.”

According to Kevin Johnson, a psychology teacher at WHS, it has to do with our problem-solving ability as humans.

“Problem solving usually breaks down into two sub components: one is algorithms -- a step-by-step process. That’s what you do in your statistics class. Often we can’t necessarily do that, or we’re too lazy to do that -- so we typically do something called heuristics,” said Johnson.

According to David G. Myers’ Psychology textbook, heuristics is a “simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems more efficiently.”

It also makes us more prone to error.

“What we’re talking about here is... a curious component within heuristics called availability [heuristics],” says Johnson.

“Availability heuristics is a decision-making process based upon how often things happen. How easily does a past event come to my memory? The more vivid something is, the more it’s going to pop up in my memory. So how safe are airplanes? If I just saw crashes on the tv, I’m going to think they happen quite often.”

So just how bad was 2014 in terms of airline safety?

In an article on CNBC.com, Harro Ranter, the president of Aviation Safety Network, explained that 2014 airline safety has to be taken within the context of aviation historically. “Those eight accidents [of 2014] involving passenger flights represent a record low since the advent of modern aviation in 1946,” said Ranter. “And they look even brighter given the growth in air traffic. Based on 2000’s accident rates per 1 million passengers, we could have expect-

ed to see 39 passenger flight accidents in 2014,” he said.

That being said, those same accidents have set precedents for things that should never happen again, given our world of

modern technology and communications.

50 million dollars were spent searching for Malaysia Flight 370 in the three months alone following the March 8th disappearance of the Boeing 777, and the result: almost a year later, the search has been narrowed down to 1.7 million square miles of open ocean where the plane could be (PBS). 239 passengers and crew members are still missing.

In Ukraine, 298 passengers and crew died in the deadliest airliner shootdown in history -- and it was a complete accident. Russia blamed Ukraine, and Ukraine blamed Russia, but in the week before the incident, almost 900 flights had flown over the warring region.

As for the other incidents: bad weather and bad communication.

According to PBS, only 2-3% of earth’s surface is actually covered by radar, leaving “dark spots” that passenger planes fly

Graphic above shows the number of airplane crashes a year for the past 50 years. through every day. And much of the radar technology that is still used today was invented in the 1940s and 50s, a time when we didn’t have things like GPS to track our location almost instantaneously.

So there’s progress to be made in the field of aviation safety. But it’s also important to see these accidents in the grand scheme of things. If you’re planning a trip for spring break, don’t sell your plane ticket just yet.

But be careful not to go outside during a lightning storm.

Cold day standards at WHS

By MELISSA TROUT

According to the National Weather Service, frostbite can occur within five minutes between 0 and -19 degrees Fahrenheit.

Saying Minnesota reaches these extreme degrees of cold is an understatement; Minnesota hits that low of temperatures almost regularly in a typical winter.

With that being said, it is a primary concern that when the conditions are that severe, the school districts prioritize the safety of the students they are transporting to school.

Recently, the three largest school districts in Minnesota have updated their policies on weather conditions required to shut down their districts.

Minneapolis schools say they will close if the wind chill forecast for 6:30 a.m. the following day is -35° or colder along with winds of at least 5 to 10 miles per hour. St. Paul schools will close the following day if the wind chill is -40° or the air temperature is -25°at 6 a.m. Anoka-Hennepin schools will close if the windchill is -40°.

Therefore students, parents, and possibly some faculty across the 284 district have been wondering; how does Wayzata make their decision?

According to Wayzata’s district policies, 804 and 804R, the superintendent may SENIOR STAFF WRITER

close school, delay the start of school, or dismiss school early because of extreme weather conditions or other emergency conditions.

A decision to close or delay school due to inclement weather conditions will be made by the superintendent. Such a decision will be made by 5:30 a.m. whenever possible.

A two-hour late start may be implemented if weather conditions are uncertain.

In the event of an early dismissal, school activities and community use of district facilities will be cancelled. Any exceptions must be approved by the superintendent.

It seems as though every time there is the slight chance of a school closing day kids all across the metro glue themselves to their phones in hope of a notification from their districts saying there is not school the following day.

“There can be kind of a domino effect.

Generally, school districts don’t want to be the only school that closes or the only one that doesn’t! There is a good deal of communication that occurs among the west metro school districts in the process of deciding what to do. It is always important for me to at least know what our neighbors are thinking and planning. Although it doesn’t determine what we will do, it does have an influence on the decision,” said Wayzata Superintendent, Chace

Anderson.

“A distribution list is set up with about 25 superintendents. We communicate frequently during situations of inclement weather using e-mails and phone calls as needed to keep each other posted on current thinking,” said Anderson.

A crucial factor in considering whether there will be school or not in these situations is what the transportation companies will conclude. “It is important for me to know that the buses can meet the arrival times at the bus stops so we can minimize the amount of time that students are waiting for the bus to arrive,” said Anderson.

Student and staff safety is a primary role in how Superintendent Anderson makes these calls. On days there is a possibility of closing or delays, he personally drives around as early as 4 in the morning to get a feel and experience what staff and students would be dealing with that day if school were still to be scheduled.

“It is important to not make a decision prematurely only to have the weather system fail to materialize. The 5:30 am target is a good one and when possible the decision to cancel school is best made very early in the morning,”said Anderson.

Aside from not making a decision based purely on weather conditions, what many do not take into consideration is how much

closing days really cost the district.

“Our school district has an annual general fund operating budget of over $100 million. Using this number and assuming 172 school days, a day of school costs about $0.5 million. So, there are financial considerations. Although the school district receives funding from the State on days when school is cancelled, it is important for us to be good stewards of our financial resources,” said Anderson.

With that conclusion, another idea is proposed; online days. Several surrounding schools have begun to implement the alternative school days requiring students to get their school work done at home on their school-provided electronics. If the students do not get their work done, they are held accountable for being irresponsible as if it would be on a normal school day.

This last year, Wayzata provided every high school student with an iPad. It seems reasonable that after the district spent so much money on these electronics that they could require this change.

“I think Wayzata could expect to see some “online” days in the future. It is a topic we have discussed frequently, but don’t feel as though we are ready to move forward with that yet. We will continue to explore this,” concluded Anderson.

