December 2011

THE

ROCK

Gliding her way through the competition page 18

Rock Bridge High School • 4303 S. Providence Rd. - Columbia, MO 65203 • Volume 39, Issue 3 • December 8, 2011 • http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/rbhs/bearingnews

Preliminary trial set for shooting incident Walter Wang

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he Columbia Police Department arrested a former RBHS student for unlawful weapon use near school grounds. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Jan. 4, 2012.

Christopher Roseberry, who attended RBHS from 2009 until 2011, was arrested and charged with a Class B felony in connection with a shooting near Angelo’s, Pizza and Steak, 4107 S. Providence Rd. The hearing will be in the Division XI courtroom at the Boone County Courthouse, 705 E. Walnut St. Both the maximum and minimum sentences carry 15-year prison terms.

It “doesn’t mean that charge couldn’t be amended to some other type of charge,” said Cassandra Rogers, assistant prosecuting attorney. “There is a number of different things we could do, but that’s what he is being charged with at this time.”

According to the probable cause statement CPD Detective John Short submitted, after being Mirandized, Roseberry stated he fired eight to nine shots tostory continued on page 2

photo by Asa Lory

Digging In: Construction commenced Nov. 29 at the site of the new RBHS gymnasium. Adjacent to the south lot, the gym is being built in order to accomodate the incoming freshman class of 2013.

Workers break ground on new gym Freshmen create need for additional auxiliary athletic facility Nadav Gov-Ari

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new auxiliary gymnasium for both RBHS and Hickman High School is being constructed thanks to a 2010 bond passed by the Board of Education. The bond, which is also funding other district projects like Battle High School, is shouldering the $7.5 million cost of the two gyms.

Workers will construct the new RBHS gym adjacent and to the south of the current gym; it will house a weight room, a wrestling room, locker rooms and coaches’ offices. The gyms are expected to be completed by the start of the next school year.

However, the speedy completion does not make the new gym a candidate for too much use. Athletic director Jennifer Mast said the current gym is in good enough condition to hold sporting events. This makes the new gym’s main purpose to provide additional and improved opportunities for stu-

dents to earn their physical education credits as well as to aid in the influx of students, which has led to an increased need for P.E. credits.

“The thing about freshmen is when they get to [RBHS] as sophomores, they’ve already got half of their P.E. credit,” Mast said.

“Now we have to be able to accommodate all these freshman who need not only half but the entire P.E. credit, as well as those in [grades] 10 to 12 who need their half. With one gym, we just wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

Sophomore basketball player Sanja Kalender said another gym is a necessity given the scheduling conflicts many sports face with practice times.

“I’m really looking forward to not having issues with scheduling,” Kalender said.

“Sometimes the boys would have practice at one time, and the girl[s] would practice the same time the next day, and it got really confusing.”

However, a construction project of this

magnitude comes with costs. Access to the fields has been limited, and the preschool playground is to be relocated to the area west of the science wing. Mast sent an email to teachers warning of potential traffic issues and decreased faculty parking.

“We’ve already closed down a row of faculty parking in the south lot,” Mast said.

“And you can expect some more parking spots to close down during the summer.”

The duration of the project is dependent on the weather, as snow and ice could slow the process. However, Mast fully expects the gym to be available when the first freshman class arrives in fall 2013, with the potential of having it ready to use in the spring of the same year.

“Lots of that is dependent on winter, especially when you’re moving dirt during the winter, it gets cold and snowy and then you have to take some time off,” Mast said. “But we started earlier than planned, which was kind of a surprise to us. It will be ready for the ‘new’ Rock Bridge.”

Vaccine preventing HPV now for males Nomin-Erdene Jagdagdorj

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he Advisory Community on Immunization Practices now recommends the human papillomavirus vaccine, Gardasil, which helps prevent genital warts and cervical cancer, for 11- and 12-year-old males.

HPV is a sexually transmitted infection that affects about 20 million people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gardasil is the only HPV vaccine that can help protect females ages nine to 26 from 75 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts cases, along with several other possible benefits, according to www.gardasil. com.

Although the vaccine was originally advertised for girls, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended on Oct. 25 that the vaccine be administered to all males 11 to 21 years of age who have yet to be vaccinated.

In Columbia the Gardasil vaccine is available at the Columbia/Boone County Health Department at reduced prices. For those without private insurance or no insurance the cost is $15 as opposed to $140 for those who do have private insurace.

RBHS nurse Tammy Adkins said Gardasil not only helps prevent genital warts in both sexes, but the vaccine also helps inhibit the spread of the infection by ensuring less people contract it.

“If men are vaccinated against it too, hopefully they won’t get to pass it on,” Adkins said. “It’s just another way to stop transmission.” story continued on page 2

School board discusses Battle consequences Sami Pathan

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olumbia Public Schools board members met Tuesday in part to sort through the more than 1,000 comments they received concerning the changes in boundary lines for Battle High School. Though the board did not make any definitive decisions, it is still on schedule to announce a final plan in February 2012.

The Secondary Enrollment Planning committee plans to narrow down to two boundary proposals for both intermediate and secondary schools Dec. 19 followed by presentations to the Board in January 2012.

The board also discussed school assignments for teachers for the opening of Battle High. It plans to survey teachers regarding where they would like to go in January and make appointments based upon the responses and needs. Superintendent Chris Belcher is optimistic that a majority of teachers will get assigned to one of their top choices.

“We’re starting to get people to get signed up for what their choices are, which is important because it’ll be an entire shift because middle schools will be a six, seven, eight experience and high schools will be nine through 12,” Belcher said. “We think about 80 percent of people will actually get assigned to where they want to go and 20 percent will have to start looking at what the needs of

the buildings and the students are.”

The bulk of comments made on the boundary proposals were directed toward the physical layouts and how they would impact families. Belcher said there are still many things to smooth out before a final decision can be made.

Citizens “said they wanted us to be as family friendly as possible but not to make the geography of the boundaries unreasonable,” Belcher said. “So that’s what we’re slowly doing. We’re tweaking it down. … we started with 140 scenarios then we were down to six, and now we’re down to five so we’re just slowly heading to that point.”

Board member Jonathan Sessions believes the selection process for both boundary lines and teachers is far from an exact science but hopes that with enough time and community involvement, the right decisions can be reached.

“I’m really excited because this committee is going to get together and look at some of the areas that are so fine and so high detail that we may have just missed something. It’s those little things that it’s easy to miss from the level that we’re having to approach this from, but through community input we have now found,” Sessions said. “It’s now down back to the committee to really fine tune these maps, recognize the best options and bring those to the board for the January meeting.”

photo by Sami Pathan

Working together: Superintendent Chris Belcher and school board member Tom Rose share a comment after the Dec. 6 Board of Education retreat. The board plans to finalize boundary lines in February 2012.

Inside this Issue

Shop windows come alive

Beliefs influence lying habits

Avenging last year’s loss

Most people tell white lies, but sometimes these fibs grow beyond their original intention. Whether lying to parents, friends or teachers, students struggle with the morality of telling a fabricated story instead of the truth. Some teens find entertainment in tricking people while others prefer full disclosure.

The girls’ basketball team hopes to improve on last year’s season after a one point loss to Jefferson City in the district finals. The Lady Bruins are also enjoying an unexpected boost from their underclassmen.

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Gender variances highlighted photo by Maria Kalaitzandonakes

Columbia residents kicked off the holiday season with the annual Living Windows celebration Dec. 2. People walked from window to window of 20 downtown businesses to watch the shows behind the glass.

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An ever-increasing part of any teenager’s life, the differences between genders are explored in a variety of ways. Stereotypes have come to influence people’s beliefs about everything from sex to work in today’s work place.

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photo by Asa Lory

Visit BearingNews to find up-todate stories and info as well as The Rock online at: www.columbia.k12. mo.us/rbhs/bearingnews News Community Features Personality Profiles In-Depths Editorials Commentary Athletic Profiles Sports A&E

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2 ∙ News

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

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W rld in brief

Elections in Egypt show changing allegiances

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hrough the first week of voting, Egypt’s new parliament features a majority of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, reflecting the growing embrace of religious-oriented sentiment across the turbulent North African region.

This is the first set of elections following the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak, and similar tallies are being conducted in Morocco and Tunisia. Moderate Islamist parties are gaining immense ground in these countries amid a wave of political discontent from the downfall of the previous “democratic” governments.

The first round of voting, part of a complex, multi-step process, will pick the members of the lower house of parliament. According to preliminary results, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party won around 40 percent of the total votes cast.

Secular groups were not taken aback by the result but expressed surprise at how some long time secular candidates fared. However, many of these candidates were members of Mubarak’s old National Democratic Party, a possible reason for their poor showing in the polls.

The military, which has ruled — and heard many protests themselves — since the overthrow of the government, announced presidential elections to replace the ousted Mubarak for next June.

photo used with permission from Associated Press

World leaders meet to solve European debt

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rench President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Monday in Paris as the European Union considers a drastic overhaul of its powers in an attempt to keep their currency afloat.

The two leaders are debating a proposal to give the EU more say in the national budgets of countries that use the euro as their currency. Merkel is pressing for more central control of the budget, whereas Sarkozy is reluctant to let the EU take powers away from national governments.

A fiscal union is in the works, something Merkel said has been in need for quite some time ­ — a mechanism to make sure all users of the Euro are in sound financial state. The two leaders agree that clear rules need to be written so budget rules can be properly enforced.

Both sides have supported the European Central Bank and are in favor of keeping its independence amid fears that it would begin printing off money to prop up troubled governments and risk hyperinflation.

President Barack Obama recently called the crisis a serious threat to the U.S. economy and noted the fact that the EU is one of America’s biggest trading partners. For this reason U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is spending most of this week in Europe to meet with top officials like Sarkozy and new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. sources: www.cnn.com, www.nytimes.com

—Sami Pathan

photo by Halley Hollis

Filling a void: With a tentative opening in the spring of 2012, Shakespeare’s Pizza will expand to its third location, in south Columbia. It will join the downtown branch, established in 1973, and the eightyear-old West Broadway branch. The complex will also include Shakespeare’s main corporate offices.

Shakespeare’s builds south branch

Celebrated local pizza franchise to add location near school Mike Presberg

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his spring south Columbia will welcome one of the city’s most enduring small businesses.

Shakespeare’s Pizza plans to open a third location on 3911 Peachtree Dr. as early as March or April 2012. This will be the business’ largest expansion yet, as the new building will be 14,000 square feet — more than double the size of either of its two other locations.

The new Shakespeare’s will include not only a restaurant and bar, but also a production facility for frozen pizzas, a large party room able to hold as many as 200 people and the main office of the business.

Kurt Mirtsching, marketing director and general manager for Shakespeare’s Pizza, said the company has been searching for an expansion to a third location for some time.

“We’ve been looking for another location for several years,” he said. “But we got real serious about it in the last year. … Then we settled on [Peachtree Drive] a couple months ago and actually closed on the purchase of the property” in early November.

Mirtsching said Landmark Bank approached Shakespeare’s, in September and offered them a deal on the property. It was

an offer neither he nor owner Jay Lewis could refuse.

“They had foreclosed on the property and approached us and said, ‘Hey we got this piece of property. We’re really in the bank business, not the real estate business.

Would you like to buy it please?’” Mirtsching said. “And we said, ‘OK!’” According to Mirtsching, the proximity of the new location to RBHS played a significant role in the decision to go ahead and buy the property.

“Having Rock Bridge next door [gives us] built-in lunch customers and the whole after-school crowd,” Mirtsching said. “Usually restaurants are slow at three or four in the afternoon, but with a little luck, we’ll get some high school students stopping by.”

Senior Andrew Keller is looking forward to having the restaurant so close to school.

The area surrounding RBHS has been without a pizza shop since the CiCi’s Pizza on Peachtree Drive relocated more than three years ago.

“It’ll be great to have a really good pizza place near the school,” Keller said. “That’s something that’s been missing throughout the time that I’ve been here.”

Despite the soaring reputation and high name recognition Shakespeare’s Pizza enjoys — Good Morning America named the

downtown restaurant the “top college hangout” in the nation just a year ago — it took nearly 30 years for the heralded company to expand to its second location on West Broadway and another eight years to plan another expansion, this time to the south side of Columbia.

“There is no, nor has there ever been, a master strategy or plan. We just get up every day and do what needs doing,” Mirtsching said. “We found ourselves needing more room, so we expanded, … no strategy, no thought process. It’s just pizza.”

Whether it was a planned business decision or not, Shakespeare’s employee senior Maria Ramirez believes this latest expansion to south Columbia will bring greater visibility to the business.

“It’s going to be packed, and that will make for good business not only there, but for the other Shakespeare’s locations also,” Ramirez said.

But Keller said he is confident the new restaurant will do well, especially with RBHS students.

“If it’s anything like their restaurant downtown, it’ll be a great place just to hang out and have fun with friends,” Keller said.

“I wouldn’t really be surprised if it’s the most popular spot to eat with students as soon as it opens.”

Gardasil vaccine will November shooting warrants arrest be available for boys story continued from page 1 Gardasil also has more extensive side effects than traditional vaccines, including pain, bruising, vomiting and fainting. Pediatrician Ellen Thomas, Ph.D., said these undesired reactions are mostly mild, especially because adding another recommended vaccine to an already extensive list is a more prominent issue.

“There’s another cost that’s hard to put a number on, and that is increasing suspicion and fear of vaccines as we introduce more and more vaccines for rarer and rarer conditions,” Thomas said. “We have been so successful in reducing really horrifying diseases like measles, polio, diphtheria and tetanus, but it seems that as we add more vaccines, we see a backlash in parents not wanting even these incredibly successful, life-saving vaccines for their infants.”

Junior Tony Sun said he will “probably” get the Gardasil shots, as he sees no reason why he should not. He believes everybody should receive the vaccine.

“It helps prevent the spread of HPV through males, [increasing] the effectiveness for girls,” Sun said. “It’s a case where, if at all possible, it should be administered.”

story continued from page 1 Police closed Providence outer road ward another vehicle driven by two un- from 2:15 p.m. until 3 p.m. named RBHS students.

Although police arrested two RBHS Both vehicles were traveling south- students, senior Nicholas Thomas and a bound on the Providence outer road 16-year-old juvenile, and Devon Hicks, a approaching the Columbia Area Career former RBHS student, on Nov. 21, curCenter at approximately 1 p.m. Nov. 21. rently there is no case against Thomas or The targeted car was not hit, but an Hicks. uninvolved RBHS student who asked Authorities have released them from not to be identified later custody. found two bullets buried No information was All four were in in the trunk of a car. available on the 16-yearcustody within a No one was injured old at press time. couple hours of the during the shooting.

CPD Public InforThere had been prior mation Officer Latisha incident.” confrontations between Stroer said the departthe alleged victims and ment handled the case Officer Latisha Stroer well, noting CPD reaggressors, according to the probable cause statesponded quickly and CPD ment. Just before the appropriately. shooting occurred, Rose“We had a school berry allegedly saw the resource officer at Rock victims at McDonalds, Bridge who assisted the 500 E. Nifong Blvd. during B lunch. patrol, and off-duty officers were there The CACC and RBHS went into a at the school,” Stroer said, “so you had modified lock down around 1:45 p.m. extra help for the patrol officers who Nov. 21, and remained under an exter- were already there and all four were in nal threat emergency situation until the custody within a couple hours of the inend of the school day. cident.”

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The ROCK

TV show shines fame on truckers Kirsten Buchanan

Community ∙ 3

December 8, 2011

Living Windows 1

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trip to Midway Truck Stop, 6401 Highway 40 West, had been an average outing for owner Joe Bechtold. Last year, however, Bechtold added a new aspect to his truck stop.

“The Travel Channel called me out of the blue last November,” Bechtold said. “They called hundreds of truck stops and chose Midway” to be the star of the new reality television show, Truck Stop Missouri.

Episodes focus on different events that occur at the truck stop — ranging from a “biker granny” receiving a tramp stamp to a runaway cow dragging Bechtold across the parking lot.

Even though Truck Stop Missouri is just in its first season, Bechtold has already found enjoyment in the making of the show and looks forward to the second season.

“When they are filming at Midway, [the crew] work[s]… every weekend. Some days they concentrate the cameras on visitors and clients in the different businesses at Midway, and some days the camera crews follow me or my co-workers,” Bechtold said. “The time requirements can be an imposition. Some weeks I’m working seven days.”

Some scenes are not staged; actors recreate many of the scenes for the show. A former music teacher at Columbia Public Schools, Ed Hanson played a truck driver on one episode.

“They apparently, at one time at Midway Truck Stop, had a guy that stopped to do his laundry. He had limited amount of clothing, so he sort of stripped down to his underwear,” Hanson said. ”They wanted me to sort of recreate what had happened.”

