Viking Saga Issue 2 (2012-2013)

Viking Saga

Northwest High School Grand Island, Nebraska Early November 2012 Issue 2

Social Media: How it can Hurt PAGE 2

iPhone vs. Droid & Presidential Election

PAGE 3

Children find help and love through adoption and foster care

PAGE 6

Marching band sees great success during marching season

PAGE 8

Recent Horror movies: Scary or Not?

EDITORIAL - OPINION

PAGE 2

Battle of the smartphone: iPhone vs. Droid KaylaJohnson Staff WritEr

Viking Voices

I’ve been in the iPhone bond for five months now. I can truly say I love it, but some people can disagree with me when it comes to Droids.

When I was deciding on which one to choose, I had no idea. I would always borrow my brother’s or my friends’ phones to see the difference between the two. In reality, there isn’t much of a difference.

The Droid is bigger in size but just a little bit lighter. iPhone is popular because it is an Apple product. Most people look at what games they can put on it and how much it will cost.

P.E. teacher Kevin Stein stated, “I prefer the iPhone because I’m a fan of Mac products and I like the iCloud.”

I agree with him: I have iCloud on my computer, iPhone, iPod, and iPad; this way I don’t have to transfer all my information or apps to each one. If you are techonolgy stupid, like me, the iPhone is our phone. It is a lot easier to use--you just have to get used to it.

Eight out of ten people

preferred the iPhone over the Droid.

Freshman Erik Cirila said, “I don’t own a smart phone, but if I had to choose, it would be the iPhone because no one talks about Droids anymore.”

If I had another choice between the two I wouldn’t change my mind. I enjoy being on my phone. That is all I do: get new apps, etc... The iPhone is where I belong in technology, easy to use, fast, and has what I need: Texting, Home Screen, Internet, and Calling, and it is easy to get to the app store.

Everyone says bad stuff about the iPhone, saying that they freeze a lot and they have a lot of problems, but many aren’t even true. They also say the only reason they are being sold is because of good advertising. It is not just because of that--they just have great products.

In my opinion, the iPhone is twice as good as the Droid. You have a lot more to work with on the iPhone than the Droid.

There are fewer buttons to use, just one button and it can do a lot of things. The ease of use and clean design make it the obvious choice for me.

[Student Poll] Who do you think will win the presidential election this fall?*

36% 45% 19%

Barack Obama Mitt Romney Other

Do you think voting matters?*

83% 7% 10%

Yes No I Don’t Know

If you are over 18, are you planning on voting in this election?**

75% 25%

Yes No

Viking Saga Staff Editor-in-ChiEf JacilynBruns Staff WritErS CodyBristow SarahHeinen KylerJanecek KaylaJohnson AlyssaLilienthal TawnyMoore ChelseaMusquiz FilipPoreba GeorginaRubio LauraSpringer MeganWhited adviSEr ElizabethKavan The Viking Saga is the official student publication of Northwest High School in Grand Island, Nebraska. It is printed by the Grand Island Independent nine times (monthly) throughout the school year. The paper is a member of the Nebraska High School Press Association.

Outside submissions, suggestions, or letters to the editor are welcome and encouraged. They may be brought to room 32, or emailed to Ms. Kavan at bkavan@ ginw.org Any and all submissions must be signed for them to be considered for publication, and the editor reserves the right to edit or print any submissions.

* Sample of 260 Northwest Students ** Sample of 40 Northwest Students

Which one do you prefer: the iPhone vs. Droid? iPhone

“Easy to Use.” raChEl phinnEy, junior

iPhone “More opportunities to do more things on it than Droids.” jill lEWandoWSki, SophomorE

iPhone “I know nothing about Droids.” darbiE mazour, EngliSh tEaChEr

PAGE 3

NEWS

Adoption process lengthy, expensive, and rewarding TawnyMoore Staff Writer Do you know who you are? What if, in one minute, you think you know who you are; and in the next, someone tells you that you aren’t who you thought you were?

According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, approximately 120,000 children are adopted each year in the United States.

The process of adoption seems so sweet and simple, but in all reality it is one of the most difficult things to do.

Based on information gathered from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDH&HS), the first of many steps is to educate oneself. The adopting parents must gather information about adoption before they can “adopt.” Adoption agencies, colleges, and many other places hold information. Most of their questions can be answered by these sources.

One must understand the law in order to go through with adoption. State laws basically run US adoptions. Adopting parents must know the laws of the states, territories, countries, counties, etc. when adopting.

“The next step is to do a home study or family study,” the USDH&HS said. This means that planning education, doing preparation, and gathering information about the parents wanting

“We wanted to help children have a family that normally would not get to have one.”