STERN

AT THE

CINEMA REVIEWS BY ANDREW STERN

Based on a true Fox c a tch e r re l a y s t h e t a l e o f M a r k S c h u l t z ( C h a n n i n g Ta tum) as he trains for the 1988 Olympic Games a n d h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h mu l t i - m i l l i o n d o l l a r s p o n s o r J o h n d u Po n t ( S t e v e C a re l l ) . A t t e m p t i n g t o b r e a k f r e e f ro m h i s b ro t h e r ’s s h a d o w (Mark Ruffalo), Schultz initially feels admir a t i o n f o r d u Po n t , b u t g ro w s u n c o m f o r t a b l e a s d u Po n t ’s b e h a v i o r b e c o m e s m o re e r r a t i c .

A l l o f t h e a c t o r s i n t h i s fi l m a re a t t h e t o p o f t h e i r g a m e . S t e v e C a re l l h a s b e e n g e t t i n g the most attention for his performance, and i t ’s v e r y w e l l d e s e r v e d . F i n a l l y p l a y i n g a c h a r a c t e r o u t o f t h e n o r m f o r h i m , C a re l l m a k e s d u Po n t f a s c i n a t i n g l y u n s e t t l i n g, b u t s e e m ingly harmless despite his fortune. Channing Ta t u m g i v e s o n e o f t h e b e s t p e r f o r m a n c e s o f h i s c a r e e r, n o t o n l y h a n d l i n g n u m e ro u s d i f -

DESIGN BY DIAMOND SAMPSON

FOXCATCHERs t o r y,

SELMA

Despite being advertised as a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, I don’t feel like that’s the best way to describe Selma. Although Martin Luther King Jr. is technically the main character of the film, the movie doesn’t focus so much on him as it focuses on the events taking place.

This movie is more about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Selma to Montgomery march.

Selma is much more about the cause than it is about the people.

T h a t said, the performances in the film are all very strong.

David Oyelowo is incredibly affecting as King, and Carmen Ejogo is similarly great. There’s a lot of very good cameos from the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson, and Trai

fi c u l t w re s t l i n g s e q u e n c e s , b u t s h o w i n g a n i n c re d i b l y h e a r t b re a k i n g r a n g e o f e m o t i o n s w i t h

Byers, There’s also a few very odd cameos.

Giovanni Ribisi plays a presidential advisor and Stephen Root plays a racist colonel. Neither of them were bad, but it took me out of the movie a bit to see them. The cinematography was also a bit inconsistent, occasionally containing some odd lighting and framing choices.

The film took a little time for me to get into, but once it found its footing I was all in.

The protest scenes are astonishingly emotional.

I haven’t been so impacted by an action scene in a long time. Ava DuVernay directs the film with total control and makes a very strong film out of only a decent script. Narrow in focus but wide in scope, Selma is especially relevant as of recently. 8/10.

AMERICAN SNIPER Based off of the autobiography of the same name, American Sniper is the story of Chris Kyle - ‘the most deadly sniper in American History’. With over 160 ‘confirmed kills’ over four tours, Kyle is routinely described as a legend as the story follows him from childhood to his service in the Iraq war to his PTSD. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Bradley Cooper as the famous sniper.

This movie reminds me a lot of Captain Phillips. Directed by relatively reputable names, they both contain a solid performance from a high-profile actor playing a character that is highly controversial in real life but is sold as an American hero for the film’s sake. I obviously don’t know him personally, but from everything I’ve read, Chris Kyle seems to like to make up stories. Aside from the famous Jesse Ventura incident (in which Kyle claimed that Ventura said that the SEALs “deserved to lose a few” and was subsequently punched out by Kyle, an incident that never happened and resulted in a lawsuit from Ventura), Kyle also claimed to have killed two carjackers in Texas and over 30 looters after Hurricane Katrina, both of which events didn’t happen and are incredibly unsettling things to lie about. Ignoring all of that though, how is the movie?

Not very good. The whole film is too one-dimensional and one-sided to give the audience much of anything to feel except for blatant patriotism. Despite over 100 credited actors in the film, there are only four characters: Chris

v e r y l i t t l e d i a l o g u e . M a r k R u f f a l o ro u n d s o u t the trio of fantastic performances. In the best shape of his life, Ruffalo plays a family man w h o i s mu c h m o re s t a b l e t h a n b o t h d u Po n t and Mark and has to work to keep them both d o i n g w h a t t h e y n e e d t o d o.

B e n n e t t M i l l e r, f o l l o w i n g M o n e y b a l l a n d C a po te , i s a b s o l u t e l y m a s t e r f u l b e h i n d t h e c a m e r a . A m a j o r i t y o f t h e fi l m i s s i l e n t , a n d h e u s e s t h i s s i l e n c e t o c re a t e mu c h m o re e m o t i o n t h a n i f t h e c h a r a c t e r s w e re t a l k i n g. I n a s i n g l e t a k e , h e i s a b l e t o t e l l yo u m o re a b o u t t h e c h a r a c t e r s t h a n w i t h p a g e s o f d i a l o g u e . M i l l e r, combined with a top-notch script, allows for t h e fi l m t o b e a c o m p l e t e l y e n g ro s s i n g e x p e r i ence, despite being somewhat challenging to the audience. W hile it occasionally feels like t h e fi l m h a s b e e n c u t d o w n a l i t t l e t o o mu c h , Fox c a t c h e r i s s t i l l a n a m a z i n g m o v i e . 9 / 1 0 .

INHERENT VICE

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice is based off of a Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name. Joaquin Phoenix stars as “Doc”, a detective who investigates the disappearance of his former girlfriend and her millionaire boyfriend.

I would try to explain more of the movie, but I’m not sure I can. The plot is intentionally disjointed, due to the main character being high the whole time, and after watching the full film I only had a vague understanding of all of the plot details.

The performances here are all phenomenal.

Wearing mutton chops throughout, Joaquin Phoenix carries the movie and gives a reminder to why he’s one of the best actors working today. The ensemble cast is truly an ensemble with far too many actors to mention. Some of the highlights include Josh Brolin as an ape-like detective with a propensity for frozen

Kyle, Chris Kyle’s frustratingly annoying wife who’s not given anything to do but cry (Sienna Miller), evil Muslims who all want to kill America, and other soldiers.