Hanson said reality television directors often times recreate entertaining events to make them better suited for shows.

“Reality TV isn’t something that’s filmed there while it’s happening. It’s created for the cameras,” Hanson said. “It’s not like it’s all fantasy though because it’s recreated, so people can see what it’s like to be at a truck stop.”

While Bechtold enjoys all of the segments he films, he has some that stand out in his mind. A mix of recreated and live scenes hold the title for his favorite moments.

“Any scene with Carl the Salesman makes me laugh. He’s the craziest salesman in the world,” Bechtold said, referring to a traveling salesman that has been featured on the show multiple times attempting to sell Bechtold things such as an automatic bathroom cleaner. “I also really like the Willie Nelson episode because it’s a great documentary of that event.”

Senior Iain Gould, though, does not think the segments on the show positively reflect what life is like in Columbia. At the beginning of each episode, a title at the bottom of the screen declares Midway Truck Stop to be in Columbia, Mo., but he believes the lifestyle portrayed on the show is not lifelike.

“I watched the trailer when it first came out, and I was just like, ‘Wow, this is biased against Missouri,’” Gould said. “It seemed to portray us as dumb, country bumpkins. Entertainment or not, it’s insulting.’”

Fans, however, have poured into to the truck stop since the show came out. Bechtold said each moment at Midway is unique, and he enjoys having his truck stop as the focus of a reality television show. Contrary to Gould’s opinion, he also believes Truck Stop Missouri shows a good side of Columbia.

“Many of the fans who road trip to visit us comment, ‘It looks like you guys have a lot of fun,’” Bechtold said. “People identify with the main Midway employees on the show, and I think we do a good job of representing Columbia.”

1. Reflected Faces: Local kids press their cold noses up against the glass downtown as they saw pink, wigged dancers.

2. Out Loud: My Secret Garden, in The District, created a feisty version of battle of the bands — Christmas style.

photo by Maria Kalaitzandonakes

3. In toy land: Sophomore Nate Horvit watches the Toy Story window at Sparky’s, downtown.

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photo by Joe Szucs

photo by Joe Szucs

Festival kicks off holiday magic Mahogany Thomas

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ore than 20 businesses in downtown Columbia came together to celebrate the seasonal spirit with local Missourians, holiday cheer, merry smiles and decorated window displays.

The District hosted its annual Living Windows Festival Friday, Dec. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m., greeting families with festivities such as free carriage rides, live nativity scenes, refreshments and even a stop on Santa Claus’s lap at Landmark Bank.

Contributing locations customized their windows with seasonal themes, marking the beginning of extended holiday hours for many downtown shops.

Amy Atkinson, store manager at The Candy Factory, said Living Windows is an event The Candy Factory, 701 Cherry St. is eager to participate in each year. While shopping for holiday treats, customers enjoyed free samples of popcorn, fudge and hot apple ci-

der.

“It generates excitement, brings people downtown and gets lots of customers in,” Atkinson said. “Everybody’s happy.”

Atkinson said the mood created a great evening for everyone, including the local store owners and shoppers, as the relaxed atmosphere made for a free, entertaining downtown occasion.

“It’s a fun holiday event, so in general spirits are high and happy,” Atkinson said. “It’s a good event for [downtown businesses] to get involved in.”

With refreshments at the Candy Factory, glamorous robots at Poppy and dancing Wii’s at Slackers, RBHS students and local children and families saw amusement in the live window displays that filled the downtown area. The festive air pressed cold against the excitement but did not damper any spirits. The Christmas anticipation was too strong.

Junior Paige Selman’s favorite display was the elves’ battle of the bands because of its creativity and originality in comparison to the

other displays. Selman said the District created a sense of community, bringing in all aspects of culture from across the area.

The District “got the community together,” Selman said, “and got people who normally do not spend a lot of time downtown to come and really see the downtown and how much fun it is.”

Selman said while she enjoyed the event this year, Living Windows still has room for improvement.

“The only activities, really, were watching windows, visiting Santa for the kids and then just in general shopping because stores stayed open late,” Selman said.

“But there weren’t any real specific activities for teens.”

Next year the District should provide a better map of the involved businesses and consist of more interactive activities for a wider range of ages, especially teenagers, Selman said.

Even with the lack of activities for adolescents, however, Blackberry Exchange, a resale shop targeted for high school and college

students, managed to reach out to not only its cliental but also to its younger customers as kids danced in Christmas sweaters for the store’s display.

The owner of Blackberry Exchange, 16 S. Ninth St., Laura Wilson, said Living Windows has become a tradition for the store, as each year the store has people dance in the window sporting ugly Christmas sweaters for both comical and stylish purposes.

While Wilson said she is not entirely sure the event brings people into every store, Living Windows makes people inclined to come back if they stumble upon something they like.

“It’s all about little kids and families, so having kids dancing in the windows or outside is the most enjoyable part,” Wilson said.

Although Selman attended Living Windows for the first time this year, she plans to continue in the future.

“Despite the cold it is just a fun time,” Selman said. “You can just hang out with friends and good entertainment.”

Eclectic dance club brings back disco fever Avantika Khatri

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art by Theresa Whang

ubstep reverberated through the small space, bodies swayed to the grimy music and arms flailed with the music’s beat. Such was senior Jordon McGaughey’s first experience at Dirty Disco, two days after her 18th birthday.

McGaughey went with a group of people who also recently turned 18 years old, which is the age restriction for Dirty Disco. It’s $7 for age 18 and over and free for 21 and over, and McGaughey returned several more times to Dirty Disco for the excitement she found her first night there.

“It was small, and it’s just a really crazy environment where you just go crazy while you’re dancing and have a really great time with friends,” McGaughey said. “It’s a completely different atmosphere. … Most of the people don’t know each other, so you’re going there with a couple of friends, and no one else matters.”

Dirty Disco began January 2010, when Eastside Tavern owner Sal Nuccio and cofounders of Dirty Disco Adam Boisclair, also known as D.J. Bwaha, and Leroy Lee wanted a place to let loose every week with friends. Two weeks later Dirty Disco held its first event.

“A typical night would be around 11.

There’s a long line outside with people waiting to get in, and inside the place is packed with really loud music — you have to yell to hear the person next to you. Everyone is dancing; some people get on the stage and dance,” senior Ali Pemberton said. “If you imagine a dance

club in a movie, it’s pretty close to that, just not as glamorous.”

An addition, a photo booth added to the style, and Lee said people felt comfortable being themselves and felt “like a local celebrity” while also not being judged for being “different.”

Along with the photo booth, Lee said theme nights are common features of clubs in bigger cities. Both became norms at Dirty Disco. Past themes have included a “shade’s rave,” valentine’s ball, fourth of July ‘merica party, back to school, throwback, London calling, blackout, headdress, masquerade, Halloween and renegade.

“My favorite was the Halloween theme night, but that’s also the only theme night I’ve been to,” Pemberton said.

“Almost everyone was in costume, which was awesome because Halloween is my favorite holiday; they also had a live singer and costume contest.”

Because the disc jockeys create the music, it varies each week.

Lee said he creates set lists from his own preferences. Always on the lookout for new music, he uses songs that make him “want to get up out of my chair and start dancing in my living room.”

Much of Lee’s time, however, goes into promoting the club.

“I barely have time to fully prepare my

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mixes, so most of what you hear at Dirty Disco is completely done on-the-fly,” Lee said. “D.J.ing is actually a lot funner that way.”

Pemberton said Dirty Disco is more of a dance club than a bar, a place for people who just want to dance. This niche brings Dirty Disco a great number of attendees under 21. Many other clubs in Columbia are only for 21 and over, and there are few public dance scenes for those under 21. For many high school students, the only other options are homecoming and courtwarming.

Dirty Disco is “kind of like a dance, except there aren’t lame people on the wall that aren’t dancing; everyone’s dancing, and the ages have more range in the people that are there,” Pemberton said.

“There’s great dancing music, a live D.J. and people there just to have fun.”

A place for people to let loose and dance, Dirty Disco embraces people for dressing in crazy outfits for the theme nights. Lee said it’s a place where anyone can dance and go wild without judgment.

“We get people from all walks of life, and that’s a great feeling,” Lee said.

“There’s no such thing as ‘fitting in’ at Dirty Disco because really no one fits at Dirty Disco.”

You just go crazy while you’re dancing.”

Jordon McGaughey senior

4 ∙ Ads

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

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Features∙ 5

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

Kirsten Buchanan

Falsehoods amuse comic fabricator

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aughing when the teacher asks for his assignment, sophomore Riley Johnson can only say in mock seriousness, “My dog ate my homework.”

The teacher sighs; Johnson bursts out laughing, amused at his latest lie.

Johnson’s telling of humorous fibs is a way of life. He loves being dishonest to entertain. He will lie to his friends or even to his parents.

“One time I was at Taco Bell, and I told my mom I would get mild sauce, and I accidentally got her hot sauce,” Johnson said. “The thing was I told her I got her mild sauce and gave her the hot sauce. She was pissed off because I lied to her, but it was funny.”

He finds no fault in fibbing to entertain himself, but Johnson is not alone in his lying lifestyle. On average, a man will lie approximately six times a day and a woman three times a day, according to a poll by 20th Century Fox. Even though these small lies are common, psychology teacher Timothy Dickmeyer said there can be negative effects from these fibs.

“The implications of compulsive lying might include loss of trust from parents, significant others, co-workers or supervisors, which in turn could have extreme consequences on one’s personal and professional life,” Dickmeyer said. “There are additional implications regarding one’s own self-concept. As the author Nathaniel Hawthorn said, ‘No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which one is true.’”

Johnson said he tells falsehoods to his friends often because they believe his outrageous claims. He will fib about something as a joke, not expecting anyone to believe him.

“One time I told [sophomore] Maaz [Mohammad] that this soda was five bucks, and it was actually one dollar. I lie like that a lot, but I only do it to people who will believe it,” Johnson said. “I just lie a lot to be funny like that because it’s not like it really matters that much to tell the truth.”

Johnson often exaggerates when he tells stories, such as about the size of a fish he and his grandfather caught. Dickmeyer said lying by exaggerating is common according to research by psychologist Richard Gramzow.

“Generally the act of exaggeration, [such as] telling others your GPA is higher than it actually is or that your weight is lower, is based on a motivation to make the de-

ceiver feel better about themselves regardless of other’s opinions,” Dickmeyer said. “We tend to inflate ourselves for our own sake, not the acceptance or denial of others.

Gramzow calls this ‘intra-psychic lying’ rather than public or interpersonal lying.”

Many lies Johnson tells are just to entertain himself; he sees no ill long-term effects from telling fibs daily.

“I usually end up making friends [by lying], so I guess you could say that there are some good reasons to fib,” Johnson said. “These lies could make long-term friends as long as you just lie to be funny and not to be mean.”

Deceivers balance truth, white lies

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n her room, senior Jessica Rushing hears her mom calling her.

“Jessica! Have you done your homework?”

“Uhhh…” Rushing murmurs in response to her mom’s question. The truth is she hasn’t even looked at the homework her teacher assigned.

“Of course,” she fibs, seeing no wrong in the white lie.

A University of Massachusetts study found 60 percent of people lied on average in a 10 minute conversation. They told two to three lies in this time, which made researchers believe people tell small falsehoods often.

“When you tell your mom you did homework and you didn’t, that’s a little thing, but if you keep lying about it, that’s not good, and your relationship is not going to work out,” Rushing said. “Little white lies are OK, but when you start to get to serious things, that’s not OK.” Dickmeyer said a main reason for telling fibs — large or small — is to avoid an immediate, unpleasant situation.

“This might play out in how you approach a teacher regarding a late assignment.

If you falsely construct a story based on personal hardships such as the sudden loss of a relative, you might receive leniency in the form of an extended timeline,” Dickmeyer said.

“Whereas if you stated truthfully that you spent all weekend playing Modern Warfare 3, you probably would not be granted any extended time.”

Rushing said a line exists between white lies and larger fibs that hurt someinfographic by Kelly Brucks one. Some people tell so many fibs they fall into a lifestyle of deception.

When you tell your “first [big] lie, it gets easier to lie.

The more you lie, the more likely you are to not be an honest person in general,” Rushing said. “You’re saying these things that you don’t mean, and you don’t even know that you don’t mean them.”

Dickmeyer compares a lifestyle of lying to students

skipping class. It is detrimental in the long-term to cut class, but it offers temporary rewards.

“I believe that we tend to behave in ways that are first, comfortable, and second, reinforced,” Dickmeyer said.

“The result can be problematic when lying becomes habitual or compulsive.”

For this reason, Rushing tries to limit when she does not tell the truth, especially about large things.

“There aren’t many times where lying is all right, but I think when it comes to keeping your personal life out of the spotlight, a small lie or two won’t hurt anyone,” Rushing said. “With a little common sense, a white lie really has no negative effects. Such a weapon should be wielded carefully, because it’s a weapon that could be easily turned against you.”

Liars manifest false sense of safety

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ager to get out of an awkward situation, senior Amelia Williams runs through her options. Either she can tell her dad the truth — that she doesn’t want to visit him because it will cause problems between her divorced parents — or she could avoid the problem by telling a small fib.

“I can’t visit you this time,” she tells her dad, quickly rattling off an excuse.

Williams hates lying, but if it helps people around her avoid pain, she gives in. Dickmeyer said this type of lie is called a lie of protection.

“The motivation for telling white, or subtle lies, varies along a spectrum just like the motivation for telling outright lies,” Dickmeyer said. “One might tell a white lie to avoid hurting a loved one’s feelings. Normativesocial influence, the tendency to adjust behavior to gain acceptance or avoid rejection, can also motivate one to lie.”

Williams believes fibbing to prevent hurt is the only time lying is excusable; most of the time, it is merely a deceitful way to get out of a hard situation, and she hates it when people lie to her.

“I have a baby boy. He’s two years old, yet I’ve been cheated on and lied to by his dad, so of course I left” the child’s father, Williams said. “I’m trying to find someone who won’t lie to me. It’s hard because I keep thinking, ‘Oh, my God, is he going to lie to me?’ ... I don’t want my son to get hurt by lying. Plus, I went through the lies [from my parents] when I was a child, too, so I’m trying to make sure it doesn’t happen to him like it did with me.”

Williams keeps her fibs minimal. She knows if she doesn’t, she will get in the habit of lying and eventually become deceitful to her family.

“When you lie and someone sees you, their first instinct is, ‘They’re a liar. I’m going to avoid them.’ If you lie to your friends, you’re going to lie to your girlfriend [and] you’re going to lie to your wife, and that’s going to go downhill,” Williams said. Lying “can affect your kids because you’ll start lying to your kids, and your own kids eventually won’t even know who they are or what their life is. It’s a big effect.” art by Hallley Hollis and Joanne Lee

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ight now senior Ashley Hong’s most pressing stressor is college. When she thinks about her ability to excel on the ACT and her worries about the nation’s most prestigious colleges admitting her, she begins to feel anxious.

These excessive amounts of anxiety have caused her to suffer everything from stomach pain to hair loss.

Over a period of a few days or hours, stress increases her alertness and focus. When she is strained for a prolonged time, however, Hong experiences the negative health effects of tension.

“My stomach hurts when I’m stressed. I went to the doctor because I thought I had stomach problems, and the doctor said it might have been too much stress that caused my stomach to hurt,” Hong said. “When I’m really stressed, my hair falls out. It just happens. I don’t know why. Like when I’m brushing my hair or washing [my hair, it] just falls out like crazy.”

The effect stress has on the body depends on what type of stress a person experiences. University of Missouri neurological psychologist Dr. David Beversdor, Ph.D, said there are two categories — acute and chronic.

Acute stress comes from intense short-term stressors and causes the adrenaline system to release norepinephrine.

Chronic stress refers to long-term stressors, which causes the hormone cortisol to become active. While acute stress helps people make

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quick decisions, chronic stress has health complications.

“Right now we’re still understanding the effects of stress and its severity. There’s no set answers to how much stress [is healthy] because [of] how can you measure it,” Beversdorf said.

“Chronic stressors can be [harmful]. There’s evidence that stomach trouble and memory disorders can be related to chronic stress. You can develop depression and a whole bunch of other things.”

Most of the causes of Hong’s anxieties come from worries she has about her plans and the uncertainty of the future.

“My parents pressure me about college,” Hong said. “I understand that because every parent wants their kids to have a bright future, but they just want me to do impossible things, like get a perfect on the ACT. It makes me stressed.”

Hong’s main defense when she becomes stressed is to sleep. She said sleeping allows her to escape her problems for a while. Just sleeping, however, is not always enough to relieve the stress.