Mark Freeling Adoptive Parent to adopt is part of the home study. A social worker does a report on the living conditions, conditions of the parents, and other information every six months.

“If the proceeding adoption is to be a domestic one, parents should decide on what waiting child they want to adopt. If the adoption is through a licensed private agency, the parents can choose which family they would like their child to live with,” the USDH&HS said. If foster care adoptees are what the family is pursuing, then they will be provided with a list of children that are waiting for loving families.

For an adoption to be legally finalized, the child must live with the family for six months upon which a social worker will visit. Finalizations include appearing before the judge to sign official paperwork. The final step is when the parents receive their child.

The Mark Freeling family has experience with these processes. They adopted one child from within the United States and two from China. It

took four years for Anna, two years for Blayten, and two years for Arraya to be adopted.

“For both, we had a social worker do a home study, where the social worker interviews us and writes a report about our family. Nebraska law requires the home study to be updated every 6 months. As part of the home study, we also have to have a background check which includes being fingerprinted. [For] Arraya we get to use the same dossier as Anna, so we are just waiting for a home study, and immigration approval,” Freeling said.

When asked their reasoning behind adoption, Freeling commented, “We wanted to help children have a family that normally would not get to have one.” It cost them only about a year’s salary for each.

They told of their steps in order to send in for a child. “For Anna, we had to have letters of recommendation from three people, we had to show financial statements, and our bosses had to sign a letter stating our jobs and income were secure and stable. Each document had to be notarized by a notary proving the signatures were not faked,” Freeling said.

Adoption seems like an easy task, but sadly it can take years before a child can be adopted.

In many countries, children are left at hospitals or dropped off at orphanages. Families that are willing to take care of the children are widely looked for, and when they do, they are that child’s saving grace.

Students in foster care fight negative stigmas ChelseaMusquiz Staff Writer Many people, when asked on the spot what they think about foster care without knowing the truth, automatically think all negative thoughts.

For one foster mother, her experience being a foster parent has been life changing. Terry Robinson has been a foster parent since August of 1999.

“It’s definitely made our life fuller and blessed us beyond measure. It’s fulfilled the question that we had about what our purpose was after

raising our children. We feel like we are making a difference in a child’s life,” Robinson said.

Robinson also stated that before she became a foster parent, she thought that all foster kids only came from poverty level and abusive homes, and that parents with children in foster care didn’t love them.

That’s where everyone is wrong.

Unless they’ve had the experience, most people don’t fully understand how much they can change a child’s life.

Reba Payne, a junior at Centura High School, has been in foster care for two years and 10 months.

“It’s really helped me in my life.

I’m able to have more friends and be a happier and a more outgoing person. It’s also showed me what it’s like to be in a loving family that cares about each other,” Payne stated.

In all of the 43 placements that have been in and out of the Robinson home, each child has made a difference in Terry and Greg’s life.

“Just having the question to what my purpose in life is has helped me. I know I wasn’t placed here in this time to just breathe air and take up space.

I feel like God has a purpose for everyone’s life and this happens to be mine and Greg’s,” Robinson said.

[Quick Stats] Some statistics on foster care in Nebraska: Nebraska has one of the highest rates for children placed in foster care, at 19 per 1,000.

(Christian Heritage)

In the end of 2008, there were 4,620 children in foster care in Nebraska. (Christian Heritage) On average, children stay in care for about 29 months.

(Foster Care Alumni of America)

PAGE 4

The dark side of social media:

FEAT

One staffer’s take: Increase in digital communication leads to decreases in effective communication KylerJanecek Staff Writer In recent years, bullying has changed, in the ways it is done, and who bullies who. This seems to be tied in to the use of social media, such as Facebook, as a bullying tool, to the point where people are blaming social media for bullying itself.

But perhaps the issue is more complicated than that; it’s not that social media directly causes bullying--that makes no sense. A more realistic theory is that bullying is changing simply because the way everyone does everything is changing!

Communication is a lot simpler, and many people have jumped at this; we now live in a society where people would rather text than call, and rather call than meet someone.

This takes a lot away from communicationwith technology like texting or Facebook messaging, certain key elements of communication, such as body language, or tone of voice are lost, and in many cases the meaning or mood of a message can be misinterpreted.

This could go some way to explaining why bullying has increased: more misunderstandings equals more fights!

It’s not just the causes that have changed, though. Social media, specifically Facebook, has played a big role in not only causing fights, but escalating them as well.

For example, a disagreement between two people leads to tension at school and arguments.

It’s possible that this could escalate, but if no one cares or knows about it, chances are one of the two will realize that it’s stupid and walk away.