That’s about all we’re given, leading to a few simple scenes being repeated over and over for the duration of the 132 minute movie.

Bradley Cooper gives a great performance as Chris Kyle, but it feels like he’s in the wrong movie. Given his tendency for playing somewhat mentally unstable characters who are charismatically uncharismatic, he seemed like a natural choice for the role once Kyle’s defining trait was established as “likes to beat people up”. However, the film paints Kyle as a much more a hero than a maniac. This causes Cooper’s performance to seem out-of-place as he creates a much more realistic portrait of a man who’s a great sniper but also kind of a jerk.

bananas, Owen Wilson as a presumed dead saxophonist who seems to appear everywhere, and Martin Short as a cocaine-addicted dentist. Every performance in the film is absolutely on point.

Incredibly well shot throughout, the movie’s atmosphere is very surreal and absurd, which works really well with the strange nature of the script. Humorous moments in the blocking and set design help the audience enjoy the film and not focus too hard on understanding the story. I don’t think the purpose of the movie on the initial viewing is to fully comprehend the details. I feel like it’s to get engaged with the characters and the absurdism of everything. I think it’ll take several viewings to fully understand most of what’s happening in the film, and even then I feel like there will be new easter eggs with each new viewing. I really enjoyed this film, and I can’t wait to watch it again. 9/10.

The whole movie just doesn’t flow very well. While the film does a great job at portraying modern warfare, it quickly devolves into mindless action save a few choice scenes. Not only is it mindless action, but the movie has the pretension to claim that it’s something more.

The film asserts throughout that Kyle is a hero and a legend, but except for a brief montage near the beginning of the film, we don’t see any reason why. When we’re back at home, all the audience gets to see is Kyle being told by his wife that he’s not the same. Nothing deeper is explored. For those of you who are overly patriotic, you will likely enjoy this film quite a bit, but I just couldn’t get into it. 4/10.

PADDINGTON

than theatre - actors, a lot of the casting decisions seem to have been made with the goal of simply selling the movie. While having bankable stars appear in the film likely persuaded the studios to put more money in the project, there’s no denying the talent of the actors in this movie though. Of all of the performers, Meryl Streep is the one who’s been getting much of the awards hype for this film, but I wouldn’t say that she necessarily gives the best performance in it. Don’t get me wrong, I think she does a fine job, but she merely serves her purpose rather than steal the show.

However, Emily Blunt and Anna Kendrick are both fantastic as the Baker’s Wife and Cinderella, respectively. James Corden is absolutely heartbreaking as the Baker, and Daniel Huttlestone continues to hold onto his monopoly of little boys in musicals (after he was Gavroche in 2012’s Les Miserables) as Jack. Lilia Crawford does a great job as Little Red Riding Hood, her screen debut (though she was recently the title role in Annie on Broadway). Christine Baranski and Tracey Ullman both have great cameos in the film, and Johnny Depp does a decent job in his jazzy and uncomfortable 5 minutes of screen-time.

The film’s primary fault is just that it’s a movie instead of a stage production. What makes Into the Woods a weaker film from a movie-musical like Chicago is that Chicago utilizes the filmmaking medium to tell the story in a way that can’t happen on the stage. While the movie version of Into the Woods is able to create more elaborate sets and interesting cinematogra-

INTO THE WOODS Adapted from the classic Stephen Sondheim musical of the same name, Into the Woods translates the story of several intertwined fairy tales from the stage to the big screen.

The film follows modified plots of “Cinderella”, “Jack and the Giant Beanstalk”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Rapunzel”, while tying them all together with a story of a Baker and his wife trying to have a child, and the Witch who placed a curse on them. Directed by Rob Marshall, no stranger to movie-musicals with Chicago (2002) and Nine (2009), this film is a competent retelling of the source material, and makes the musical much more attainable to general audiences.

A big problem that many movie-musicals have had in the past few decades is that they’re shot like mediocre action films.

Often times the camera is too close to the action and the cuts happen much too frequently, preventing the audience from seeing that nothing very significant has been choreographed.

However, Rob Marshall is a high profile Broadway director and choreographer, and understands that by keeping the camera at a distance, we can see the whole scene as it unfolds.

The result is that all of the musical numbers are remarkably well staged, with the film cutting only briefly to emphasize a moment.

Being such a popular and ensemble-heavy show, there has been a lot of dream casting and hypebuilding rumors for each of the different parts. That said, before seeing the movie, it would be easy to argue that the studio went the safe route regarding casting. With a cast of primarily film - rather

phy, it’s very much just a simple recreation of the stage musical. While this isn’t an awful crime, it just makes the film a slightly inferior viewing option than seeing it live. Why is it inferior? Because seeing the musical live is an active experience, while watching the movie is more passive.

Another advantage that the stage musical has on the film is that there’s an intermission when the production is on stage, but having an intermission in a film is absolutely unheard of nowadays. Why having an intermission is extremely preferable with this story is because there’s essentially two movies going on here. The second half of the film is much darker than the first half, and having a clear division between the tonal shift allows for a much more smooth transition.

Similarly, the second half of the film seems much more rushed than the first half. Numerous characters get absentmindedly cut out of the story, and a lot of the complexity that the second act of the musical has is lost. However, for a movie that is marketed towards kids, I could understand why the studios chose to cut some of the more violent and meta moments.

With all of that said though, Into the Woods is still a fantastic musical, and this relatively faithful adaptation makes for a decent movie. The strongest thing I can say is that this film makes the musical much more accessible to a much wider audience. It’s much easier to see a movie than see a Broadway production, so for that I can’t help but commend the movie. It’s very much worth the price of admission, and I’d highly recommend it if you haven’t seen the musical before.

7/10.