“Sometimes I want to cry because it’s too much pressure and stress, but when I cry people will ask me what the problem is, and not everyone understands so I have to hold it all in, which just adds to my problems,” Hong said.

“Stress is a bad thing because it makes you feel terrible. You just lose your hope. You should be happy, but stress makes you sad; it gives you all sorts of problems like stomach troubles.”

While chronic stressors are less frequent among high school students, acute stressors like

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final exams are more common. as much time to working on other things,” HelfFor senior Riaz Helfer acute stressors such er said. “When I don’t have free time or I get as college applications, scholarship deadlines behind on my college apps, then I start getting and school assignments occur often. The re- stressed. If I don’t have too much schoolwork to sulting tension hampers his ability to complete do, then I can get a head start on college apps tasks. while I still have a lot of time to do things that Stress “really makes it hard for I enjoy.” me to concentrate. I’m less focused According to www.cdc.

Sometimes on actually doing the assignment gov, the best way to cope I want to cry and more focused on getting it with stressors is to alter because it’s too done,” Helfer said. “I become less the stressful situation, efficient and then have to stay up adapt to the stressor, exmuch pressure later and then I’m more tired.” ercise or get involved in and stress.

Helfer’s experiences are not unthe community. common. He is among the 28 perApplying one of these cent of teens, according www.apastrategies to stressful Ashley Hong practicecentral.org, whose ability events reduces the body’s senior to consider all options is impaired mental and physical rebecause of stress. Beversdorf, actions to stress, helping though, said stress has numerous make the tense person benefits for people as well as these feel more relaxed. harmful effects.

The health effects of stress ultimately come “You can’t think very flexibly under great down to the type of person and how he or she stress, but you can respond quickly to things,” chooses to cope with it. While some people perBeversdorf said. “It kind of makes sense when form their best work under high levels of stress, you think about [it] because back when we were others may not fare so well. cavemen you had think very quickly to respond “Different people respond differently. Some to a tiger and if [you] thought of all the options people seem to thrive off it and work off that it would probably get you killed.” energy to accomplish more,” Beversdorf said.

Helfer tries to do things he enjoys when he is “Stress can help you respond quickly and constressed, such as watch TV, read and hang out cisely to a situation. There is some evidence that with friends. However, these techniques do not certain types of stress leave you more resilient always work. to other stressors and adjust to them. There’s “If there’s a day where I have a bunch of also evidence that if you have really bad stressschool work and I have to study for some exams or early in life you are more susceptible so it’s that are coming up, then I usually can’t devote very complex and intricate.”

“

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Features ∙ 7

December 8, 2011

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Teens persevere despite constant back problems ture, something her mother warned against. Eventually, Everett learned dealing with her posture was more important. She would painstakingly try to fix her posture as opposed to dealing with the pain later in life by doing things such as popping her back.

“My mom [told] me all the time [to sit up]. She’d say ‘Hey, that’s not very good posture,’ and I said ‘I don’t care,’” Everett said. “She’d say ‘Well, you’re going to care 50 years later.’”

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hile other students did their math assignments, senior Savannah Everett popped her back. Everett cringed as her classmates eerily stared at her through the broken silence.

“I pop my back at least three times every class period,” Everett said. “I would pop my back and every time I popped it, people would be like, ‘Ew.’ Most everyone’s pretty grossed out.”

Everett’s back-popping routine is because of her painful backache and is common in teenagers these days.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration reported that the U.S. has the highest percentage of teens that claimed at least one backache in a week ­— 43 percent of females and 33 percent of males.

“There is a trend for an increasing rate of back pain in teens primarily due to the increasing rate of obesity and inactivity in this age group. Overall, this age group is more sedentary when compared to teenagers from previous generations,” said Steven Meyer, Ph.D., Orthopedic Surgeon of the Columbia Orthopedic Group in an email.

“Studies have shown [back pain] to be associated with carrying backpacks loaded with books, etc., that are disproportionately heavy for their bodies.”

According to Joel T. Jeffries, Ph.D., an assistant clinical professor at the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of MissouriColumbia, decrease in physical activities or abuse for the individual’s physical effort can be another cause for pain.

Senior Lela Prichett’s heavy backpack with several textbooks and dismal posture have compelled her to see a chiropractor. Pritchett said the constant throb has affected her lifestyle, as she has not been able to do her homework on her desk ever since the school year started.

“I do my homework lying down because my back hurts so much,” Pritchett said. “I think psychologically I do [homework] better when I’m sitting down on a desk, but then it hurts so much more.”

Sophomore Alexa Shelton also

suffers from back pain, but she deals with it differently. She slouches her shoulders because of the heavy weight from her purse, weighing approximately 10 to 15 pounds.

“My posture’s not really that good,” Shelton said. “I always have shoulder pains. It’s probably because of all the books I carry in my school bag, along with books I carry in my purse. I always have to switch off carrying my bag on my other shoulder because it starts to ache.”

The ramifications of common back pain are serious, but other problems can arise in the spinal cord too. Scoliosis is a condition in which the spine curves in an S or C shape instead of the typical, straighter spine.

Posture, weight or heavy backpacks do not cause scoliosis. Nevertheless, according to musculoskeletal health group Core Concepts, there is a link between scoliosis and back pains that cause weakness or tightness of the muscles surrounding the spine.

Having scoliosis “mainly affects my posture,” junior Grace Gabel said. “I just slouch.”

During Gabel’s sixth grade Physical Education class, officials discovered her case of mild scoliosis. Professionals told her there was a curvature in her spine and that it should be monitored.

“Scoliosis likely has the greatest impact on teenagers. It is not a common problem,” Meyer said.

“However, as the deformity progresses, it has a huge impact on cosmesis and as it becomes severe can affect pulmonary function, ability to walk upright, etc.”

The best way to avoid general back pain, according to Boone Hospital physical therapist Robin Wilson, is to eat a healthy balanced diet and maintain an active lifestyle with regular exercise at least three times per week.

Using good posture with all activities, not twisting or bending from the waist with lifting and keeping equal weight load on both sides of the body when carrying objects for any length of time also help.

Now, Everett monitors her posture with the help of her mother.

Everett admitted in the past she has abused and overused her back with too much strain while playing tennis and maintaining bad pos-

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Computer hobbyists break past code, cause havoc Sami Pathan

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he year was 1988. The Los Angeles Dodgers had just won the World Series, Ronald Reagan was about to exit the White House as president and a shy programmer named Robert Morris was set to unleash a digital plague that infected 10 percent of the Internet time while trying to realize its true size.

A first-year Ph.D. student at Cornell University at the time, Morris wrote the 99 lines of code which would eventually become the world’s first Internet worm. It was a self-replicating program that copied itself to multiple computers, normally doing no more harm than significantly slowing everything down.

A tiny mistake in the code caused the program to spread on the Internet from coast to coast, bogging down thousands of computers along the way.

“It affected around six or seven thousand computers in the country at the time,” wrote Morris in an email interview. “It was in 1988 so most of the computers that did have Internet access were government facilities, research centers, and universities. The Internet at the time was largely academic.”

Morris had intended for the worm to enter into computers by asking whether there was an existing copy of the program there, if so, it would move on to the next computer.

However, he was worried that system administrators would block the worm by programming their computers to falsely respond “yes.” To beat this potential defensive measure, Morris programmed the worm to duplicate itself every seventh time it received an affirmative response.

“That was just a gross underestimation on my part; I had never before done anything like that, and I didn’t know what a fitting ratio would be,” Morris said. “There wouldn’t have been nearly as much chaos if that mistake had been caught beforehand.”

The worm spread too fast because of the simple mistake. However, many so called “hackers” find a similar start to their careers, using accidental discoveries as the basis of their future interests.

“I did learn a lot from the experience. I was studying in computer science at the time, and even though the worm messed a lot up, it was a valuable experience,” Morris said, “certainly one not many people have had.”

Senior Cory Cullen started to tinker with computers as a way to prove to himself that he could, not as a way to cause trouble to anyone. He started out by forging report cards using a template he created himself while at West Junior High School.

Cullen then began installing Pivot Stick Figure, a physics animation game, on computers throughout the school and packaged it so, when uninstalled, the program would

reinstall itself to a different location on the According to the Department of Justice, same computer. the software supported the International “But I don’t do this sort of stuff just to in- Space Station’s physical environment, includconvenience anyone or to make people feel ing control of the temperature and humidity bad or to slow down their day,” Cullen said. within the living space. This forced NASA to “I just like to have that skill set.” shut down its computer systems, ultimately For both Cullen and Morris, the start of costing $41,000. their hacking had deeper motives. A curios“There are definitely those who use the ity behind what was possible led both to push power of computers to steal information and the bounds of what was thought of as pos- commit crimes,” Morris said. “In the end it’s sible or acceptable. Morris just the individual’s choice originally created his worm there is no fine line sepaI don’t [hack] just … to gauge the size of the Inrating what is acceptable to inconvenience ternet, not cause any damand what isn’t and they age. realize that before they do anyone ... I just “There were no ill intenwhat they do.” like to have that tions at all involved when I Nonetheless, as an activstarted out with it,” Morris ity that society looks down skill set.” said. “I wanted to know the upon, any level of hacking size of the Internet, and an is liable to get one in troueasy way of doing that was ble. Principals have called Cory Cullen sort of marking each comCullen into their offices to senior puter connected to it with revoke his computer privione of these worms. Of leges, Morris served three course that went awry … It years’ probation and was was never my intention to cause the amount fined $10,500 and James served six months in of down time that was caused.” a federal prison.

However, not all hackers follow a similar “It definitely comes with the territory; path. Jonathan James, 16 years old at the time people don’t want you to go through anyof his arrest in 2000, cracked into National thing that’s theirs and that’s really what Aeronautics and Space Administration com- hacking is about,” Cullen said. “I don’t really puters, stealing software worth approximate- do anything that bad, but you have to accept ly $1.7 million. the risks that come along with it.”

“

art by Kelly Brucks

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Personality Profiles ∙ 9 The ROCK

Write on Jack Schoelz

A

s a child, sophomore Michelle King didn’t go to bed listening to classic stories like fairy tales, Aesop’s fables or Harry Potter. Instead, her father read her Robert Frost.

“My dad would read [me] a lot of poetry, and I decided I wanted to start writing,” King said. “I liked how it’s a beautiful way to tell a story.”

With the encouragement and push of her father, King dove headfirst into the world of writing. So far her written works include 10 halfway-completed books, one finished novel, a handful of short stories and a plethora of poetry. Her closest friends say her writing is a surprising specialty that makes her unique.

“I thought it was kind of interesting,” junior John Daylor said. “Most people don’t have writing as a hobby. It’s not really a common hobby.”

For the past few years, King has become a prolific writer. She translates her everyday thoughts and experiences onto paper in the evening before she goes to bed.

King writes in the evening because “that’s when I’m doing a lot of my deep thinking,” King said. “I kind of write about whatever I’m feeling about in the moment. Sometimes I just write about life in general, and then I’m the cliché teenage girl sometimes, and I write a lot of love poems.”

While many of King’s poems are rooted in her personal experiences, not all of her writing originates from her own life. King uses her poetry to escape to far away places — such as California — or to show sympathy for others’ misfortunes — such as the families of suicide victims.

As King has grown older and her passion for writing has further developed, she has spent more time collaborating with other young writ-

Rock band provides improvement, skill Maddie Davis

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ven as a toddler, junior Joel Pruitt was infatuated with music. With both of his parents as musicians, his first memories of making music go back to before he could speak.

Now a drummer in three bands, Pruitt knows the first time he picked up drumsticks wasn’t a coincidence, but fate.

“I found this home video of me when I was about two or three and my parents had gotten me a toy drum for Christmas,” Pruitt said. “I opened it up, and I just grabbed the sticks and started drumming. It was really cool because the beat is still something I use today, and you could just see the excitement on my face [when I played it]. I know my parents played a part of me being involved in music because of how much they play.”

During his childhood, music was a large part of Pruitt’s life. Watching his parents play in church worship bands furthered his interests and goals as a musician. Although he would play with his parents occasionally, Pruitt officially joined his school band in third grade at Christian Chapel Academy. Eventually, he joined honors band in seventh grade and got his first taste of a complete percussion system.

“I fell in love with drumming,” Pruitt said. “It was such a good experience because I learned so much more as far as technique goes. Drumming is such a self-sustaining part of the band. I can’t imagine playing another instrument or only carrying one thing. It just wouldn’t feel right because of how long I’ve drummed and all the time I’ve put into it.”

Pruitt, however, doesn’t limit his playing to school. In addition to concert and jazz band, he is a member of two other bands: C2, his youth group worship band, and Lot 56, a rock ‘n’ roll band. While both C2 and Lot 56 allow Pruitt to express more individuality than the school program does, he prefers the unlimited freedom in Lot 56. Unlike in the school band, the boys try to play what is popular and prefer to cater to what listeners like.

Being in a band, “can be such an unrealized dream for so many musicians who have an affinity for classic or modern pop rock ‘n’ roll,” Pruitt said. “Being in your own band is one of the few times that you can pick what to play, how to play it, and I really like that individual aspect

of it. We all communicate with each other [in the non-school band] and that makes the experience really fun.”

Pruitt and fellow students, junior Ian Meyer, senior Ben Morgan and HHS senior Aaron Schilb, created Lot 56 so they could make their own songs, their own way. To the rest of the band, Pruitt adds more than just drumming.

“He ties the music together because a lot of his ideas are percussive,” Meyer said. “He’s always looking for new ways to collaborate ideas and is very straightforward about what he likes and doesn’t like. He takes such a big leadership role in the band because he always plans practices and I just think jamming with him is great.”

While their main goal is to continue to improve their technique, they have performed for money at locations like The Bridge and took first place at Battle of the Bands. Up against other bands like Table for 5 and Evidence, Lot 56 could not help but be impressed with their win.

“The bands we performed against were really, really great,” Pruitt said. “We won $200 from that, and we just split it up between the four of us. We don’t play to get money, but it helps our motivation a lot if there are gigs that we know we’re going to get paid for.”

Though the band is not searching for any full-time jobs, Pruitt sees himself pursuing a career in music immediately after high school.

His dream is to attend University of Missouri— Kansas City for their jazz program and to major in music. After that, however, he is not sure of what is to come.

“I’ve thought of moving to a metropolitan area and becoming a gigging musician,” Pruitt said. “But that has a very high degree of risk.

I could stay with something more stable like teaching, but I would love to go out and play instead of teaching others to go out and play. Playing jazz is awesome, and I know that whatever I do, it’ll be a part of my life.”

For now, he is more than satisfied with his two bands and involvement in the RBHS music program. To Pruitt, nothing compares to the production of music.

“The way life feels to me is interpreted by music. When I’m thinking about different people or situations, I have soundtracks in my head for them,” Pruitt said. “You can listen to music and enjoy it, but playing it and creating is just a really incredible thing. It’s who I am and if I wasn’t playing music, I don’t know what I’d do.”

art by Kelly Brucks

Inspiration flows for aspiring teen author

ers. She attended the 2010 Aspen Young Writer’s Conference, bringing with her the one novel she had completed and met with professional authors and publishers who critiqued her work.

The trip left her inspired.

“It was a really exciting experience for me,” King said. “It was neat to see all these writers, and people who were passionate about what I was passionate about all in one environment so it made it really fun and exciting.”

The visit to Aspen, Colo. was part of a larger, recent push King has made to receive more publicity for her work. She’s entered her poems in several national contests and even created a Facebook page — “Michelle King Poetry” — where she can highlight her favorite original poems and those from the various writers who influence her the most — like Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost and Christopher Brennen. King’s already met some success. Creative Communications named one of her poems a finalist in

its “Poetic Power” contest — one of the top 10 entries in the nation. King is still waiting to hear whether or not she won the contest altogether.

“I just want to put my work out there so when people hear one of my poems they’re like ‘Oh that’s by Michelle King,’” King said. “I definitely have a very unique style...When you read my style it’s different, and you can tell it’s unique to me and I wrote it.”

While King hopes her success in writing contests can help her be more competitive for college scholarships and pave the way for an English degree, her ultimate dream, as an aspiring writer, is to see her work mass produced and distributed.

“I think I really would like to pursue [a career in writing]. I want to go into English because I like not just poetry but writing stories too,” King said. “I think it would be really cool to be published. That’s one of the things on my list to do before I die.”

photo by Maddie Davis

Drumming a beat: Junior Joel Pruitt drums at home to a Lot 56 original, “Shake It.” The song “is about dancing and not caring what people think,” Pruitt said. “It’s about letting go on the dance floor because nothing else matters.” They also cover songs off audience responses like “What I Like About You.” “Everyone knows [“What I Like About You”] so they sing when we play it,” Pruitt said. “Even though we cover some songs, we like to do originals more.”

10 ∙ Personality Profiles

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

Dance.