But say that these two people spend all day every day posting Facebook statuses about the issue to see how many likes they can get, or even to try and humiliate their enemy; sooner or later more people will get involved, egging the two on, until it gets out of hand. This is probably one of the

main causes of the bullying increase.

“People don’t know how to talk to each other any more,” guidance counselor Linda Kieselhorst said. Kieselhorst has had some interesting experiences when trying to get conflicting students in her office to communicate. “[Once, the students] didn’t want to have to sit in a circle and face each other; they wanted to text each other,” she explains. The notion that kids these days don’t know how to talk anymore would sure explain a lot.

But perhaps there is even more to all this?

“Let’s say that I was angry at somebody 20 years ago. I had to sit down and write a note, there’s a lot of deliberation there,” vice principal Chris Eberhardt said, “and now I’m concerned that there’s not as much deliberation there [in social media].” In other words, kids can just pick up a phone or an iPad and just say anything without thinking much about it, and within seconds anyone can see it. This would also explain a lot- it’s no wonder people are fighting more if everyone’s saying things without thinking!

So maybe social media isn’t responsible for a bullying increase. Instead, it’s just how people use social media that’s to blame! If people would just change their attitudes and learn to deal with their problems differently, that might be a better solution than blocking these sites entirely. After all, 30 years ago they didn’t remove paper from the schools because people were writing mean notes.

At the end of the day, though, the only thing that needs to change is people’s ways of communicating their problems. If people could start using sites like Facebook and Twitter to just communicate, and find more healthy ways to deal with their problems, it would help the bullying problem, and maybe even help people get to the bottom of the conflict, instead of just blaming social media and calling it good.

Have you ever insulted some else using social me

Yes No

27%

73%

H a m t

6%

Yes No

94%

[

]

Taken from a poll of 260 Northwest High students

Have you ever physical fig of som happened o twitter, t

e

TURE

PAGE 5

Social media provides new Facebook, Twitter, and opportunities for bullies other networks have changed how we communicate...but it’s not always for the better...

AlyssaLilienthal Staff Writer

Have you ever gotten in a fight and/or argument because of a misunderstanding on facebook, twitter, texting, etc?

r gotten in a fight because mething that on facebook, texting, etc.?

37% Yes

63% No

of Northwest students

88%

use

facebook twitter

54% 2% foursquare 52% snapchat instagram use

use

use

40%

use

r

%

he

%

ot

eone edia?

instagram

58%

snapchat

Yes No

twitter

42%

facebook

Have you ever had someone insult you using social media?

“It’s a whole new era of kids mistreating kids and people mistreating other people. There’s more technology and laws can’t keep up with it, so there is a huge gap between what we want to enforce and what we legally can enforce.

It’s hard to know what we’re responsible for,” English Teacher Allisha Melroy said on her thoughts of cyber bullying.

Vice principal Chris Eberhardt agreed that cyber bullying is just a new way for kids to do what they’ve done for years.

“Cyber bullying is just another vehicle to express opinions and views on other people that are sometimes harmful and hurtful. It gives kids power where they feel powerless,” Eberhardt said.

Kids have been bullying each other forever. The latest way however, has been able to use online things to harm even more. This is called cyber bullying, defined as: “repeated harm through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.” Basically, they are referring to people use technology, usually computers or cell phones, to harass, threaten, humiliate, or otherwise hassle other people.

Many students are concerned with the effects of cyber bullying.

“It’s a major problem and we need someone to fix it,” sophomore Hannah Post said.

Bullies have created web pages, videos, or profiles on social networking sites making fun of others. With cell phones, people have taken pictures in a bedroom, a bathroom, or another location where privacy is expected, and posted them online. More recently, some

have recorded unauthorized videos of other kids and uploaded them for the world to see, rate, tag, and discuss.

“It’s anything that is unkind and meant to be hurtful or destructive to someone’s personality and it’s done online, and it’s meant to hurt someone online,” Melroy said.

First, many targets of cyber bullying report feeling depressed, sad, angry, and frustrated. Victims who experience cyber bullying also are afraid or embarrassed to go to school. Finally, cyber bullied people also admit having suicidal thoughts, and there have been a number of examples in the United States where people who were cyber bullied ended up taking their own lives.

“It is any time someone’s words demise, harass, make them feel inferior, unloved, unwanted, or to exert power to make someone feel unequal,” Eberhardt said.

Northwest students all received iPads this year, and with the new technology comes new challenges. “[Bullying is] going to increase simply because they have another tool to do it on and there are so many more apps to do it with. So there is certainly more because you have the tools to do it with,” Eberhardt said.