If you’re someone like me, you first heard about Pad d i n g t on Bear after hearing that Colin Firth was leaving the project after a mutual agreement that his voice didn’t fit the bear. However, evidently Paddington Bear is the star of a series of hugely influential British children books. That makes sense, because Paddington is about as British as it gets. With Ben Whishaw filling in the voice for the title bear, the rest of the cast contains a variety of large stars from Britain. Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville (who is not the same person as Tom Wilkinson, a fact I realized once the credits rolled) are the parents of the family that take Paddington in, Peter Capaldi plays an eccentric neighbor of the family, and Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton provide the voices for Paddington’s Aunt and Uncle. Nicole Kidman is the one nonBritish member of the cast, stemming from Australia.

Unlike a majority of kids movies that come out nowadays, Paddington appears

WILD Wild, the new film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, would make a fantastic double billing with last year’s All is Lost. For those of you who need a quick reminder, All is Lost was a J.C. Chandlor movie about a man who finds himself lost at sea after colliding with a shipping container.

Starring Robert Redford.

And only Robert Redford. It’s nearly 100 minutes of Redford working silently to try to survive. While Wild doesn’t share this unique characteristic, both films rely heavily on the performance of their star, as well as the main character working to survive in nature, despite hostile circumstances.

However, Wild differentiates from All is Lost in the fact that it doesn’t shy away from utilizing dialogue and flashbacks

as if some genuine effort was put into it.

It has a definite quirky style, and the film has a great sense of humor. Technically, the movie is a ‘fish out of water’ type of film,

but contains a spirit of adventure that is rarely seen in that type of movie nowadays.

The computer generated gears are edited seamlessly in the film, making all of the interactions seem much more genuine.

One of the brilliant things that the movie does is not spend 15 minutes having people freak out that the bears can talk.

The outrageousness of everything is explored, but not in the aggravatingly overdone way that it is done in any other movie like this. At times the film is a little overly sentimental and formulaic, but it’s still a joy to watch for every single moment. This exceeds all expectations for a kids movie, and I might be getting some of these books for my little sister and I to read together.

8/10.

in order to give more insight into the character. In this movie, Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl, an ex-heroin addict who attempts to hike the Pacific Coast Trail as a way of getting over her recent divorce and her mother’s death.

Like Jean-Marc Vallée’s last film, Dallas Buyers Club, a big plus for the movie is the quality of the performances.

Here, replacing Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey, we have Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon. And while neither actor has the “I lost 40 pounds to play this part” aspect playing for them, they are both incredibly strong.

Witherspoon carries the film on her back. While not quite a legendary performance, she is great in the film and helps the movie to be as solid as it is.

After close to 2 hours of nearconstant screentime, there’s a well-developed character that, as an audience member,

you really care about. Dern, appearing only in flashbacks, is sincere and wonderful as a mother trying to raise her kids while seeking self-fulfillment after leaving her abusive husband. She adds a level of heart that’s incredibly necessary for a film like this.

I wouldn’t say that this movie is anything you need to rush out and see, but it’s well worth the price of admission.

There are a couple strange lines of dialogue and convenient plot points, but the film is paced well and rarely drops your attention. On a personal level, it just wasn’t anything that spoke to me. It’s well put-together, but doesn’t quite contain the secret touch to have me highly recommend the film. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the movie a lot. But after seeing it, there wasn’t an intense desire to see it again or go get the book that it’s based off of. I’m glad I saw it though. 7/10.

THE HOBBIT: BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES At last, the finale. If you combined all three of The Hobbit films, you might have a somewhat satisfying plotline.

However, T h e Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies is simply the third act of the story, and it feels like an overly long ending to an overly long story. (Spoilers?)

The movie opens with the death of Smaug, which is kind of annoying because if that 10 minutes was simply placed in the second movie, both the second movie and this one would feel so much more fulfilling (End spoilers?). The rest of the film takes place as five armies fight for freedom and treasure.

That’s the whole movie. It’s a lot of fighting. The special effects are great, but t h e r e ’s just too much going on.

I applaud the film for going all in and having s u c h an epic battle, b u t there c a n only be so much of that before things get tedious. It’s pretty entertaining and never boring, but there’s definitely a lot that could have been cut. If you’ve seen the past two movies and are a fan of the franchise though, it’ll definitely be worth the watch. It’s nothing significantly worse than the other two films, but it’s just not selfcontained enough to seem quite fulfilling.

6/10.

THE INTERVIEW The Interviewcaused a lot of drama. That’s an understatement. The Interview caused so much drama that it made history. First there were the Sony hacks that caused millions in damages. Then there were the terrorist threats aiming at the movie theatres. Then, Sony released the theatres from their contracts, causing many of the major chains to back down. Then Sony pulled the movie in general. Then everyone freaked out. The President spoke on the matter and nobody disagreed with him. Democrats and Republicans reached across the aisle. The world was united with a common cause. Independent theatre chains petitioned to have the movie shown, and Sony released the film to them as well as general audiences online. The film made 1 million in theatres and 15 million online. Some people argued that everything was a marketing scheme even though that idea makes absolutely no sense. Everything that happened was absolutely insane. In 20 years there will be a biopic telling this story. It will go on to win 7 Oscars. But that movie hasn’t been made yet. Let’s talk about this movie.

It’s okay I guess. Do I need to tell you anything about the plot? You already know about the plot. Seth Rogen & James Franco go to kill Kim Jong Un. The first act of the film overly long and not that funny, but things start to pick up once we get to North Korea and are introduced to

there are flashbacks to him as a schoolboy, and the story is narrated while he talks to a police detective. This style of jumping between time periods allows for the film’s pace to seem relatively fast by telling multiple stories at once. It also allows for each plotline to jump ahead in time and not seem disjointed.

However, the cracking of the Enigma code is by far the most interesting aspect of the movie, and while the other storylines are happening, I found myself waiting for the film to get back to the main plot. The school sequences give some insight to Turing as a character, but are often overly sentimental. And the police detective scenes are nearly entirely unnecessary.

In a conversation with the police detective, Turing introduces the concept of ‘The Imitation Game’, a game where a person has a conversation and determines if his partner is a human or a machine. It’s an interesting idea to mention in the film, because Turing is portrayed as a sort of human computer by Cumberbatch.

Cumberbatch pulls out a great performance, playing Turing as a man who sees life extremely analytically. The ensemble tries its best to match Cumberbatch, and while each individual actor does a pretty good job, all of their roles are written as caricatures.