Dance.

Dance.

logo by Anna Sheals

Maddie Davis Q: What is your name and grade?

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Choreography career leads to early graduation Shivangi Singh

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s a stranger on the streets of downtown Kansas City plays his bagpipes, senior Jordan Miller can’t resist dancing to his tune.

When she’s grocery shopping, especially at Sam’s Club and Costco, she spins on the hard flooring. And when she’s at home, she’s often twirling and improvising.

Miller said she can’t sit still for long — even during class — but that’s not any recent discovery. In third grade she decided what her world would become.

“Literally after [my first jazz] recital, I fell in love with dancing,” Miller said. “My teacher put me in the center, and after that first performance there was no turning back. I was so in love with it.”

Her daily jazz classes entered a new stage when she moved to Iowa and experienced dancing from a completely different perspective at her aunt’s dance studio.

As she immersed herself in most forms of dancing — contemporary ballet, hiphop, jazz, Broadway and Modern — Miller discovered the art of choreography.

“I had a lot of freedom to choreograph my own solos and to explore my own style,” Miller said. “And now choreography is not something I really think about.

It’s like I dance, and it’s in my head already. It’s in my body. It’s not something that I sit down and I literally think, like, ‘Now I want to move my arm here. Now I think it would be cool if you moved your head here.’ It just happens.”

It wasn’t long before she spent her summers at various dance studios in New York and Los Angeles and signed contracts with two professional teams: Tremaine

Performance Company and Phe Pulse, with whom she travels most weekends as an assistant to the teachers.

She’s been to cities such as New Orleans, Atlanta and Chicago, attending twoday events consisting of classes and performances.

Columbia Performing Arts Center teacher Jennifer Lee has supported Miller in her journeys for four years. Lee said the responsibility and dedication which Miller has carried herself with have allowed the success she has achieved.

“She’s way mature beyond her age.

And she always had that. I call her an old soul. She’s an unbelievable choreographer and teacher. She puts her heart and soul into everything. … You tell her the story that you are trying to convey and she puts it in her own way and her own movement.

She’s always just worked so hard,” Lee said. “She’s going to be a success in anything she does. Anything.”

However, Miller compromises schooling for her drea She will graduate at semester’s end to chase her dream in New York. On Jan. 2 Miller will move to join a contemporary ballet performing group, Cedar Lake Contemporary Business.

Miller will attend classes six days a week and study different shows, styles and the history of dance to further perfect her style. The plan, however, is for this to only last until April. Afterwards, she has other aspirations.

The owner of the team is “interested in me doing choreography,” Miller said.

“I love dancing. I love performing. But I know it’s something that I can’t do forever because my body will only last for so long.

So I would really love to transition into choreography.”

According to the aDvANCE Project, on average, dancers begin their professional dance careers at age 19 and end their active dance careers at 34. Consequently, Miller wants to submerge herself into choreography as much as she can.

After NYC she will audition to join a four-year program in Brussels, Belguim called PARTS, during which she will master performing with a focus on choreographing.

Miller said the pleasure associated with performing is different from that of choreographing. Being on the stage, she said, is letting go of herself and just feeling the movements; being backstage is creating that feeling in others.

Dancing, however, connects the two.

“I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else,” Miller said. “I considered other things. I like graphic design, web design, [but dancing’s] the thing I am most passionate about. It’s the thing I want to do for the rest of my life.”

This art, she said, remains when all distractions are gone. When things humans don’t need disappear, only the body and soul remain, and from there stems the art of dancing.

“And the fact that I can use those two things that I own and that I have control of it to express myself, I think that’s amazing,” Miller said. “I feel like for that reason it’s one of the most pure forms of expression. It’s so pure and so real — something that can really be used to move other people, and you don’t have to use words to express that. Literally, it’s just movement.”

photo illustration by Muhammad Al-Rawi

special talents and hobbies?

A: I can build computers.

Q: How did you learn how to do that?

A: I got a Dell one day, and then photo by Halley Hollis I thought maybe I should try something different and make it new. So I asked one of my friends if I should and he said, “Yeah, it’s kind of like building with electrical Legos. “ Q: Do you think it’s easy?

A: More or less. It requires concentration and force. The hardest part is getting the cables right and keeping the space clean. I have to keep the wires tied down and everything cool or else it heats up too much and I can’t work with it.

Q: So do you take old computers and make them new or start from scratch?

A: I take parts out of old computers and put them together and with newer parts.

It’s not recommended because Dells are built into the actual unit and they are notorious for having their own parts that only work for them. It’s easy to have problems in the future if not done properly, but it’s fun to do.

Q: Where are you from?

A: Well, my parents are from Russia, but I was born in New York. And I’ve lived here in Missouri for about nine years.

Q: Do you like Missouri? What’s your favorite part of Missouri?

A: I like how the weather is always so random and always changing. And I really like Rock Bridge. There are so many choices in classes and more freedom as compared to my past school, which was Columbia Independent.

Q: What are five things you never leave your house without?

A: My phone, my car keys, my wallet, my eye glasses and the clothes on my back.

Q: What is your favorite food?

A: I really like Italian, and I like Mongolian barbeque like HuHot. Q: What do you want to do after high school?

A: I probably will go into the laser industry and go to school up in Indian Hills. It’s in Iowa, about three or four hours north.

I’ve heard if you graduate there you can get jobs that pay from $40,000 to $60,000 right away.

Change in faith brings controversy, joy Kaitlyn Marsh

O

photo illustration by Halley Hollis

A change in faith: Junior Atreyo Gosh stands in front of Forum Christian Church where he was baptized on May 12, 2011. He does not attend weekly services but continues to practice his faith by himself with hopes of partaking in the church’s community one day.

n a typical Sunday morning, junior Atreyo Ghosh walks down the stairs at a leisurely pace, grabs the Lucky Charms out of his pantry and sits down at the table, opening the “Bible app” on his iPod. While his friends are at church, Ghosh studies his faith by himself, a practice he adopted only two years ago.

Religion “plays a big role. I try to stay in the faith every day and read the Bible before school, so that it’s on my mind,” Ghosh said. “I’ve read the whole New Testament. I feel like it’s really relevant to me, and it’s the best way for me to continue to build my faith as I read the words of Jesus himself.”

Ghosh didn’t always place this importance on God. In fact, a few years ago, he practiced the opposite. His parents raised him with a mix of Hindu and atheist beliefs based more on culture than anything else. The relaxed nature of religion soon influenced Ghosh’s own perspectives.

“I became a little more interested in Hinduism, but it wasn’t a huge part of my life. … I gradually became more atheistic,” Ghosh said. “In middle school I would talk to friends, and we would have religious arguments, so I was that stereotypical ‘no faith in God at all,’ like I definitely didn’t believe in God. I thought everything could be explained with science.”

Ghosh embraced the science of evolution and other theories despite not knowing much about them, wanting nothing to do with a creator or any other supernatural being. With an unwavering devotion to the belief that there was no higher power, Ghosh was sure religion wasn’t worth a glance. But his friends helped him change his mind.

“In junior high I really started to make friends. There were people I talked to, and I could tell they really cared about me and a lot of them were

Christians. Once you meet a person and you get to know them and see their beliefs, you really can’t see their beliefs so harshly,” Ghosh said. “I knew they were strong Christians, and they were really nice to me, so I knew it couldn’t be a horrible thing for someone to be religious.”

By the time his freshman year started, Ghosh was a floater. After weighing his options, he made up his mind: atheism wasn’t his road to take, and he knew he should believe in something, but he hadn’t settled on Christianity.

While he was working on an English project, Ghosh had his final realization, but it wasn’t thematic and emotional like some may expect. Alone on the first floor, Ghosh turned the pages of a book that seemed like a summary of everything he had experienced in the past few years. “Left Behind” featured an atheist who surrounded himself with Christian people that loved him.

Ghosh realized that all the coincidences through his new friends and experiences were to bring him to his knees in front of his God. “I prayed the prayer for salvation, telling God, ‘I know I’m a sinner. I’ve screwed up. I believe in Jesus,’ and I said it a second time because I felt really unsure and I asked for a sign [from Him], and I did get one,” Ghosh said.

“It was a knock on the door [from my sister], asking me if I wanted to see this music video on TV that I’d missed earlier, ... and it startled me, right after I’d asked for a sign.”

Even after officially converting and being baptized last spring, he was still torn between his former upbringing and his new way of life. The idea of religion would cause controversy in his family. But he wasn’t alone in his faith.

“I have always had people there to help me out and talk to them about faith,” Ghosh said. “I have been blessed to have great friends that I can talk to and help me out with my loneliness when I don’t really have anywhere else

to turn.”

Ghosh’s friend, junior Maggie Washer, helped him on his religious journey.

She said she showed him God’s love through her actions, which, she stated, is one of the most effective tactics when leading someone to Christianity.

“I help him by talking about the issues that he struggles with,” Washer said. “Sometimes the best thing people can do for each other is listen and pray with them.”

Even with the support of his friends, Ghosh knew he couldn’t attend church on Sundays, fearing that it might cause problems at home. Instead, his worship took place mornings in the weight room for Fellowship of Christian Athletes once a week at Jefferson Junior High School, where the influence of his peers and teachers strengthened him in his state of Christianity.

“During one [National Junior Honor Society] meeting, [a friend] noticed a Bible in the library under ‘reference’,” Ghosh said. “I was a library staff worker, so I felt that was a gift from God that I could be able to use that Bible and read it.”

Ghosh was eager to share his discoveries. He was convinced if he could become Christian, anyone could. His main goal is getting as many people as he can to follow Jesus, including his 11-year-old sister.

While her atheist beliefs mirror his at that age, Ghosh worries she won’t go to heaven. Hoping when she is older she will come to the same realizations he has, Ghosh said he prays daily for his family, wanting them to follow Christ.

“I want them to be Christian because after I die, I want to be able to see them again if I’m going to Heaven,” Ghosh said. “I know in life we have these situations we can’t control, and ... if something happens [and] you can’t do anything, ... you are handing it over to [God], who can. I might not be able to do anything, but if God wants to, he can.”

In-Depths

11

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

YO, WOMAN,

MAKE ME A SANDWICH Students dissect stereotypes Parker Sutherland

S Last month the ROCK surveyed 180 students for the

TOP 7 MALE

characteristics Messy

96%

Insensitive

96%

Athletic

88%

Aggressive

88%

Money-maker

85%

Math/science Oriented

84%

84%

Loud

enior Jessica Jost felt the words slap her in the face as others made fun of her for getting a job at Subway. ‘Make me a sandwich.’

She knew it wasn’t because she worked at a fast food joint; she was proud for getting a job. What angered her was her male friends making fun of her for being a woman in the stereotypical role of sandwich-maker.

Social norms stem from birth, starting with mimicking adults’ actions, according to the Adolescent Services Research Center. From birth through age eight, parents influence the motor and social behaviors of children.

Sociology and psychology teacher Bruce Wilson said children learn from observations in early childhood. During this time, a person’s societal norms develop to form stereotypical roles like the working father or stay-at-home mother.

From confidence in one’s actions to washing hands after using the restroom, parents set the behavior and values their children manifest.

“Your parents teach you and tell you things, but the most important thing that they do is show you how to act,” Wilson said.

Since she was born, Jost’s parents have supported her in every area of life.

They encouraged her to aspire toward college, get a job and try out for sports.

Instead of following through with these goals, the lasting opinions of another individual stopped Jost from pursuing areas she considered fun.

“When I was in third grade, I joined a youth basketball team,” Jost said. “I wasn’t particularly good, but I had fun anyways. One day a boy came up to me and said that white girls shouldn’t be allowed to play basketball. I quit pretty quickly after that. Every time I think of basketball I associate a negative connotation with it.”

The boy who hindered Jost thought girls had certain activities they were entitled to, but a sport was not one of them. These same ideas can also be seen on a larger scale with high school sports participation. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, 55.2 percent of students enrolled in high schools participated in athletics in 2008-2009. Of those participants, 3.1 million girls participated, compared to 4.4 million male high school athletes.

Disparities between the genders prevail even in the workplace, especially in large businesses. Statistics from May 23, 2011 collected by www.money.

cnn.com show only 12 women in Fortune 500 companies to be CEOs. With all jobs in consideration, Fortune 500 companies included, women comprise 49.8 percent of payroll employment, according to www.jec.senate.gov. Jost believes the elite job market is open to anyone, despite the incident concerning basketball.

“From what I’ve seen, the girls of this generation have never been told they couldn’t be president, CEOs or whatever they want out of life,” Jost said, “and that attitude will continue to shape their desires as they become adults.”

The average male works 2.7 hours a week more than the average woman, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Men work a total of 43.5 hours and women work 40.8 hours a week. Senior Nate Egharevba said the reason for the difference in working hours is the traditional role set before women. He believes people need to question these roles in order to form a better society and an even better place at home.

“I don’t think a man should be able to go out and do whatever he wants, while the woman has to stay home and takes care of the house and stuff.

I feel like a woman has a lot to offer,” Egharevba said. “There should definitely be a balance. You have to be able to do everything in a household in order to make it work.”

Wilson said women and men who break the societal norms in the workplace face judgment of differing degrees based on how progressive the city is. In the modern city, breaking a norm is more in style and therefore more widely accepted, while in a small-town environment, the reciprocal is true.

Individuals with more traditional outlooks face disapproval in towns, since many townspeople respect adherence to tradition.

“It takes a person that can really handle it to break those norms as with female truck drivers or male nurse[s],” Wilson said, “because not only are you doing your job, but you are being compared to other people that are a different gender than you.”

Wilson is hopeful for the future advancement of the roles that both men and women will take outside of the societal norms. Even with constant disagreement from other people, he agrees that with time, norms are bound to change.

“I think we are definitely in a transition that I think I could see in 20 years that those social norms about the family could be diminished,” Wilson said.

“Not gone, but could certainly be diminished.”

Last month the ROCK surveyed 180 students for the

TOP 7 FEMALE

characteristics Artsy

97%

Clean

96%

Submissive Neat

96%

Emotional Quiet Clumsy

96%

95% 92%

69% infographics by Joanne Lee

BATTLE OF THE SEXES: EDUCATION TUG OF WAR ACT Composite Score SAT Reading

SAT Math

ACT Math ACT Science

SAT Multiple Choice SAT Essay

ACT Reading (TIE)

Mean GPA (3.75)

SAT Writing

ACT English

Higher GPA in Arts, English and Foreign Languages

sources: www.act.org, www.collegeboard.com, www.fairtest.org photo illustration by Muhammad Al-Rawi

infographic by Nomin-Erdene Jagdagdorj and Joanne Lee

In-Dep

12

The ROCK

Sex standard degrades females, praises males Mahogany Thomas

T

he stereotype goes that boys become sex hounds after puberty and think of sex multiple times every minute, while girls are expected to remain chaste.

But, like so many stereotypes this one is probably faulty.

According to www. thenationalcampaign.org, 78 percent of teenage males say there is too much pressure from society to have sex, causing 60 percent of those males to have lied about their sexual experiences.

Junior Sasha Martin cringes at the thought of the double standard between guys and girls and its repercussions when it comes to teenage sexual activity.

“Guys are praised if they have sex with girls that are or aren’t their girlfriend, but if a girl has sex with a whole bunch of guys, she is called a hoe,” Martin said.

“In reality they are both doing the same [thing] and should both be called whores.”

Martin said she has friends who have fallen into this trap, which in some cases has ruined their reput ations.

However, she also has a fair share of acquaintances who try to make a difference in spite of society’s stereotypes.

Hickman High School junior Marissa Jackman, one of Martin’s close friends, is attempting to change teenagers’ reactions to sexual activity.

Though she chooses not to engage in this herself, Jackman said girls should just live how they believe and not care what anyone else says.

“If you are comfortable with yourself enough to maturely make that kind of decision and to verbally support yourself, what people say to you shouldn’t affect you,” Jackman said.

“Therefore, if you are making the right decision for you, the standard shouldn’t apply.”

Although Jackman said teenagers shouldn’t judge, she realizes this is unrealistic and continues fighting against the stereotype.

Once, while Jackman ate lunch with a group of teenage boys and girls, a pregnant student walked by. She said the boys began making snide remarks. The boys persistently degraded the female when Jackman decided to step in.

“They started making derogatory comments about

“

how she was a slut for getting pregnant. So I just brought up where they thought the boy in her life was. They said it didn’t matter if he was involved because she was still a whore. But I then told them that they both chose to have sex, meaning, it wasn’t just her decision,” Jackman said. “The boy had just as much responsibility as she did, even though she was free to make her own choices. Sex is a choice. She was being judged for choosing to have it; it’s her decision and her life.”

Situations like those cause Jackman to loathe the standard even more. Jackman said some men will have a false bias toward women, which she said is unjust.