Several states have laws against cyber bullying, including: Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey and more.

Until students can learn to control themselves, the problem will continue.

“Delete the apps that let you do this,” Melroy said.

Throughout the year, administrators and teachers will be working together to identify and combat all bullying--digital or otherwise.

1% use flickr

10%

use

other

PAGE 6

NEWS

Northwest marching band finishes with fire

Q& A

A band can’t play without a conductor!

Senior Ashley Bykerk explains what it’s like to be a drum major.

Q

What does it feel like to stand up in front of everyone and direct them?

It is scary (especially the first couple of times); however, directing the band during our field show, especially during the Harvest of Harmony competition, is an awesome experience that I’m blessed and honored to have been able to do so.

A

Q

How much work goes into being a drum major?

Q

What’s your favorite part about being a drum major?

A

More than what people realize goes into being a drum major! Between attending several camps in the summer, to working on memorizing our scores and music, to getting to know everyone in the band, and more, we do a lot to prepare for our season. During the season, it is important for us to be prepared, organized, and energetic each rehearsal to ensure that the band works hard and is productive so come performance time, the band as a whole experiences success!

A

I enjoy working with all of the awesome kids that are in band!

I like to be able to see the progress the band makes over the four-month season from my position on the podium, too.

JacilynBruns Editor-in-ChiEf It’s 6:45 a.m. on a Tuesday morning in October, and the ground is covered with frost.

The sun won’t rise for another half an hour, and the Northwest marching band begins rehearsal on that frozen-over practice field.

This has been part of their daily routine since the beginning of the school year, of course, with every morning getting colder. These early morning rehearsals define their success.

“We’ve progressed a lot, especially getting a superior and getting first in the parade at Harvest of Harmony. It’s definitely a first for me for being a junior and for the past three years I’ve been in it, we’ve progressed a lot since then,” junior Nathan Adams said.

In order to have an efficient system of improvement, there is a group of leaders from each instrument section called the leadership team. They are the backbone of the band, and they use their knowledge to better each individual and their section as a whole.

“I think it’s a lot of fun working with the freshmen and teaching them ways to improve their playing,” junior Rocio Carrasco said. She is the section leader for the flutes and piccolos.

This marching season, in particular, the band has done a better job of becoming one unit.

“I feel like this year, leadership team has worked together better; we’ve meshed better.

This is my first year of being on leadership team, but I feel like its working a lot better this year, I feel like we’ve been able to get a lot done on our own along with Mr. Pfanstiel’s help,” Senior snare drum player Clayton Loghry said. “I feel like I’ve been able to make a difference because of that and get people focused, interested, and passionate about it.”

“We put in a lot of extra time because we are supposed to be the leaders of the band, so anytime Pfanstiel needs us, we’re there; anytime he needs to put in a meeting, anytime he needs help with anything, we’re there,” Adams said.

The marching band was first assembled at various band camps during the summer. It can

easily be said that they have put in the hours; the 110 degree hours, and the 20 degree hours.

“Something people might not know is the time we actually put in. We’re here every day at 6:45 in the morning and a lot of people don’t know that. We go to as many of the games as we can: volleyball, football, and basketball; it’s a big time commitment,” Adams said.

All of the band’s countless hours of preparation had certainly paid off. The theme for the year’s show was entitled, “Power, Grace, and Fire,” which included “Mars” and “Jupiter” from “The Planets,” the classic “Swan Lake,” and the thrilling “Firebird.”

They received Superior ratings at the Harvest of Harmony and the NSBA State Marching Festival.

Ask any band member about performing “Firebird,” and you were guaranteed rave reviews.

“Marching Firebird is really fun and uptempo; everyone has a lot of fun with it, because its a really exciting moment of our show,” Adams said.

A fortunate fact for the band is that they don’t have a very large chunk of seniors to leave the program after this year.

“This year is different than the past years because, for one, we’ve got a young group, and we’re not graduating that many seniors. It helps us out going into the future years. Also, getting a superior and first place at Harvest of Harmony really helps the momentum.

We are fighting fire with fire every marching competition and building up the success from the previous one,” Adams said.

Spending as much time together as they do, it’s not a surprise that they are such a tightlyknit group of people.

“It feels kind of like a family because even though we’re all different sections and we come from different backgrounds, we all fit together; some of the nicest people at Northwest are in the band,” Loghry said.

“We do a lot of activities outside of school with everyone’s own section,” Carrasco said.

With so much group chemistry, preparation, and talent, the Northwest marching band achieved nothing less than success.