On the whole, The Imitation Game is a very decent movie. It’s competently put together and entertaining the entire way through. I was never bored watching the movie, but I was never taken to a place of extreme emotional investment.

At the end of the day, the film lacks a certain original voice behind it. There’s no distinctive style to the film; any fill-in-the-blanks director could have made it. Ironically, the movie seems to be the result of some sort of Hollywood awards bait movie-making machine. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed it. 7/10.

THE IMITATION GAME Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game is a biopic about the life of Alan Turing. During World War II, the German army was using an unbreakable code - the Enigma code - to send all of their messages.

Alan Turing was the English mathematician who helped Britain break this code. Now, given that awards season is coming up and this movie is a major contender, I’d like to give this film a special prize: Most ‘Weinstein Company’ movie of the year. The Weinstein Company is a major independent film studio, and although they only distributed the film, The Imitation Game has all of the markings of one of their movies. It’s manipulative and formulaic, but has a certain indie touch that allows the film to be sold as ‘Oscar’ bait.

The film opens with a “Based on a True Story” title card, which almost seems to lessen the credibility of the movie after so many ‘true story’ horror films. The movie is based off of historical events; I’m not sure why it needs to be clarified that these things actually happened.

Given that the film is a biopic, you come to expect there to be a certain level of creative license used in retelling the facts, and The Imitation Game is no exception. Large events are very clearly distorted to create a more emotional response from the audience. Again, slightly changing how things happened is not unique to this biopic, but here it’s done in such a way where as an audience member you can’t help but question it.

The plot of the movie follows Turing through three critical periods of his life. Although the majority of the film takes place with Turing attempting to crack the Enigma code,

Our Fearless Leader. Comedian Randall Park plays Kim

Jong Un and is absolutely phenomenal. He plays Un as a spoiled man-child meeting his idol, and it works so incredibly well. Park and the cinematography by Brandon Trost were the highlights of the film for me. Seth Rogen is decent enough, but he very much plays the straight man to James Franco, who drags the film down significantly.

Franco’s character is supposed to be eccentric, charismatic,

and incredibly stupid, and Franco bombs hard. Oh, sorry.

After seeing the film, it becomes obvious that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg just wanted to tell some silly jokes. They didn’t have anything bigger to say. So then why is The Interview one of the riskiest movies that has come out in a while? This film is current. It’s not a biopic of something that happened 40 years ago, it’s a movie that takes place today and portrays a real person who exists today. Sure, Kim Jong Un is an easy shot (oops), but this movie devotes its entire existence to taking that cheap shot. It’s one of the few movies that came out in 2014 that truly utilizes it’s freedom of speech. At this point, this film has transcended a true rating. It’s not particularly good, but it represents something much greater. 5/10. AMERIC10/10.

Wayzata in 2015

New “Woodworking Technology for Girls” class sparks controversy at WHS Next school year girls at Wayzata High School will have the option to take Woodworking Technology--without their male counterparts.

Woodworking Technology teacher Kyle Swenson said that the new class was prompted by a comment from administration. “They asked ‘Where are all the girls?,’”said Swenson.

Woodworking teacher Ken Pashina said that within the first few days of each term at least a few girls switch out of class. “As soon as they see that this is a male dominated class they drop,” said Pashina.

The new class will be a place for girls to feel more at ease.

“It will be a place where students can feel comfortable in a class historically dominated by males,” Swenson said.

Woodworking Te c h n o l ogy for Girls will also have an identical curriculum to the original class.

“It doesn’t move slower and there aren’t any more safety procedures.

Everything is the same,” said Swenson.

According to Swenson, girls will still have the option to take the original class as well.

“Girls have a good attention to detail and make really high quality work so we want them to have the

By ANNA RODRIGUEZ NEWS EDITOR

same opportunity to create things,” said Swenson.

A major factor in creating the new class was attempting to involve more women in trades.

Swenson said, “There are so many jobs in construction and it’s a shame more girls aren’t taking advantage of those opportunities.”

“I saw lots of tweets that were very angry about the new class and I just want to clarify what the class really is,” said Swenson.

Swenson said he thinks the lack of information about the new class has been the source of student’s clashing opinions.

Feminism Club president Gabi Ampuero (12) said she thinks there has been a lot of miscommunication. “A lot of juniors went to group guidance and heard one sentence about the class and made assumptions,” Ampuero said. “I don’t think the administration understood that there was room for the class to be misinterpreted.”

“It’s good that this class is an option for girls who don’t feel comfortable with the current male to female ratio,” said Ampuero.

On the other hand, current Wo o d w o r k i n g student Samantha Abrahamson (10) said she didn’t see a point in having Woodworking for Girls. “I think girls I know would just take regular woodworking,” Abrahamson said.

“We are going to judge the success of the class by seeing how many girls sign up for a more advanced Woodworking class,” Swenson said.

Swenson said he doesn’t see this happening to other STEM and ETD classes anytime soon.

Photo by Naomi Liew

Student work on their homework during a first block study hall.

No study halls for upcoming school year

By GRACE LEINBERGER

Study Halls have officially been canceled for next year, but the question is why?

According to Mike Trewick, Wayzata High School Principal, it is simply because the school needs more space.

With increasing population within the district there is need for more classroom space.

“We are currently using the teachers lounge for space, and we will only get bigger next year,” Said Trewick.

The administrators had to come up with a solution to an overpopulated school, and according to Trewick, they had to look at the numbers and find out where they could place kids.

“We don’t have a lot of choices,” said Trewick.

With the larger numbers of students, the space in the JUNIOR STAFF WRITER

cafeteria is now required for other uses according to Trewick.

Other classes will not be affected by this change.

According to Trewick students will still be able to TA, because room is only needed for one additional student in a classroom, instead of 30 to 40 additions for a study hall.

The school is looking into alternative plans, but for now, cancelling study hall was the only option for the administrators according to Trewick.

With the new additions coming to the school things may be different in the future.

“There will be more common area with the new addition,” said Trewick.

But for now, there will be no study halls after the end of this year.