However, Martin and Jackman aren’t the only ones who see the statistics play out in the lives of their peers.

According to www. troubledteens.com, 25 percent of sexually active teens are depressed, causing 14.3 percent of those females to attempt suicide.

Statistics confirm negative consequences for female sexual activity.

Jennifer B e g g s W e b e r , a Ph.D. candidate/ instructor at the University of MissouriColumbia, studies the double standard a m o n g genders, developing her own personal opinions on the issue.

“While studies suggest that women are gaining more control over the conditions of sexual intercourse and that female pleasure is becoming less taboo and viewed as a positive expression of personhood for women, there is still a double standard that exists that privileges men’s sexuality and sexual activity over women’s,” Weber said. “Men are considered to be naturally sexual and sexually obsessed, while women are considered to be naturally chaste, virginal.”

Weber said the double standard has changed slightly through time as women are becoming more sexually active and independent; however, the context within which they can have sex is still constraining.

“Girls today may be able to have sex without being stigmatized, but only when in a serious relationship. Girls who have sex outside of a serious relationship or girls who change boyfriends too much or too soon risk being labeled a slut,” Weber said. “Boys, on the other hand

[I]t’s fine to let the chicks do whatever they want, as well.”

Daniel Lee, junior

don’t face this risk; they don’t have to worry about changing girlfriends or moving on too quickly.”

Consequently, girls have less power in the relationship, as fear of being defamed is a powerful reason to stay in a relationship, Weber said. Boys, on the other hand, don’t face this judgment.

Instead, boys mainly face praises from their peers.

However, females aren’t the only ones who observe the double standard’s impact, junior Andrew Silvey witnesses the effects of this standard often because of praise frequently given to guys once they have had sex.

“When guys hook up with chicks, they get congratulated,” Silvey said. “But when girls get with guys they can be viewed as slutty or gross.”

Silvey said while this standard doesn’t impact his personal life, he sees his peers use it to their advantage, leaving huge repercussions for the girls drawn into it.

“We watch the girls just get cheated. They get chastised for something men can do,” Silvey said.

Weber feels society must challenge the judgmental assumptions. This can happen if people act true to their words.

“Many times people will say they are against the double standard,” Weber said, “but then reinforce it with their comments and treatment of other people, saying, ‘I heard she had sex with him at that party.’”

Although the standard is used around junior Daniel Lee, he chooses to practice other methods, not following the standard and doing what he believes.

“I do what I do because I want to,” Lee said. “So I think it’s fine to let the chicks do whatever they want to do, as well.”

While Lee watches some of his closest friends of the opposite sex sleep with various people often, their actions don’t change his view of the individuals.

“In my mind it doesn’t make her a hoe; she’s a homie,” Lee said.

However, no matter the sexual actions of a female, or the derogatory term associated with them, the pressure teenage males feel to engage in sexual activity allows them to act freely with fewer repercussions.

While the main issue continues to concern the double standard and its negative effects, Jackman believes people should ultimately be able to act independently without judgment, regardless of gender.

“If you choose abstinence, so be it,” Jackman said. “Therefore, if you choose to be sexually active, that is not only your personal decision but your personal business.”

1 ...females beat males in percentage of graduation across the board 0%

50%

75%

63%

High School Graduate

74%

52% 51%

College Enrollment

College Undergraduate

55%

63%

56% 47%

College Graduate 50%

40%

4

34%

Management/ professional

32%

...workforce stats

show differences between genders

17% Sales / Office 21% 14% Service Occupations 17% Production/ Transportation

17% Construction/ Maintenance

Barbie vs. Ken When will it end?

pths

13

December 8, 2011

2 ...the answer is no

90%

teens turn down sex

contraception usage (%)

80%

Female

Male

42%

50% 40%

citing religious and moral reasons

5

....average age teens lose

their virginity

Male

17

usage rises in recent years 84%

76%

70% 60%

35%

...contraception

56%

3

67% 60%

~1985 2004

2008

...high school seniors

increasingly put intercourse on hold

6

Female

17.3

2010’s

1990’s

Motivation drives female students ahead Jude El-Buri

0%

I

5%

1%

magine a cliché romantic comedy of a girl’s search for her one true love. But then, she accidentally bumps into a stranger on the street and makes an instant love connection as they lean over to pick up her dropped groceries.

But the story’s happily ever after is interrupted when she finds out he is still living at home with his mother.

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 14 percent of males between the ages 25 and 34 live at home, compared to only eight percent for their female counterparts. Young men today lack the motivation to achieve their goals and are twice as likely to live at home with their parents as women are. They’re also less likely to finish college or to have a job.

Psychology teacher Tim Drennan believes this may be because society has changed and women are at times more driven than men.

“Men figure that women would stay home, and women don’t stay home anymore. I think social scripts have something to do with it, but I think society has changed also,” Drennan said. “Women have realized that in order to get ahead in life they have to work harder, and I think they do. Now that the competition is head on, that jobs are open to men and women, [the] men are losing out.”

Failure to launch in men can come in forms other than inadequacy in the workplace. Their lack of motivation shows

7

their educational efforts. Just more than a century ago, 100 percent of Ph.D. graduates were men. In fact, men were the primary receivers of bachelor’s degrees.

But three years ago, women surpassed men in receiving doctorate degrees, a shift that continues to the present day.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, in just the past 10 years, women have increased their share of doctoral degrees by more than six percent. They also earn about 60 percent of all bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

The drive for college excellence can start earlier and begin in a person’s high school career.

Sophomore Alexa Shelton believes girls are often more motivated than boys in high school and consequently may work harder.

“One time I was in a group with this guy, and he basically just made me do all the work,” Shelton said. “So I took the stuff home and did the assignment. And when we got to school, we had to present in front of the class, and he took all credit during the presentation.”

Shelton’s situation is common outside of high school. Linda Babcock, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, co-authored “Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the

“

Gender Divide”.

In the workplace women may be doing more work than men but may not receive credit for it. In 2009, female workers earned 23 percent less than males in the same positions. Babcock said assertiveness in the workplace relates to the reason women do more work but receive less credit.

“Women often expect that hard work and high quality work will be recognized and rewarded without their asking. And this is frequently not true,” Babcock said.

“Because they don’t ask to be considered for the opportunities and advantages for which men ask, they often aren’t recognized for the good work they do and don’t progress as fast or as far in their careers as their talents should take them.”

In the workplace and in school, gender differences are growing and motivation is decreasing. Drennan notices these shifts in his classes.

“Of my classes — which is not a perfect sampling — generally women are at the top. A few men, but generally the women’s average is higher than the men’s,” Drennan said. “But then at the same time, I have more women than men in this class.”

School courses offered are another

Women often expect that high quality work will be recognized...”

Linda Babcock professor, author

outlet for gender differences to arise. Like Drennan, teachers observe differences between the genders in work ethic and effort. But these differences are not always enough to convince teachers that girls are more driven than boys in school. Personal finance teacher Susan Lidholm believes that boys and girls are more prominently.

“I can’t predominantly say if it’s a male-female difference, but something that depends on the individual,” Lidholm said. “I think the amount of effort someone exerts depends on their interest in the course their taking.”

Psychologist Roy F. Baumeister, a former professor at Princeton University and current professor at Florida State University, said the average intelligence test scores show little variation between the IQ of men and women, with few exceptions in mathematics and verbal measures.

Further studies by Cambridge and Oxford Universities prove the same, supporting Lidholm’s assertion that gender is not the best predictor of abilities and interests.

But this does not mean motivation is the same in men and women. Society’s expectations and social scripts can guide the actions of individuals.

“From video games, to action packed dramas on TV, I think we still say those are the kind of people that men should be.

And I’m not sure that’s all that realistic that everybody can be what those people are on TV,” Drennan said. “I think that men are going to have to do the same thing that women had to do — realize that it’s going to take a little more for them to catch up.”

8

...outcomes of teenage

pregnancy

1 OUT OF 10 babies are born to teenage parents

miscarriage

14%

abortions

27%

Birth 59%

sources: 1. www. nces.ed.gov/ 2. and 3. www. guttmacher.org 4. www. bls.gov/ 5. www.newstrategist.com 6. Centers for Disease Control 7. National Center for Health Statistic

14 ∙ Ads

The ROCK

December 8, 2011

Editorials ∙ 15 The ROCK

December 8, 2011

Enjoyment becomes obsession

Did CPS use appropriate notification procedures after the recent shooting?

“We didn’t really know there was a shooting or anything.

They just kept the doors locked, and class went on as normal. None of the students really knew what was going on, and some people even thought it was just a drill.”

— Austin Renwick sophomore

Alex Burnam

A

ny given day 20,000 people die of cancer, according to sciencedaily.com; I hear nothing about them. But when blood clots hospitalized Lindsay Lohan’s dad, the story was a headline on cnbc.com.

Our worship of celebrities has become grotesque.

We read about them, photograph them and, for some reason, care about what they do on a day to day basis.

Merely months ago pornographer turned celebrity Kim Kardashian married professional basketball player Kris Humphries. The nation watched on live television as the couple spent nearly $10 million tying the knot, according to hollywoodreporter.com.

Seventy-two days later, Kardashian filed for a divorce.

The tabloids exploded; entertainment networks gossiped, and many students vented their fury to anyone who would listen — even “SportsCenter” was discussing it. Yet, all that had happened was a marriage and a divorce, two things that American society is very familiar with. However, for no logical reason, this marriage and divorce were “special” simply because of the names of the two people involved.

Two insignificant people were put on a pedestal and worshipped as role models by the American public, which could provide insight into why we live disgusting lifestyles that mirror theirs.

Kardashian is worth an estimated $35 million, according to celebritynetworth.com, but what exactly does she do to earn it? She earns $40,000 an episode to shop and sleep around on her reality show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” and the American people continue to watch her, regardless of what she does.

Our society idolizes people like Kardashian who are simply just normal people. People get married.

People get divorced. Why do we have to pay ignorant people like Kardashian millions to do what everyone else already does? There are countless talentless fools whom our society has chosen to glorify for all the wrong reasons.

Celebrity worship also has the potential to create injustice in instances such as the trial of Orenthal James Simpson. O.J., a former superstar athlete, was accused of murder. The press had a field day.

The media broadcasted every single aspect of the trial to the American public and O.J. was not convicted of murder in criminal court, even though an overwhelming majority of Americans believed he was guilty.

An NBC poll taken in 2004 long after the verdict reported 77 percent of 1,186 people sampled thought Simpson was guilty. Later he wrote a book entitled “If I Did It” in which he provides grotesque “hypothetical” details of the murder. The point is, if O.J. had not been a celebrity, it could be very possible that O.J. would be rotting in prison to this very day.

Americans need to look up to people like Leland Hartwell, an American scientist, doctor and Nobel Prize winner, who discovered key cell reproduction processes in cancer cells and is taking steps to stop them. People need to stop admiring people who are unworthy of fame and treating those that are differently. It is time to stop the nonsense that is celebrity worship.

America is riddled with social problems that could be a direct result of this nonsensical adoration.

Americans need to idolize people like cancer doctors and scientists, not fools like the Kardashians.

“They did a good job of protecting us, but they didn’t inform us at all if something violent was going on or what.”

— Kayla Martie junior

“No, they did not handle it well. Honestly, I heard more from my friends in the hallways or people that were involved than from the school. The school kind of kept us in the dark about what was going on.”

— Landon Fitzpatrick senior

photos by Maddie Davis

The Rock surveyed 180 students Dec. 5.

No information

CPS emergency notification inadequate

W

hen a shooting occurs within spitting distance of a school, one would expect the administration to respond swiftly.

At RBHS administrators attempted to initiate a “code yellow” lock down.

But poor notification procedures caused the lock down to be less effective than it should have been.

The administration sent a three-sentence email that gave a brief description of the events to teachers and stated the school was under external lock down; teachers were to keep students out of the halls if possible.

However, without having told the teachers to be alert to the message, administrators assumed they would check their emails, a task many do not have time for during a typical class period.

The result: too many students ambled through the hallways

despite the potential danger.

Across the parking lot, the Columbia Area Career Center instituted a similar lock down using email notification. However, administrators there told teachers over the intercom to check their emails, informing all teachers of the situation.

In contrast, some teachers at RBHS were unaware of the lock down.

Lack of proper notification during shootings on or near campuses has had tragic consequences. In 2007 administrators at Virginia Tech waited two hours before notifying students and faculty of an on-campus shooting via email; 20 min-

utes after the notification, gunman Seung-Hui Cho opened fire in classrooms, killing 30 more people. The Virginia Tech administrators could have saved lives by notifying students of the danger earlier.

A shooting occurred a few seconds’ drive from RBHS. Meanwhile, too many students wa n d e r e d the halls d u r i n g lunch, Alternate Unassigned Time and fourth hour classes. It is fortunate that the failure to properly notify teachers of the situation did not end in disaster, as the gunman could have been inside RBHS before the initiation of the lock down.

The Rock staff voted Yes-4 No-29

RBHS’s response went against proper external lock down protocol, as dictated by the RBHS emergency management manual. According to the manual, administrators need to announce external lock downs to teachers and students via an announcement over the intercom. Under “code yellow” protocol, classroom activities and instruction will proceed as usual.

Protocol exists for a reason.

The incident that occurred on Providence constituted an external threat; let us hope we never face such a situation again, but if we do, administrators must follow the letter, as well as the intent, of the procedure.

Not notifying teachers or students of a lock down doesn’t just defeat the purpose of the procedure but places the lives of those within the building in danger.

In all future events, administrators must follow procedure to ensure the safety of the school.

Sleep benefits call for later school start time Walter Wang

Biological Clock

T

9:00 p.m.-7:30 a.m.

Secretion of melatonin

12:00 a.m.

infographic by Rose

10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Highest alertness and coordination

6:00 p.m.

6:00 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

THE

source: “The Body Clock Guide to Better Health,” Smolensky and Lamberg

ROCK

Rock Bridge High School 4303 South Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203-1798 Vol. 39. Issue 3 The Journalism: Newspaper and Honors Seminar classes produce The Rock. Please call us with comments at 573-214-3141.

The Rock’s purpose is to inform, educate, enlighten and entertain readers fairly and

he difference between being average and excelling may only be 25 minutes of sleep, according to a 1998 survey by the American Psychological Association. The study found students who got an extra 25 minutes of rest each night got more As and Bs than those who did not.

Columbia Public Schools needs to embrace such decades-old research and implement a later start time for secondary schools, as that will benefit students’ education and well-being.

Melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep and drowsiness, does not stop secreting in teenagers until 8 a.m. and does not start secreting until around 11 p.m. Teenagers need an average of about 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep each night in order to develop and function properly. A lack of sleep can lead to grogginess, depression and other health-related problems, according to sleepfoundation.org.

accurately in an open forum. The Rock is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and International Quill and Scroll.

Advertising is $55 for a quarter page, $95 for a half page and $130 for a whole page.

The Rock accepts letters from students, teachers and community members signed with a valid signature only.

The Rock reserves the right to edit contributions if they are libelous or obscene. Any grammatical errors at the fault of

However, students rarely receive anywhere close to that amount since there are only about 7.5 hours between 11 p.m. and the time students get up for school. According to the 2006 Sleep in America study, seniors only get 6.9 hours of rest each night.

Because of this sleep deficit, nearly 28 percent of all students fall asleep during first hour, according to sleepfoundation.org.

The solution to such sleep deprivation for Columbia students is simple: switch the current bus schedules for primary and secondary schools.

This would still allow primary school students to get their needed amounts of sleep.

According to webmd.com, bedtimes for primary school children range from 7:30 to 10 p.m., making the average time for bed 8:45 p.m. If elementary school starts at 8 a.m. and the kids get up at 7 a.m. to prepare for school, they will get a little more than 10 hours of sleep; according to sleepfoundation.org, children at that age need about 10 to 11 hours of sleep.

the writer will be printed.

Editors-in-Chief: Avantika Khatri, Jack Schoelz, Shivangi Singh News Editor: Sami Pathan Community Editor: Maria Kalaitzandonakes Features Editor: Kirsten Buchanan Personality Profiles Editor: Maddie Davis In-Depths Editor: NominErdene Jagdagdorj Editorials Editor: Walter Wang Commentary Editor: Abbie

Meanwhile, secondary students would be able to get their recommended amounts of sleep, as they would have nine hours between the start of melatonin secretion and getting up for school.

While parents may encounter difficulties in picking up their kids from school, this obstacle is no more inconvenient than schedule conflicts parents currently maneuver around in order to get their kids to school at 8:50 a.m. It would actually be easier for parents in the morning, as they can send their kids to school on their way to work. Participation in after school activities, such as adventure clubs, can push back pick-up times to be more aligned with a parent’s work schedules.