SPORTS

PAGE 7

Cross Country runner, new coach show how hard work leads to success GeorginaRubio Staff Writer

During the York Invite, Megan Billington (So.) finishes sprint warm-ups. Billington placed second overall.

“Just Run.” The meaning of “Just Run” may be interpreted differently by many different people. To most athletes, it’s a form of punishment, but to the cross country team, it’s a way of life.

This year has been different from the previous seasons. The team was faced with a huge change; not only did they lose a couple of seniors but they were also introduced to a new head coach.

After being a cross country coach at Columbus Scotus, Aaron Sasges accepted the job at Northwest. The runners had a transition period while getting used to a new coach.

“Being the new head cross country coach, the expectations were higher,” Sasges said, “My expectations were really high, and a lot of the kids had a tough time with that.”

Even with the more difficult workouts, sophomore Megan Billington knew it wasn’t easy, and she encouraged her teammates to work hard.

“We had harder workouts that pushed us more,” Billington said.

Although the team bonded together in a positive way, there were still some struggles along the way. During districts the team traveled to Ogallala to see who would qualify for the state meet.

On the girls side, Billington was the only one to qualify by placing 8th at the district meet. On the boys side, there were no state qualifiers.

At first, coach Sasges was disappointed because the outcome was not what he expected, but later realized his runners did not do such a bad job, with most of the runners cutting off 10 to 15 seconds off their best personal record.

“They just ran into better teams, but the kids did an outstanding job; I was proud of them,” Sasges said.

The week of the state meet, Sasges made sure Billington had productive practices. Although the season for juniors Travis Bieber and Matthew Dugan was over, they still went out and helped Billington out by training with her. This was the second year Billington qualified for the Nebraska State Cross Country meet.

Billington placed 7th at the State cross country meet with a time of 15:35.

Not only were her parents proud of her, but also her coaches.

“She just prepared herself really well,” Sasges said.

Although the season had come to an end, Sasges was very proud of the team overall and especially the seniors for their leadership.

“I appreciate all seniors and all their hard work, especially senior Ashley Bykerk,” Sasges said. Bykerk was the only senior to have had done cross country all four years. According to coach Sasges, she was very dedicated and hard working.

Getting better week by week was a goal the Northwest cross country team set on themselves. And according to the Facebook page of Billington, she’s counting down the days until the next season.

“Overall, I believe our season was great, but next year we are going to need to be a lot more tough mentally and physically,” Billington said.

Many see the potential and dedications of this cross country team.

“Everyone needs to believe that we have the capability to be a great team,” Billington concluded.

PAGE 8

ENTERTAINMENT

Recent Scary Movies for Halloween: Scary or not?

LauraSpringer Staff Writer Halloween is over, but scary movies can always be in season! If you are wondering which ones are worth watching, these reviews are bound to help you know if you’ll really be scared or not!

Sinister

An author that has already had his 15 minutes of fame is still trying to relive the glory days by pursuing unsolved murders in attempt to solve and write about them. Yet by doing this, he’s not only putting himself in danger, but his family as well.

This may be the scariest movie I have ever seen in my life. I rate this a strong 10/10. I seriously wanted to cry; I was so scared. I left the movie theater thinking I would never look at the world the same way.

Paranormal Activity 4

This movie is the fourth in the Paranormal Activity series. Previously, Katie took her nephew

Hunter after killing her sister, Kristie. The aunt and nephew have seemingly disappeared into thin air. Now, five years later, Alex’s neighbor goes to the hostpital and her son has to stay with Alex and her family. As soon as the young boy moves in, weird things start happening around the house.

If you have seen the past three Paranormal Activity movies, this is a must see. It is definetly the scariest of the three, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I would rate this a 9/10.10.

The Possession

After divorcing his wife, Clyde decides to move to a different house in a new development.

One weekend he has his daughters, and on the way to the house they see a garage sale, and the youngest daughter finds a fancy box that she likes. Of course, the dad agrees to buy the box.

As soon as the box is opened by the daughter, strange things start happening not only around the house, but also to her.

If you just want to watch a solid scary movie, watch The Possession. It has all the elements of horror: suspense, surprise, and a cliff-hanger ending. I would rate this a 8/10.

House at the End of the Street

While trying to start over, a mother/daughter duo move to a new town. They get a bargain by buying the last house on the street. Only after moving in, the duo finds out that in the house across the woods from them, a mother and father were brutally murdered, and the daughter had gone missing.

Some say the girl is still in the woods, others wonder why the son still lives in the house that tore his family apart.

I would rate this a 6/10. This earns the lowest of all my rankings because it wasn’t really as scary as I thought it would be. It was more action and suspense oriented, with an unexpected twist for the ending.