Photo by: Diamond Sampson

Samantha Abrahamson (10) in Woodworking class.

Spotlight

Colleen

Donlin

This summer, junior Colleen Donlin went on a JUNIOR STAFF WRITER life-changing trip to Haiti and learned about the hardships of a country struggling with water, shelter, and food shortages.

Donlin went on a mission trip with high schoolers in a youth group program, which usually occurs on Wednesday nights and Sundays at Woodridge Church. The church worked with an organization called “Healing Haiti.”

The organizers and volunteers with “Healing Haiti” are committed to serving the poor and disadvantaged in Haiti where there is a 70-80% unemployment, according to their website. Their mission trips are centered around the Christian faith and the volunteers bring clean water, food, housing, and education to the poor. Donlin was a part of one of these missions.

Serving in Cite Soleil, the poorest slum in the Western hemisphere, Donlin brought potable water to the children there. “The kids in Cite Soleil taught me that, no matter how hard your life may be or seem, you can always find joy in something in it. The kids really touched my heart and I think about and pray for them everyday.” Donlin said when asked about her experience.

According to Donlin, the children would grasp the hands of the volunteers and jump on their backs to be held. “Most of the time my team members and I had two or three kids on our backs and in our arms with a couple clinging to our clothes.”

“I remember one little girl in particular, she never left my arms from when we got to the stop until we left. She didn’t speak any English except for when she would cough she would point to her chest and say “my lungs” very softly.”

Donlin said.

According to Donlin, her trip to Haiti reminded her to always live in the moment and it also, “This applies to [her] athletics in that rather than focusing only on how well [she] does or what [her] placement is, [she] has been focusing more on [her] friendships with teammates and that [she] is doing what God made [her] to do.”

Donlin’s perspective may have changed dramatically but also, “[Her] experience in Haiti changed [her] life forever.

It made [her] realize how fortunate we are and how much we have.

We are only on this earth once so we need to make the best of it and the opportunities and gifts we are given.”

By MAGGIE FRANKE

Photo courtesy of Colleen Donlin

Colleen Donlin (11) with Christina in Cite Soleil, Haiti

THE TROJAN TRIBUNE

SPORTS 11

DREW’S FINAL PICK OF THE WEEK

We made it, ladies and gentlemen! 266 games have come and gone, and now we only have 60 more minutes of NFL football left before a painfully long offseason. But don’t worry! Over the next two weeks, you’ll be up to your neck in juicy storylines - some intriguing, some not. By the time the actual game rolls around, you might be sick of the hype and never want to hear the words “Brady vs. L.O.B.” again.

You should try to hang in there, though. Super Bowl 49 is going to be fantastic.

This is the second consecutive year in which both conferences’ top seeds made it to the Super Bowl, which is basically unprecedented: between 2013 and 1994, there was only one matchup of the oneseeds (Saints vs. Colts in 2010). While it’s unfortunate that we didn’t get many upsets - a higher-seeded team only lost twice, which has to be some kind of record - we will be treated to a Goliath vs. Goliath smack down on the first day of February, and that’s exciting. New England and Seattle were head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league in the second half of the season. Something’s got to give.

Now, for what’s actually going to happen on the field. The mosttalked-about matchup will probably be the Patriots offense vs. the Seahawks defense - legendary quarterback, maybe the greatest ever, trying to score points against a brick wall of a defense, one that is establishing itself as one of the best in NFL history. Arguably Seattle’s two most important defensive players, Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas, both suffered injuries in the NFC Championship (which, by the way, was the greatest game I’ve ever watched), but let’s assume they will both play. Will New England be able to move the ball, or will they be chewed up and spit out by the Legion of Boom in a replay of last year’s massacre?

I tend to lean toward the latter. I don’t think Brady will repeat Manning’s collapse, but he will have similar problems. It’s hard enough to have offensive success against the Seahawks when you have a deep threat receiver, but it’s nearly impossible when you don’t. Hint: the Patriots don’t. Tom Brady’s deep ball accuracy has declined every year since 2007, and New England relies on the short and intermediate passing game to chew up yardage. When Seattle isn’t afraid of the field being stretched, they can squeeze their defense closer to the line of scrimmage, turning their physicality into an even bigger factor and making a quarterback wish he had just stayed home for the game. Belichick and Brady will come up will something, though, and probably make this whole paragraph look silly. But based on what we’ve seen over the past few years, the L.O.B. has to be salivating at the chance to creep up to the line of scrimmage and suffocate Brady’s bunch.

Let me preface this pick by saying this: I am not confident. Both these teams are just so good, and I simply cannot wait for kickoff. This is hard to do, but I’m betting against Brady and Belichick, based solely on the matchups I just tried to explain. I’m not that smart about football, and this could easily blow up in my face. But, I have to choose, so... Seahawks 24, Patriots 20.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015

Greatest weekend of football ever?

When asked what the best weekend of the year is, many football fans will tell you it’s the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. In 2015, those people were right. The games were

By Drew Carter chock-full S E N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R of quality pigskin and intriguing storylines.

This year, however, it wasn’t only the professional football that captivated sports buffs across the country. We were treated to a magnificent encore on Monday, as the most exciting college football season of all-time culminated with an incredibly dominant performance by an incredibly interesting team.

With two games on Saturday and two more on Sunday, the Divisional Round tends to produce something crazy every season, and this year was no exception. Perhaps the most fascinating moment from the weekend’s action came with just under five minutes remaining in the NFC match up between the Cowboys and Packers, when Dez Bryant’s “non-catch” incited a Twitter explosion. The play certainly got people talking, and may even provoke a rule change. The game in its entirety was a classic, defined by Aaron Rodgers’s continued greatness despite basically playing on one leg. Rodgers was nearly flawless in the second half, carrying the Packers into the next round with a

26-21 victory. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have led the offense down the field for a game-tying field goal or winning touchdown had Bryant scored. It was a performance for the ages, but the game will be remembered for a controversial call, and that’s kind of a shame.

That wasn’t the only notable moment from the weekend. Tom Brady’s bunch won 35-31, and Patriots coach Bill Belichick tied Tom Landry for the most postseason wins in league history. Belichick earned this one, pulling trick after trick out of his hoodie - formations with only four offensive linemen, abandoning the run in the second half, and a wide receiver pass saved New England’s season.