The CPS administration should switch the start times for primary and secondary school.

While it may cause disruption for a while, everyone will adapt to the new schedule. By swapping the current schedules, students will enjoy more rest, which will help them learn better, be more alert and develop healthier.

Powers Athlete Profiles Editor: Caraline Trecha Sports Editor: Emily Wright Arts & Entertainment Editors: Sonya Francis, Daphne Yu Design Editor: Jackie Nichols Managing Editor: Jackie Nichols Art Editor: Joanne Lee Artists: Kelly Brucks, Anna Sheals, Theresa Whang, Photography Editor: Halley Hollis Photographers: Muhammad Al-

Rawi, Asa Lory, Anna Sheals Chief Financial Officer: Rose McManus Staff Writers: Blake Becker, Alex Burnam, Jude El-Buri, Shannon Freese, Nadav Gov-Ari, Thomas Jamieson-Lucy, Maddie Magruder, Kaitlyn Marsh, Isaac Pasley, Mike Presberg, Lauren Puckett, Adam Schoelz, Parker Sutherland, Alyssa Sykuta, Mahogany Thomas, Luke Wyrick Advisor: Robin Fuemmeler Stover

16 ∙ Ads

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December 8, 2011

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Commentary ∙ 17

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

Check out The Rock’s website, BearingNews, which you can find on the school’s home page, for extended versions of these stories and more.

Forgiveness fills mind with peace Abbie Powers

M

Columbia charms natives

photo illustration by Halley Hollis

Lauren Puckett

W

hen I was 10 years old, Broadway started screaming my name. I wanted it more than anything. I wanted to board a plane to New York City and be the next star ­­­­­­­­­­­­­—­­­ my name in lights and voice carrying over crowds of 500 or more. I would travel to every theater in N.Y.C. and America.

Then I was going to head to Chicago. There I would open an art studio and eat muffins on my way to the Sears Tower, which I, of course, would visit every day.

And once I was bored with Chicago, I might make my way to Paris. There, I would probably fall in love with a handsome Frenchman who would take me to Vienna or perhaps Rome.

Then maybe I would settle down. Maybe.

All in all, I wanted to leave. I wanted to burst out of the little, small-town shell that was Columbia, Mo. and tackle Disney World, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo. I was 10 years old and not about to waste my life confined to a town that, in my mind, was directly in the middle of nowhere. Travel meant everything.

That is, it meant everything until, a few years ago, a local business gave me some perspective.

I was in ninth grade at Jefferson Junior High School, and it was job shadowing day, a time for me to step out and explore my career options.

By this point I was a little more realistic about my future. Dreams of “Phantom of the Opera” and “The Sound of Music” had faded, and I was intent on writing up humor and prose for travel magazines — 2011’s Most Beautiful Beaches and all that cliché goodness.

I spent my day shadowing some interns at Inside Columbia Magazine. I expected a calm atmosphere of relatively simple stories, ones about policy changes and police escapades.

I followed some ladies around the tiny building — jumping from copy room to desk, editor’s office to drinking fountain — with my eyes wide and hands clutching a mini spiral notebook.

It amazed me — how much there was to do, how everyone seemed to be charging determinedly around the newsroom. Columbia, the tiny hometown I grew up in, had a whole magazine full of things to say about it. I flipped through page after page of full-color pictures and unique, interesting stories.

Here was Flat Branch, and there was Buckingham’s, Roots’N’Blues, the Missouri Theatre. Kaldi’s Coffee and Sparky’s were both downtown and beloved. Poppy, Britches and Elly’s Couture matched a good number of stores I’d seen in Chicago. Then there was Jesse Hall, Stephens Lake, the Tiger Hotel­— all with hidden meanings and activities of their own.

Each place in the magazine seemed so familiar, yet so different from, to what I’d thought when I’d passed it on the bustling streets of some distant city.

For once I noticed the character each place possessed. I realized the bits of inner charm they all showcased that I never saw in Central Park or the Fox Theater. They were circulating with memories, of good times shared by every

member of the community because everyone knew what they were. Countless students have taken their picture by the Mizzou columns, the old ones and the new ones. Countless art junkies have scrutinized the strange sculptures that litter downtown.

Only my friends and I know what it’s like to roll down the Faurot Field hill on a rainy day. Only Columbians understand “cicada ice cream” and “day-old bread.” Only locals are strange enough to enjoy insects in their frozen custard or foot-long loaves of bread on the way to fourth hour chemistry. Only Columbians are strange enough to be that special.

As I noticed these things, I started to realize how much I love it here.

Columbia’s kind of a thing, and it’ll never really leave you, no matter how far you try to run away from it.

I’m not saying anyone should stay here forever.

That’s asking too much, but don’t ever take it for granted. There truly isn’t a town quite like it. You can try to enjoy cheap L.A. sandwiches on the way to work, but something about it will remind you of Pickleman’s lunches at RBHS. You can try to ignore the way Madison Square Garden reminds you of concerts at The Blue Note. You can even try to compare Shakespeare’s to New York-style pizza.

But the harder you try to leave Columbia, the harder it’s going to coax you to come right back home.

I realized the bits of inner charm they all showcased that I never saw in Central Park or the Fox Theater.

Competing for success

y new dress, crisp and unwaveringly smooth, lay like a pool of perfect turquoise: starched yet flouncy, hemmed and narrow at the waist — it was ready to wear. But one small splotch seemed to jump out of the stiff cotton frock, careless and sloppy, yelling through ugly, brownish tones: I am the supreme ruiner of dresses!

This little, tawny monster did not soak its presence through my dress on its own. My sister was sitting indifferently in the corner, flipping breezily through the pages of a book.

She, who had suffered nothing, was taking it all with so much ease. She, who did not have to give up the money she had earned through demanding baby-sitting sessions for a now soiled dress, just sat there, quite unaffected by this nasty stain. Injustice rang throughout my head — she knows what she did — and in my ears as all I could think to do was shout. Accusations simmered in the heat of rising rage.

But then the atmosphere shifted; my sister’s pride quickly evaporated as she fully recognized her wrong, and two sincere words came drifting from the corner of the room like a heartfelt melody: “I’m sorry.” With the rush of this solid apology, all my anger melted away.

A piece of clothing is not worth more than the happiness of the relationship I have with my sister. Nothing, in fact, could be more important than the strength of our bond. We make each other genuinely happy. Irrelevant problems and annoyances of everyday life are just put there to bother and test us. I’d rather feel content in acceptance than angry in rejection. I’ve always found the satisfaction of a newly restored friendship to be worth much more than the less wholesome pleasure of bitter sulking.

Throughout my 17 years, I’ve found a subtle kind of comfort in the simplicity of forgiveness. An apology has never been something I’ve had to fight, to struggle against, to feel too wounded or wronged to accept. After any argument or disagreement, the differences of opinions or betrayal of companionship that result can leave one with torn feelings. It’s easy and invigorating to stay upset with someone once he or she has committed a wrong, especially if that person deserves this anger, but forgiveness means overcoming the injury of another’s actions and mending the relationship entirely.

The ability to emotionally overcome someone else’s fault is as simple as letting go of rotting memories. The next step is to face that person and sincerely accept the past for what it was so that you both might move on to an unhindered future. While pride might make this process a challenge, the heart is willing to make it much simpler. The ability of the exhilarating words of forgiveness to create something so serene has helped me realize the weight of words and how free and empowered they make a person who uses them wisely.

Forgiveness strengthens the relationships I have with family and friends in a stress-releasing, harmonious way. It brings me ample amounts of tranquil comfort. But, most importantly, it allows me to glorify the present with complete happiness and peace in my heart.

Personal perseverance triumphs beating friends Avantika Khatri

L

ess out of motivation to be good at something and more out of a desire to be better than everyone else, I first started playing the violin in third grade. External motivation, in the form of awards and praise, drove me to practice obsessively my first two years of playing.

The program I was gave practice minute awards at the end of each term to the participant who practiced the most.

As a first-year, I was completely unaware of the award, but by my second year, I strove for nothing other than this prize and the recognition — to beat everyone else. So I practiced. A lot. I won the sparkling incentive: an electronic tuner, a candy cane-shaped tube filled with red and green M&M’s and the album “Beethoven’s Greatest Hits.” Then I stopped practicing.

The program ended, and I resumed music classes in fifth grade with no internal motivation to do well. I hadn’t learned how to enjoy the violin beyond having music teachers laud me in front of my peers about how much I practiced.

I stopped playing entirely by junior high, dawdling along in the school orchestra for a few years until I finally quit last year. I had a lost year.

They say junior year is the toughest — though as a senior I couldn’t find a more untrue statement — and I had no way of relieving the stress.

With newspaper late nights, less than stellar grades in all my classes and looming finals, when I could feel my brain cells imploding from exertion, I needed to do something.

At midnight, with my parents in bed and the neighborhood silent, I picked up my violin after months — some could say years — of abandonment and played the Darth Vader theme. Then I found it: motivation, competition with myself; whatever you want to call it.

There had been few instances up until that point when I played something just for the sake of playing it. I never enjoyed the music. While this wasn’t the cliché moment when I realized what I was doing wrong — I didn’t have one such moment — it was a contributing factor.

That it took me eight years to find the motivation to play the violin for my own sake was a little depressing.

But I finally understood the power internal motivation had over me, and I wanted to do well in school more for myself than to boost my college application.

There is a difference between competing with others and competing with oneself. The former is short-lived, temporary glory and, in my experience, results in much more bad than good.

The latter provides true satisfaction with one’s accomplishments. Instead of measuring myself against others, I feel good about where I am.

I see countless friends inflict misery upon themselves because of an obsession with outperforming everyone else: school, relationships, sports, everything.

Whenever I do well on a test, I am much more satisfied. When I perform poorly, I focus more on how I can improve rather than dwelling on how everyone else scored higher than I did.

I am much happier now that I can feel satisfaction with myself for doing well instead of waiting with baited breath for others to report scores and performances to me, and instead of having parents or peers motivate me to improve, I want to do great things for myself.

photo illustration by Asa Lory

18 ∙Athlete Profiles

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

Ice skater enjoys demanding sport Abbie Powers

C

ailin Currier learned to glide through life with grace, optimism and glitter. Since second grade the senior has skated her way to many achievements, both personal and national. She’s also developed a strong work ethic and a love for a sport that encompasses both artistry and physical toughness.

Ice skating is her sport, and she wears it with a sense of much deserved pride and familiarity; she has been working on mastering her figure skating skills since she was eight years old and has come quite far. Her dedication is fueled by the multitude of rewards and skills that come with this sport, both on and off the ice.

She has coaches in St. Louis and Jefferson City, and takes a number of hours out of each week for practice.

“Thursday nights I’m in Jeff City from 2:45 to 9 p.m.. And in St. Louis the sessions are usually two hours long,” Currier said of her rigorous schedule.

The amount of time Currier spends honing and perfecting her craft is just part of the challenging and demanding attributes that come along with ice skating.

“It gets frustrating sometimes because I feel like I could’ve gone a lot further if I had more oppor-

tunities here,” Currier said. “My coach in St. Louis is my primary coach, and I don’t get to see her that much. I don’t get to skate everyday like everyone else there does, so it’s hard feeling a little behind.”

While Currier’s circumstance is hard to handle and not ideal at times, the benefits and unique experience she gains from skating far outweigh its occasionally icy patches. Figure skating teaches her the value and benefits of tough determination and has grown to be a part of her own unique identity.

“The hard work is definitely rewarding,” Currier said. “Skating that show, or getting first place at that competition or passing that level, and just doing it, is fun for me. Knowing I worked hard and did well at a practice is satisfying.

And it’s different, so I like that about it, too.”

Currier’s sport not only adds to the way she appreciates and takes pride in her hard work and accomplishments, but also provides her with an optimistic base of support. Throughout her time on the rink, she learned how to use the positive spirit she needs to achieve greatness on the ice and off the ice as well.

“It’s taught me the power of positive thinking,” Currier said.

“Freshman year I was having a lot of trouble with skating because I would get really negative about it. I was in a rut with this one jump, and

I couldn’t get it. It took me forever, and I was just really discouraged and kept getting really negative. So I just had to teach myself to think positively, even though it was really hard, and that’s helped me in the rest of my life, too. Socially or in school or whatever, just having a positive attitude takes you a long way.”

This happy mode of thought took her to places only reachable through a great level of skill, talent, and a focused mind set with a desire to learn from success. She pulled off a huge endeavor solely because the attitude and experience she’s collected from her sport have made her strong enough.

Currier astounded and proved her capability as a skater when she took third place in State Games of America, which were held in Colorado in 2009.

“It was a big accomplishment because it’s a national competition,” Currier said. “And it’s the only one I’ve competed at so far, so I was really proud of it.”

Even though Currier has exhibited great talent as an ice skater, she realizes she can only get better. This constant potential for improvement doesn’t daunt her; it makes her even more enthusiastic and dedicated to her sport.

“There’s never really a point where you can’t improve,” Currier said. “Even the people who are in the Olympics doing triples

and quads, they can still attempt a five rotation jump instead of a four rotation jump. You can always try and push yourself harder.”

Currier’s sport entails hard work in a physical and creative way. It requires large amounts of technique and strength, but it also demands creativity, poise and coordination.

“There’s so much work and stamina you have to put into it, so I like the feeling of being rewarded in a sport aspect,” Currier said. “But I also really like that it’s combined with an art aspect, like you have to be graceful and correlate your program really well with the music for competitions or programs.”

Ice skating has allowed Currier to discover and construct certain values and ideals that will aide her as she conquers life’s hurtles, ice skates laced or not. But in the end, it comes down to the fact that Currier enjoys and loves what she does. While it pushes her to attempt the difficult and seemingly impossible, the experiences she collects and things she accomplishes make every skate worthwhile.

“Doing programs and shows is really rewarding, and you get to feel pretty,” Currier said. “If I didn’t do skating, I would do dance, so I really like being able to put a dance aspect into it and just make it look good. There’s a lot of glitter.”

Breaking the ice: Cailin Currier warms up before she begins actual practice. Currier often travels to Jefferson City several times a week to skate. photo by Halley Hollis

Uniform change fails to faze athlete Flipping for different team creates new relationships Caraline Trecha

A

fter being involved in gymnastics since she was seven years old, sophomore McKenna Blume wanted to flip things up a bit and try a different sport.

Upon arrival at RBHS this fall, Blume decided she was bored of gymnastics and wanted to find a team that would help her become more connected and active with RBHS. “I got burnt out with gymnastics, and it wasn’t really fun as it used to be,” Blume said. “I wanted to do something to be involved at Rock Bridge, and the only logical option was cheer, since I could transfer some of the gymnastics skills to cheer.”

Although Blume is glad she switched sports, she still misses the great feeling of mastering a flip that she had been trying to accomplish for a while.

“My favorite thing about gymnastics was learning a new skill and finally being successful with it after working at it for so long,” Blume said.

Blume said one convenient aspect of her new sport is that it takes less time than gymnastics did. As a gymnast, Blume kept herself busy spending her time after school from 4 to 8 p.m., four days a week.

“There are definitely time commitment differences,” Blume said. “Cheer has much shorter practices. When I was doing gymnastics, it pretty much took up my whole life, whereas with cheer this is more free time. On the other hand, the week of state we had cheer practices before school, which we never did for gymnastics.”

Blume said gymnastics required a lot of

effort and time, taking away from her relationships with friends and making it difficult to enjoy the high school experience.

“I think gymnasts have less time for a social life, so their friends are their teammates in the gym, and their teammates become their family,” Blume said. “Cheerleaders have more social time.”

However, the hardest part of switching sports for Blume was adjusting to a new team. Though she said she has developed strong new friendships, she has drifted apart from her old teammates.

“The thing I miss most about gymnastics is definitely my teammates,” Blume said. “We spent so much time together; they were like family to me. After I started to get to know everyone, I made so many more friends from school than I did when I was doing gymnastics.”

Another obstacle Blume encountered was catching up with the cheer skills that everyone else had learned and practiced for years. She had to acquire new techniques.

Before quitting gymnastics, Blume had passed nine out of 10 levels, so she was able to use those advanced tumbling skills during cheer.

“Cheer and gymnastics both involve tumbling, which is one of the reasons why I chose to do cheer,” Blume said.

Blume’s adjustment was easier with her teammates’ support and determination. Her teammate, senior Elizabeth Flanagin, said Blume’s positive attitude and vibe created a great atmosphere for the girls to get along.

“McKenna is a great tumbler who has a lot of background in gymnastics, and I

know that helps her out a lot,” Flanagin said. “I think she is just a really fun, happy, positive person, and I think she leads the team in that way, just her attitude in general.”

Blume said she has grown as a team leader through many team bonding events such as the RBHS cheerleading camp this summer.

“My favorite memory of cheer this year is our camp at the Lake of the Ozarks,” Blume said. “I had just gotten surgery but still went parasailing with my boot on.”

Blume said her first year as a cheerleader turned out to be a success. She was able to continue following her passion of gymnastics while also helping her RBHS win a state title.

“My favorite thing about cheer is getting to go to all the football games and meeting all the people,” Blume said. “I loved my seniors this year, and they made my experience with Rock Bridge cheer really good this year. I also had a lot of fun competing at state and winning.”

Blume is hoping to continue her team’s success through preparation for the national competition. With practice and support from her new teammates, Blume believes her stunts and flips will carry her team far against tough competition.

“I am hoping that we do well at state this year and I can use my talents to make the team better,” Blume said. “I feel like we have a good chance because I can bring new tumbles and the impressive full twisted layout. Nationals will be an exciting experience, and I think that we need to continue practicing so that we can bring it all to the floor.”

photo illustration by Asa Lory

Sports ∙ 19

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

Pole vaulters embrace off-season Shannon Freese

F

or the typical human, getting 10 feet off the ground with his or her own power may be difficult, but for pole vaulters, it’s just another training day.

For them, after school is a chance to fly high. Even though the season doesn’t start until late February, the pole vaulters are already preparing themselves with preseason conditioning and training.

Unlike last year, however, they don’t always head down to “the pit,” the place where the pole vaulting equipment is set. These days the pole vaulters are putting away their poles and grabbing carabineers for rock climbing, one activity within the various styles of training.

“Fridays are rock climbing. It’s just kind of a nice break from everything,” junior Krista Blomenkamp said. “Pole vault is a fullbody workout. You have to be pretty overall strong to pole vault.

And the rock climbing reinforces that. It takes all body parts to get up the wall as it does to get over the pole vault.”

Preseason included practicing in a swimming pool during the summer. Pole vault coach Patrick Sasser said the training helps the coaches break down specific parts of the form.

“There’s lots of drills you can do into the pool that make it a good [style of training.] You can go in slow motion and really break down people’s form,” Sasser said.

“So we pole vault into pools and in pools.”

Along with other new types of preseason training, rock climbing has come about under the direction of a new coach, Anthony Alphin. He and Sasser will train the team together as the season begins.

“This will be [Alphin’s] first year coaching, so we haven’t actually done any coaching necessarily together this year,” Sasser said.

“He’s done lots of preseason stuff with the kids already. It’s been a really dedicated group that he

The technique of pole vaulting

Composition of a Vaulting Pole Specifically designed for the user’s weight and height, modern vaulting poles are made of three layers of fiberglass and/or carbon-fiber cloth impregnated with resin. When heated, the combination forms a lightweight composite. The outer layer determines stiffness, while the two inner layers are for strength and flexibility.

Crossbar

Pit Runway

1. Approach

2. Plant

The faster the vaulters sprint down the runway, the more energy they transfer to the pole when they plant it in the box.

Ideally, the athletes reach top speed in no more than 10 or 12 strides.

Entering the box at an 18-degree angle, the pole should bend about 70 percent of its original height, or between 120 and 160 degrees, depending on the vaulters’ height and momentum.

3. Takeoff

Box 4. Over the Top

The potential energy in the bent pole is transferred back to the athletes’ body as kinetic energy. The vaulters jump high into the air and pull themselves into a handstand as the pole starts to straighten.

Flying through the air, the vaulters contort their bodies so that they are facing the crossbar.

Vaulters use gymnastics training — such as tucking, rolling and handstands — to help master this maneuver.

infographic by Joanne Lee, source: Popular Mechanics magazine

works with.”

Blomenkamp said the two will make a perfect pair for coaching.

Although she hasn’t seen them in action yet, she is excited for what the pole vaulting team has in store.

Alphin “is a really funny guy.

I haven’t been around him much lately, but he’s definitely very lighthearted and a lot of fun, and he actually feels more like a friend and a mentor than a coach,” Blomenkamp said. “He keeps us focused in a way that feels like he’s treating us as people and not just as athletes.”

The upperclassmen witnessed the transformation with the program, branching out from previous years. In senior Shannon Amiot’s freshman year as a pole vaulter, the program was much smaller than it is now. Five pole vaulters, including Amiot, made up the team. During that time, Sasser coached not only pole vaulting but also long and triple jumps.

“The number [of pole vaulters] continued to grow as my sophomore and junior year passed,” Amiot said. “And this year, we

expect about 25. Things have been changing obviously as our numbers grew. [There were] 18 last year, and we didn’t know how to handle it. Kansas City is used to 45 vaulters and has three pits and hundreds of poles because all of their Olympic vaulters donate to their high schools and indoor clinics.”

Junior Matt Bush, who cleared a personal best of 13 feet last year, is also excited for the addition to the coaching staff. Bush said the pole vaulters have been lifting together earlier in the year, and he

appreciates the options the new coach brings to the team.

Alphin “is a pole vaulting veteran, and a great coach,” Bush said.

“He is really getting involved with the vaulters by holding training sessions and taking us to indoor vaulting facilities in the winter.”

Alphin said he will be dedicated to the team. Even though it is his first year coaching here, it is not his first experience with pole vaulting. Alphin’s pole vaulting career goes all the way back to his high school days.

“I am blessed to be able to help

out with the track team because track is something that I love,” Alphin said. “Being able to do things in life that you truly love is an honor, and I am happy to be a part of it.”

Both the new and the old coaches came to the same conclusion about the level of difficulty pole vaulting requires. Alphin said the unnatural aspect of the sport only draws him into it further.

Sasser agrees it demands a different type of athlete.

“It’s challenging,” Sasser said.

“You have to be a boss.”

20 ∙ Sports

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

For extended coverage and photos of this week’s games, go to Bearing News, http://www. columbia.k12.mo.us/ rbhs/bearingnews/.

Swimmers regroup Isaac Pasley

T

he girls’ swim team has undergone a monumental face lift this year.

In the past, the team was small, with only 11 swimmers competing last year. However, this year’s team includes an expanded roster of 43 swimmers among both Hickman and RBHS and new coach Karen Steger.

“It’s different with the new coach because a lot of girls are swimming this year,” sophomore Kortney Betz said. “Everyone’s going to be at state, and it will be a good time.”

With this team much bigger than last year’s, the swimmers and coach have new responsibilities. The team, which used to practice after school, now has to practice from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m., since that is the only time available for the coach.

“Mornings aren’t the greatest, but it’s the only time we have to get in the pool,” Betz said.

Steger, however, doesn’t think the early hours of practice will negatively affect her swimmers.

“It was hard to get used to, but [assistant coach Peter] Willett and I have become used to being up early with the boys’ season,” Steger said. “We’ve realized that the ones we have got now are committed to the program and doing what’s best, and if that means getting up before 5 a.m. and going to school with wet hair smelling like chlorine, then they’ll do it.”

Despite the early practice time, the girls have positive opinions of their new coach.

The new coach “is super fun,” senior Kate Walker said.

“It’s really great that our new coach is working so well with us and our club coach so far.

Our club coach and our high school coach get along. They have come up with a pretty solid plan that determines who is going to what practices.”

The girls’ dream is to win state, but even if that doesn’t happen, they are determined to improve.

“Maybe we’ll have a chance at a state title, [but] whatever happens, happens,” Betz said.

“Swim team this year is really about coming together and doing it for the school.”

For the nearly 40 years that RBHS has existed, the girls’ swim team has never won state. Nevertheless, Steger sees potential in her team.

“I think it’s going to be a great season, and I think it’s only going to keep getting better,” Steger said. “These are some of the hardest working, most committed swimmers I have worked with in my nine years as a high school coach, and I only see great things to come.”

Many of the swimmers agree with Steger. They, too, say their team has an exciting future in store.

“We definitely have a run at a state title,” Walker said. “We have already looked at the times from past state meets, and I think that with our solid talent level, we can do something good.”

However, Walker acknowledges the road ahead will be challenging because of stiff competition.

“Glendale is pretty fast, and Blue Springs is pretty good,” Walker said. “A lot of girls have junior national times and are doing really well. We have a really young team.”

The girls’ first chance to prove themselves will be Dec. 10, when they travel to Marquette in Chesterfield, Mo., at the Marquette Relays.

“Last year we didn’t have that many girls, but this year we have so many girls with so much talent, so it is all coming together,” Betz said. “We are ready to swim fast.”

photo by Asa Lory

Defending the court: Freshman Sophie Cunningham plays defense against Blue Springs Saturday during the Norm Stewart Classic at Columbia College. The Bruins had their first loss of the season to Blue Springs with a final score of 4246.

Basketball girls seek revenge Emily Wright

A

fter losing the district finals game to Jefferson City by one point last season, the girls’ basketball team is wanting revenge. These Bruins believe the disappointment and disbelief they experienced after last year’s upset is just the motivation they need to work as one unit to make it to the state championships in March.

“The fact that we lost at districts last year is definitely giving us an edge this year.

We want to go out giving it all we can in every game,” senior Nicole Montgomery said.

“We know we have what it

takes to be at that level, and we just need to keep working hard to get there.”

For Montgomery and her team, “working hard” has meant hours of practice. Since the first week of November, the team has spent two to three hours each day practicing. To Montgomery, improving individual skill is not as important as improving the collective ability of the team to work well together, especially with added freshman Division I recruits Sophie Cunningham and Cierra Porter.

“It’s good to know we have a lot of good people coming in, and it’s good to challenge yourself against them be-

cause you get to think, ‘Oh, I’m playing well against a D-I player,’” Montgomery said.

“Integrating them into our plays is really important.”

Assistant coach Amanda Dablemont said this integration has gone smoothly because of impressive efforts by the upperclassmen. In addition, many players are connected through familial ties, helping the youth find their place on the team with ease.

“It’s hard for freshmen to come in and really gel,” Dablemont said. “It’s very unusual for us because the girls are familiar with the freshmen already because their older sisters are already on the team. We are lucky be-

Wrestlers stand their ground Thomas Jamieson-Lucy

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restling coach Travis Craig has emphasized defensive technique. The team’s goal is to avoid take downs and pins by perfecting its defensive skills and outlasting its opponents on the mat through being in superior shape.

“We’ve been working on defense a lot,” Craig said. “If you’re in good shape and the other person is not in as good as shape as you — if you can keep the match close defensively by not giving up a lot of points at the beginning — that person is going to become a much easier wrestler to wrestle in the later part of the match.”

In wrestling, points are awarded for certain moves each participant performs. A wrestler can win a match with a pin by trapping an opponent’s shoulders against the mat for two seconds. Instead of taking an aggressive approach and attempting to get take downs and pins, this team wants to outlast its opponents through defense and earning points through defensive moves.

“We’re practicing a lot of defense so we can get points for sprawling, and we’re also jogging to get ready,” junior Andy Zhang said. “We’re just trying to get in the best shape we can.”

In order for this strategy to work they have to try hard in practice. Zhang said practices are tough right now, but the hard work will translate into the team winning more matches.

“We‘re defending more so we won’t give up shots so we can get more points,” Zhang said. That way “we’ll tire our opponents out and we can win easier.”

As the team progresses through its schedule, it will build upon the foundation of basic defensive techniques. From there the Bruins will transition to work on more detailed aspects of their wrestling skill set.

“At this point we’re not focused on just these first matches. Obviously we’re working hard trying to get in shape, trying to work on the basic technique things that we need to know for the foundation of what our wrestling team’s about,” Craig said. “After these first matches, we’re going to evaluate what we’ve done right, what we’ve done wrong and what we can work on.”

For senior Trent Johnson, who wrestles at 145 pounds, mastering basic defensive techniques during his sophomore year helped him to keep wrestling matches close. Even when he was up against a skilled opponent, it allowed him to keep the score close and give him a chance to win. Now that he is a senior, Johnson is passing those important fundamental skills on to the underclassmen.

“We’ve been going over basic stuff we all should know, teaching young guys some of the basic things too,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to really get our technique and our footwork back from being off in the offseason to get back on our wrestling track and the shape we need to be in to start the season.”

Johnson’s goal for this year is to win each close match in which he participates. He believes if he can do this, he will be satisfied with his performance at the end of the season. He has already started this winning in an overtime match in the team’s first dual against Hickman which ended in a close 28-30 loss.

The rest of the team has a similar goal.

They want to work hard and get better every day. If they can do this, they will be satisfied with what they achieve.

“Every year we don’t set necessarily achievement goals. We don’t set out to win the state tournament or anything like that. We have guys that are good enough to do that, but our philosophy is that we want to go out and each practice each day and work hard,” Craig said. “If we do those things consistently throughout the year, then the achievement will take care of itself.”

photo by Muhammad Al-Rawi

Defensive strategy: Sophomore Genero Cabrera wrestles an opponent from Kirksville’s JV Nov. 29. The Bruins won the match with a final score of 45-43.

cause they are really talented, but they’re already a part of the group.”

In order to help the younger players and older players connect, the coaches held a retreat Nov. 18 where the girls spent the night in the gym.

They were grouped by grade level, and each performed a skit making fun of the others.

To junior Hannah Dressler, bonding sessions such as this have been key in developing a team which comes together on the court.

“A district championship is our first goal obviously but getting the chemistry going is the most important right now,” Dressler said. “We know we can be a good team,

but we have to show it out on the court.”

The girls will try to increase their 3-1 winning record as they take on 2010 state qualifier Lafayette at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at home.

They hope early season wins will give them the experience necessary to play well when it matters most — Feb. 20 in the first game of the district tournament.

“We all have one dream of making it to the state championships, making it as far in the post-season as we can,” Dressler said. “So we’re just trying to work our butts off to get to that point so that we don’t end up how we did last year.”

Youth step up Boys’ basketball lost seniors Jackie Nichols

A

s basketball season rolled around, the team realized the lack of veteran leaders attending tryouts and practice.

Besides the five seniors who graduated last year, four returning players will not be on the roster.

One of the varsity players missing from the team is senior Coltin Hermann. After coming off a 7-4 winning football season, he said he would not return to the court this year.

“I decided not to play because I’m just kind of burnt out of the sport,” Hermann said. “It’s not as fun as it used to be, and I’m honestly just ready to be done with sports.”

Even though Hermann’s name is not on the roster, he is a fan cheering on the guys he has called teammates and best friends for so many years.

“I will miss playing with them. Some of the guys are a few of my best friends, and I’ve grown up playing with them so that will be tough to watch,” Hermann said. “But on the other side, I’m excited to watch them play and help cheer them on.”

Center senior Austin Ray faced the same decision. He chose to come off the gridiron and make the transition to the court. The senior verbally committed to the University of Colorado — Boulder for football and missed tryouts for basketball because of a late playoff run.

“It took me a little while to weigh out the pros and cons,” Ray said. “But as the season came around, I knew I had to play since it’s my senior year and the opportunity we have in front of us this year.”

With final four runs last year and in 2009, where it fell to Troy Buchanan in the semi-finals, the team has a clear goal in mind coming into the season. The Bruins know they could have a chance to win a state title and make history.

“We still have a lot [of se-

niors]. We have seven. They are a good seven. They work hard and they are going to have to do a lot this year,” head coach Jim Scanlon said.

“The best players will play.

And the thing about it is some of our better players are our younger kids, so there is competition with the older kids.”

The ratio of underclassmen to seniors on the court has caused team dynamics to change, Scanlon said. Younger Bruins returning to the starting lineup have taken on more pressure to step up and fill the big shoes they were left with.

“We all have to work as a team to lead the team, which is a good thing so we all act as one,” sophomore guard Nick Norton said. “Scanlon is doing the same stuff, but putting [underclassmen] in there hoping we can do better than last year and what they did. Everyone thinks we lost a lot, and they don’t think we’re going to be that good this year.”

Even though some of the seniors will not be on the court this year, senior Carter Marcks knows he will continue to get support from the “team” of guys who won’t be making plays. Keeping their friendships strong off the court will fill the holes in chemistry created by senior absences.

“All the seniors have a connection through the past years playing together, and we will continue to maintain friendships,” Marcks said.

“Last year was an amazing run, but we have some unfinished business to address.”

Coming off a 95-32 win over Central Kansas City Friday Dec. 2, the Bruins kept the momentum going into Saturday night’s game. They defeated second-ranked Nixa at Columbia College 77-69.

This early season victory surged confidence into the young team going into Monday night’s game against St. Dominic at Troy Buchanan High School in Troy, Mo. Again, the Bruins emerged as the winner with a final score of 68-35.

Arts & Entertainment ∙ 21 Today in the music world

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

Sonya Francis

Ozzy Osbourne Dec. 8, 2003, Ozzy Osbourne’s body guard rushed him to a hospital. What for? A four-wheeling accident he had in his very own front yard in England. Now that’s classy. The four-wheeler flipped and pinned Ozzy to the terrain, causing a shattered collarbone, six broken ribs, internal bleeding and a fractured vertebrae.