In the other AFC matchup, Peyton Manning played what may turn out to be his last NFL game. If that does end up being the case, it will be depressing to see his career end with such an anticlimactic dud. The Colts, who comfortably dispatched Manning’s Broncos, 24-13, were seemingly vindicated for choosing Andrew Luck over Manning a few short years ago. Indy showed no fear of their former quarterback all afternoon, and it quickly became apparent that The Sheriff ’s run might be over. It was a compelling storyline, one of many brought by an unforgettable Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs.

If the NFL games were a hot fudge sundae, I expected the college football contest on Monday to be a simple cherry on top. I was wrong. It

was more like another scoop of ice cream. Ohio State’s utter domination of Oregon in the National Championship didn’t make for a particularly entertaining game - it was the spectacle of the event and the unique path the Buckeyes took to get there that made it remarkable. After their top two quarterbacks, both extraordinary, went down with injuries, third-string sophomore Cardale Jones stepped in, and Ohio State didn’t miss a beat. In consecutive games, they: demolished Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship by a score of 59 to nothing; upset the number one team in the country, defeating Alabama, 42-35, in the College Football Playoff semifinal; and ground Oregon into a paste in the Championship, physically manhandling the Ducks for 60 minutes on their way to a decisive 42-20 victory.

After Monday’s mastery, any description of Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer that doesn’t include the word “genius” is unfair.

Ohio State wouldn’t have even had a chance to reach the title game if not for the College Football Playoff, which debuted this year. Anyone who backed the BCS, the old postseason format, now looks like a moron. Both teams that would have played in the BCS Championship were eliminated in the semifinals of the glorious new CFP. The best team won. Thank you for finally getting it right, college football.

the state.”

Thursday at Wayzata High School and it For conference meets the girls usually only was their last conference meet of the season. dance in one The Wayzata c a t e g o r y : Trojet varsity kick performs their routine on Saturday January 17th. Dance Team kick or jazz. The girls placed second for both kick and jazz. brought On Januh o m e ary 8th the m a n y team won of the their Lake awards Conference distr ibmeet. Varuted. sity, JV, and “I love B-squad p e r jazz all took forming home the with my win in their teamcompetimates. tions.

It’s such “We are a great always very Photo courtesy of Camryn Wentzel feeling successful w h e n in our conference. We always have to push our hard work pays off,” said Elise Gendreau hard to improve our scores,” said Meyers.

(11).

The girls had another competition last Among the awards won by WHS, were

Conference Jazz, Conference Kick, and AllAround Conference. Over the season the team won every conference meet for jazz and kick, so it came as no surprise when they were awarded All-Around Conference.

“We have all been so determined this year to reach our potential as a team,” said Carlie Toland (11). “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do during the rest of the season.”

Individuals were also granted awards at the ceremony. All-Conference Awards were given to Jenna Meyers (12), Annie Carlson (12), Monique North (12), and Brook Talen (12). All-Conference Honorable Mention Awards were given to Jill Czura (12), Camryn Wentzel (12), Mckenzie Gurewitz (12), and Amanda Melnychuk (12).

“The Wayzata Dance Team has won jazz, kick and All-Around Conference for the past 17 years,” said Annie Carlson (12). “It was a huge accomplishment to win again tonight.”

Trojets polish off another successful regular season

By Kendall Garvey J U N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R

The Wayzata Dance Team has had a successful run of competitions and events

this season.

Their biggest competitors are Eastview, Maple Grove, Chaska, and Eden Prairie. The competition is arduous but the team keeps up by practicing six days a week for two-tothree hours at a time. In order to prepare for a competition, captains run their dance routines multiple times and isolate parts to work on until each routine is flawless.

The judges give each team rankings on a scale of ten in various categories. Low scores equate to high rankings, unlike many other sports.

“We are very strong at hitting [our routines] with power and we are known for the quality of our turns,” said captain Jenna Meyers (12). “We have also been awarded the “best sportsmanship” award in previous years so we have a strong reputation around

Girls hockey showcases National talent and sets eyes on State

With a record of 12-5-2, the

By Kendall Garvey Girl’s J U N I O R S TA F F W R I T E R Wayzata Hockey team is having a great season. If the girls continue to succeed, they will likely find themselves competing in the state tournament.

Last Tuesday the girls faced Hopkins High School at the Plymouth Ice Center.

Ally Wiitala (11) started the the game off strong with a goal in the first period, and Natalie Heising (10) scored twice in the remaining two periods. The girls won with a score of 3-1.

“We set three specific goals before each game and keep a positive attitude on the bench and in the locker room,” said Maddy Johnson (12).

Captain Sophia Shaver (12) traveled to Buffalo, New York in early January to play in the International Ice Hockey Federation

(IIHF) Under-18 Women’s World Championship. The US team won a 3-2 victory over their Canadian rivals. Shaver brought the first U18 gold medal home since 2011 to an ecstatic Wayzata team.

“It feels awesome bringing home the gold because all of the girls on [the U18] team have worked so hard for it over the past year and it has been something we’ve all dreamed of our whole lives,” said Shaver.

The team battled hard last Saturday against Minnetonka, attempting 22 shots against the Skippers. Minnetonka won with a score of 2-0.

With only four games left in the regular season, the state tournament is just around the corner. “We really want to go to state this year and we are working hard in practice [following] a very intense pre-season workout plan,” said Johnson.

Natalie Heising (10) chases the puck at the girl’s game against the Anoka Tornadoes on November 6th.

The girls finished the game in a tie 1-1.

Photo courtesy of Naomi Liew

THE TROJAN TRIBUNE

SPORTS 12

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015

Boys swim and dive with a shallow start Winning the state

By Diamond Sampson title last SENIOR STAFF WRITER year was an amazing accomplishment for the boy ’s S wim and Dive team. This year the team has star ted the season on a low note, however they will not let that stop them. “ We are not as good as we were last year, but we still have the drive to compete at a high level,” said Captain Gregg Arnold (12). “O ur biggest competition this year will be Edina.”

The boys have admitted it can be hard to motivate your team and keep their spirits up no matter what the situation, however Captain Noah Bissonnette (11) knows just what to say and do to keep his team in a positive mindset. “Personally I will talk with the team, we make speeches before meets,” said Bissonnette.

“S ometimes the Captains and I will talk to people individually and ask them how they feel they are doing and talk about what they can do to improve their speed,” added Bissonnette. “ We

also make sure to suppor t teammates af ter their races. I feel there

you on,” Bissonnette said.

The boys feel they need to beat

Gregg Arnold (12) and Zach Kennedy (11) congratualte each other at the Team Section meet on January 17th. The boys took first overall.

Photo courtesy of Scott Kennedy

is nothing more powerful than hearing your teammates cheering

Edina if they want to finish in the top 3 of their conference. “Minnetonka and Edina are out of our league this year, but that does not mean we will not give them our

all,” Arnold said.

W hen it comes to winning or losing the boys could care less because at the end of the day they have each other. “I definitely love the social aspect of it. I really enjoy hanging out with the team we really are a tight communit y, it ’s kind of like a family in a way,” said Bissonnette. “ The work you put in you get out at meets,” Cor t Hanson (12) said.

Making relationships with teammates is an impor tant par t of being a member of a team.

“Day af ter day in a pool with other men in speedos tends to create strong and lasting relationships,” said Friedrich Odermann (11).

Coaches play an impor tant role in meets as well. They provide insight on how the team and players can improve and even some inspirational stories. “ They ’re always cheering at meets, but in practice they tr y and encourage us when we are working hard in a demanding practice,” said Hanson.

Individual success highlights coach’s first year W hen a coach arrives at a new

By Drew Carter SENIOR STAFF WRITER school, their first year is often viewed as a building block, as they focus on attaining success in the future rather than the present. It takes time to implement a culture and reap the rewards of hard work, and wrestling Coach Eric Swensen knows that. “ We’re probably going to have a few ‘building years,’” said Swensen.

“But we’ve got a great coaching staff; we have a youth program now with about 80 kids in it, so there is definitely a vision for the future.”

This season, Swensen’s first at Wayzata, has been a bit of a

struggle: the team has registered four wins and six losses in headto-head competition. The boys have fared better in tournaments, earning three top-five finishes, but inconsistency has plagued the squad. “ This is a year where you can see the lack of experience catching up with us,” said Swensen.

That ’s not to say this year has been devoid of success, however.

Swensen has been impressed by individual performances from many of his wrestlers, specifically freshman Boyd Mumbuwa and seniors Aaron Cote, Evan Kluck, and Mark Wallerius. “ Those four wrestlers are improving ever y practice and ever y

tournament,” said Swensen. “ They are really making great strides.”

Cote has improved dramatically this season. After finishing last year with a losing record, he has gone 22-6 in his senior campaign.

Swensen lauded his dedication to the team, and described him as a “monster” on the mat.

Kluck has placed in ever y tournament he’s competed in this year, and Wallerius owns a record of 19-6.

Mumbuwa, who is 21-5 this season, may have elicited the highest praise from his coach.

“Honestly, I think Boyd is one or two points away from being one of the best in the state in his weight class,” said Swensen. After making

the State Tournament as a middle school student in each of the past two seasons, Mumbuwa is living up to lofty expectations.

Swensen likes the four wrestlers’ chanes at qualifying for the State Tournament, something only two wrestlers from each weight class in the section can accomplish. “ Those guys have set themselves up so far into the season,” said Swensen.

Swensen believes the team has bought into his coaching philosophy, and he raves about their effort. “O ur team works really hard,” said Swensen. “ They do ever ything we ask them to do. They want to win matches.”

Wayzata nordic’s elite talent has their eyes on State trophy With or

By Maddie Orzeske without snow, SENIOR STAFF WRITER the WHS Nordic ski team is well on its way to an impressive season this year.

The team has been competing since mid-December. The team’s biggest meet so far being the Mesabi East Invite on January 10th at Giants Ridge.

This race hosts about 1000 skiers from over 60 high schools in and around Minnesota. WHS typically brings the top 12 varsity boys and top 12 varsity girls, but this year they took ten extra skiers.

“It was nice that a lot more skiers were able to come up and experience the state meet courses and get to see the biggest high school meet in the country,” said Evelyn Frenz (11).

At Giant’s Ridge, the WHS boys came in 6th overall. “We definitely didn’t do as well as we were hoping to, [but] we have a lot of guys who are known to peak later in the season,” said Andrew Quirk (12).

The boys are currently ranked 5th in the state. “Our goal as a team is to make the podium [top three] at the state meet,” said Quirk. “We also have some

promising younger skiers, including Anders Sonnesyn (9), Luc Gohlin (9) and James Schneider (7).”

Though currently ranked first in the state, the WHS girls came in second at Giant’s Ridge behind the Stillwater Nordic Ski Team.

At Giant’s Ridge, Senior Anna French won the girls freestyle race with junior Michaela Keller-Miller not far behind in fourth place. French and Keller-Miller are ranked eighth and tenth, respectively, in the state.

Also on January 10th, Senior Nicole Schneider raced at the US CrossCountry Skiing Championships in Michigan. She placed within the top six and was named a part of the U18 National Team, which will compete on a tour in Europe later this season.

Schneider is currently ranked first in the state of Minnesota.

“I was not expecting to make the national team at all, but over the summer I put a lot more hours into training than I’d ever before. My friends and I really pushed each other [to improve] so I think that helped a lot. I’m so excited to go to Sweden and represent the United States,” said Schneider.

Schneider will continue to compete for Wayzata during the remainder of the season. The Minnesota State Nordic Meet for both the girls and boys will take place on Feb. 15th, also at Giants Ridge.

“The girls team goal is to win the state meet,” said Meghan Jette (12).

“Even though the girls team lost one of our best skiers [Alayna Sonnesyn, freshman at University of Vermont] I still think we have a good chance at winning state because a lot of members of our team have improved a lot this year.”

Senior Nicole Schneider competes at Hyland on January 13th. Schneider was named part of the U18 National Team.

Photo by Kraig A. Lungstrom