Near death because of the injury, he stopped breathing and lost his pulse; luckily, he lived after his guard revived him.

Jimi Hendrix

art by Theresa Whang

During the peak of his musical career, Jimi Hendrix went to the Toronto Supreme court for possession of hashish and heroin substances Dec. 8, 1969. In his court appearance, he admitted to having smoked pot four times, smoked hash five times, dropped LSD five times and snorted cocaine twice. However, he claimed he had “outgrown drugs.”

The jury found him not guilty for his convincing display of sobriety. Sadly, Jimi Hendrix’s music creations came to a complete halt less than a year later. Sep. 18, 1970, he died at the age of 27 of an involuntary overdose of sleeping pills after a party in Notting Hill.

John Lennon

art by Kelly Brucks

Exactly 31 years ago today, a legendary man lost his life at the age of 40. Mark David Chapman, an alleged fan waiting for an autograph, shot and killed John Lennon Dec. 8, 1980, outside his N.Y.C. apartment.

In fact the famous photo by Annie Leibovitz of Lennon curling up with Yoko Ono nude was a short three hours before his death. It would be the last photo of him and the two of them together.

art by Anna Sheals

photo used with permission from AP

photo used with permission from AP

“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” peaks Dec. 8, 1973, at No. 2.

Dec. 8, 1976, the band releases its fifth and most memorable and recognized album “Hotel California.” photo used with permission from AP

Hugo proves magical to viewer

“

Abbie Powers

H

ugo” was meant to be fascinating. Budgeted at $150 to $170 million and both directed and produced by iconic filmmaker Martin Scorsese, this movie had the potential to be grand in theory — and in theory only. But it did well without the help of its extravagant upbringing; with a genuinely unique and intriguing story line, soaring cinematography and charming characters, “Hugo” proved itself as captivating as magic and heart themselves.

Hugo Cabret, from whom the movie takes its title, is a wide-eyed young boy who lives within the walls of a bustling, Parisian train station. This steely maze of steam and hidden towers was once the workplace and home of his drunken, absent uncle who inherited the boy after his father, portrayed by Jude Law (“The Holiday,”) died.

The only thing left of his intelligent, loving father is the automaton the two were in the process of repairing. The robot, which was quite creepy and fearful in its broken state, became the source of purpose in Hugo’s life — his happiness and father’s honor riding on the completion of its full functionality.

When Hugo discovers the goddaughter of the train station’s magician, Isabelle, possesses the heart-shaped key his machine needs to come alive,

the two quickly become confidences in a swirling adventure. This journey takes them on a discovery that entwines the present with a reflection of a significant, cinematographic past.

Succulently vibrant tones, crisp 3D footage and sweeping shots of an enchantingly rich 1930s backdrop lavishly capture this large-scale extravaganza. Set in old-time Paris, the film and its characters seem secluded in their own gorgeously sparkling, snowy bubble. But what makes the film subtly offputting, yet also somewhat more sincere and satisfying, is that everything in it is applicable to real life.

While some situations may be exaggerated or impossibly risky in the real world, like when Hugo jumps out a window in escape to the slippery ledge of the train station’s clock tower while it’s snowing and dark outside, the movie holds not one bit of pure fantasy. All pieces of the puzzle — the mesmerizing mysteries, the gripping ups and downs, the heart wrenching anticipation, the depth of unknown ciphers — are real. They are not things we long to be true; they carry no hope for an unreachable, vapid dreamland.

Because of the truth and wonder of all its exciting secrets, “Hugo” brings to the audience a sense of attainable magic — one that fills its viewers with wonder and joy they can genuinely feel comforted by and ecstatic about. It gives them a feeling of awe that they know they could actually hold in their

hands unlike “Harry Potter” which just makes everyone depressed because the audience knows it’ll never be real.

Although this enduringly majestic truth is refreshing and exhilarating, it also seems to go hand -in-hand with the film’s somewhat dark undertones. When a movie’s central character is a struggling orphan, it’s natural that the film’s theme should be slightly tough and moody, and in a movie like “Hugo,” the effect is a dramatic sense of secretive despair for the main character.

Since the whole movie was one running secret, the tragedy of Hugo the orphan and his drive to tackle the mysteries he holds are not sugarcoated in insignificant fluff. The grandiose reality of his life allows the film to both enrapture and enlighten.

Delightfully mature actors Asa Butterfield (“The Wolfman,” “The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas”) and Chloe Grace Moretz (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “500 Days of Summer”) portray the young characters of Hugo and Isabelle in a sharp and sweet fashion.

Butterfield’s sparkling, blue eyes add to Hugo’s fierce innocence, and Moretz’s performance is flawless. That girl is going places.

“Hugo” is a well-rounded film with an abundance of visually pleasing footage and fast-paced captivation. The magic of this movie carries audience members lightly through a deeply enchanting story filled with enough sentiment to make them fall in love.

Orange Leaf fulfills every expectation Orange Leaf 2101 W. Broadway #101 Ordered: Eggnog Frozen Yogurt

Maddie Davis

L

photo by Halley Hollis

ocated at 2101 W. Broadway, Orange Leaf has a refreshingly open venue with satisfying yogurt, helpful workers and plenty of parking. The wooden floors are clean, and the sparkly, orange tiles on the walls shine, making the appearance of Orange Leaf clean and unusually exciting.

The music plays through the speakers at just the right volume with a soft, smooth blend of older pop and today’s biggest hits, one flat screen broadcasting a football game. Right away, the atmosphere is very appealing and welcoming.

Upon entering, workers behind the cash register and door offer help to someone confused by how the frozen yogurt bar works. Through suggesting their own favorite combinations and being noticeably happy, the employees, delightful to be around, make the trip to Orange Leaf enjoyable.

Like other frozen yogurt shops in town, Yogoluv,

201 S. 9th St., and Red Mango, 1009 E. Broadway, there are different flavors and toppings to choose from as well as hours throughout the week that fit well into the customer’s schedule. However, because of the smaller spaces that Yogoluv and Red Mango have, their selections are rather limited in comparison.

Orange Leaf’s featured yogurt flavors range from sweet Snickerdoodle to tangy pineapple. After choosing basic flavors for a personalized creation, a bar of toppings is available to the customer. From first glance the options may seem overwhelming, but then they quickly become a flavorful, exciting addition to a cold treat, where a combination of delectable garnishes can be combined to satisfy one’s taste buds.

Like the actual yogurt and add-ons, the seating is also fantastic. Instead of being crammed into a stool too short for a person to sit comfortably in, one can sit in regular sized chairs that make eating the dessert that much better. Not to mention, the shovel-like spoons play a large part in how enjoyable the whole experience is.

Overall, Orange Leaf is the best frozen yogurt place in town. The atmosphere is what makes Orange Leaf stick out from the competition. Of course, the yogurt is phenomenal, and the toppings are seemingly endless in variety. The ambience and taste make the shop memorable.

We asked

you answered: 1) Which artist makes you turn off the radio fastest? photo used with permission from AP

releases its first single “Surfin” Dec. 8, 1961.

art by Theresa Whang

Eagles

Elton John

Beach Boys

1) Justin Bieber

70 votes

2) Nickelback

43 votes

3) Lady Gaga

26 votes

4) Britney Spears

21 votes

5) T-Pain

14 votes

6) Rihanna

8 votes

2) What is this generation’s replacement for the television show “Friends?”

photo used with permission from AP

1) Modern Family

60 votes

2) The Office

41 votes

3) Big Bang Theory

36 votes

4) Family Guy

21 votes

5) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia 19 votes The Rock surveyed 180 students at the beginning of November.

22 ∙ Arts & Entertainment

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

Lost Jobs

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CAMINO 6.EL — THE BLACK KEYS MUSIC COMMITTE 8.COLLEGE — CONCERT AT BLUENOTE WITH THE DRAGON 9.GIRL TATTO HANCE 10. DARYL — CONCERT AT MOJOS STAGE WHISPER 13. — CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG JENKINS 14. BRANDON — CONCERT AT BLUENOTE DO YOU WANT 15. WHAT — JERROD NIEMANN DREAMER 20. THE — COMMON AUSTIN KOLB BAND 23. — CONCERT AT MOJOS

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Maria Kalaitzandonakes

DECEMBER MUSIC CALENDAR

BLUE NOTE CONCERT — COLLEGE MUSIC COMMITTE PRESENTS

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Steve Jobs’ eulogy astounds readers

20

images used under fair use exception to copyright law

23

art by Joanne Lee and Anna Sheals

teve Jobs,” the nearly 600-page iBio by Walter Isaacson, is a provocative retelling of a modern genius’ life. Isaacson takes readers on an intimate journey through Jobs’ life, giving them front row seats to all of his personal and professional days of importance. As the readers turn the pages, they can’t help but wonder if one thing changed in Jobs’ life, would the world be the same place it is today?

More than just no laptops or iPhones, the music industry would still consist of mostly illegally downloaded music. Design would be different; computers and other electronics would be thick and chunky. Hobbyists and work-users would monopolize the technology marketplace. Globalization would have slowed.

“Steve Jobs” is much more than a history of technology, though; it’s a carefully spun fairytale about a half-hippie, half-CEO with a brain full of ideas and the personality to do something with them.

Isaacson’s book starts with luck. Jobs’ birth parents considered abortion but chose a closed adoption for the pregnancy. He cited Jobs’ first inspiration for creating products as his adoptive father: a mechanic. With his mother’s patience and his father’s tools he began fiddling with electronics in grade school.

With poetic commentary and straightforward facts, Isaacson weaves the story of Jobs’ not-so-normal college experience. Jobs skipped classes, preferring meditation and LSD to open his creative mind. Jobs said some of his greatest ideas came from these moments.

Without paying college tuition, he began taking only classes which interested him, like calligraphy, which later led to the numerous fonts he inspired on personal computers.

Isaacson shows Jobs’ fierce perfectionism as he recounts the history of Jobs’ three companies: Apple, Next and Pixar. Isaacson notes all of Jobs’ CEO qualities: the good and the bad, from his brilliant design work and his ability to incite enthusiasm, to his “distorting reality” syndrome and childish tantrums.

The book never gives Jobs an excuse for all of his rude outbursts toward colleagues and friends, but Isaacson does show Jobs’ life on the home front — a man always home for dinner with his children and his wife.

Jobs spent many nights working on just the right look of a button. He made difficult and risky choices in mergers and sales to keep the industry of personal computers alive.

When doctors diagnosed Jobs with cancer, he refused immediate surgery that could have saved his life. He instead meditated and went on juice fasts, not even telling his board of directors he was sick.

Later, when he finally allowed doctors to operate and put him through chemotherapy, it was too late. The tumors had grown and multiplied, and Jobs sadly began to wither away.

This reflective book captures Jobs in just the right light: slightly nuts, but passionate. Isaacson was true to Jobs’ belief in perfection, minimalism and technology.

The book demonstrated perfection, depending on over 40 interviews to confirm and enhance Jobs’ story.

The book worked towards minimalism: don’t be fooled by its girth. “Steve Jobs” is woven in a storybook manner which never leaves the reader bored. It focuses on technology, telling the back-story of Jobs’ life and his incredible contributions to the technological world.

The end of Isaacson’s book and Jobs’ 56 years of life is almost heartbreaking. After reading such intimate details of Jobs’ life, the readers feel as if they are losing not just a world renowned genius, but a friend. The book brings closure to the wonderful life of Jobs.

But the end of the book shows a side of Jobs most people never saw: contemplative, quiet and ready to face death.

None of Jobs’ products had conventional on/off switches. He preferred for them to just “fall asleep.” And as he mournfully spoke of his terminal cancer, one can hope that Jobs would be like that. One can hope that he was built so creatively that simply being “turned off” was not possible.

Jobs simply fell asleep.

New music satisfies, aggravates listeners Rihanna album fails to deliver Alex Burnam

New Death Cab bothers older fans Black Keys’ “El Camino” pleases Shannon Freese

I

t is a daunting task to listen to an entire pop album, and Rihanna’s newest brainchild is no exception.“Talk that Talk” is nothing short of bipolar.

It begins with a track titled “You Da One.” The pop star yells the same line repeatedly while a poorly crafted techno-beat pumps in the background.

The second song, “Where Have You Been,” is an entirely different story. Rihanna’s singing talent is prominent throughout the beginning, and just when it seems the song is only going to consist of her crooning mysteriously into the night, an extremely sexy techno beat drops which makes repressing fist pumps a daunting task. Thankfully, the third track follows the same pattern.

The album’s name-bearing track, “Talk That Talk” features Jay-Z, an amazing rapper.

The next four tracks force a tidal wave of musical fecal matter onto the eardrums. “Cockiness,” “Birthday Cake,” “We All Want Love” and “Drunk On Love” are utter garbage and no human being should listen to them. After listening to these songs for fifteen seconds, it’s obvious to skip them.

Track nine, “Roc Me Out,” displayed the schizophrenic magic of “Talk that Talk” by delivering a downright catchy beat with equally pleasing vocals.

All in all, “Talk That Talk” has a few diamonds, surrounded by a whole lot of rough.

F

ans of Death Cab for Cutie have forever known the band for their indie slow jams. Their albums are the soundtrack to many break-up cry sessions, and its longtime business partners Ben & Jerry’s always provides ice cream. In their album that came out Nov. 22, Death Cab takes on a new audience.

Death Cab expanded on their previous album, “Keys and Codes” which debuted in May this year; the album contains those tracks remixed by other artists.

Prior fans of Death Cab would never consider pairing the soulful, dark music with techno remixes, but for some odd reason, it works. It’s like a chocolate covered chip: strange yet satisfying.

The techno beat is too much at times, sometimes overpowering Death Cab’s usual undertone of soul. While the balance of the faster beat with sadder songs like “Some Boys (RAC Maury Mix)” is quite appealing, others like “Underneath the Sycamore (Dillon Francis Remix)” become about the beat and not the actual music.

As a matter of fact, the original “Underneath the Sycamore” is barely utilized. The beat itself takes over and could be used as a track after extracting the small contribution the song made to the remix.

The new Death Cab album will bring in an interesting array of fans and could possibly be a vehicle for the band to escape teenage girls’ bedrooms and enter a new realm of fandom. However, previous Death Cab fans might find the album disappointing because of the pure mutilation the techno beat brings on some of the songs.

Sonya Francis

W

ithout relying on computer-generated talent as most musicians do today, the Black Keys embody the raw skill that makes great rock. Their latest album, “El Camino,” which came out Tuesday, is no exception.

For those aware of this duo’s talent, the album will exceed expectations, desperate for one more to make an even dozen tracks. Their sound is still fresh after seven albums, and new listeners can welcome an experience that anyone with a passion for music will enjoy.

The first track is “Lonely Boy.” It starts with an intriguing sound, similar to that of the previous six albums, but laced with a new sensation through its husky tone and attitude.

The lyrics of “Lonely Boy” explain a grudge toward an exgirlfriend which was established in 2010’s “Brothers.” What’s a rock album without love for an undeniable girl with daddy issues?

With a somewhat 1960s feel “El Camino” has every element needed to be a success. “She’s the worst thing I’ve been addicted to,” in the song “Run Right Back” is a personal favorite. The words create an emotional connection that conveys relationships in a stripped state of honesty. The song has just enough sugar with even more spice.

Whether to soak up the album, or to start the day right, everyone is sure to be pleased. A pump up song, an emotional craving, or a fire that only the best of the best can craft, “El Camino’s” simplicity surely creates the right feel.

Arts & Entertainment ∙ 23 Musicians compete for All-State December 8, 2011

Daphne Yu

A

s musicians attend different competitions, one thing they cope with on a regular basis is controlling nerves before and during an audition.

No matter how much anyone prepares, pressure is always present.

On Saturday, Dec. 3, 31 band students and three orchestra students battled nerves at the annual All-State Ensemble auditions. Tryouts for band took place at Hickman High School, and Memorial Union hosted the orchestra auditions.

Considered one of the largest and most competitive competitions of the year by band and orchestra students alike, the auditions forced students to respond to pressure in a positive way that would enhance their auditions rather than hurt them.

“It’s super … competitive. I get really nervous before every state audition,” junior David Wang said. On Friday “I felt a whole lot of pressure ... because I was like, ‘It’s the day before state.’ But I didn’t know how bad it was until I walked into the building.”

Even for Wang, a seasoned participant at the state audi-

The ROCK

tions, the mere thought of im- for the first time this year, has pending tryouts affected him; a simple process when it comes he was jittery before the audi- to auditions. tions and said the nerves didn’t “I just play and hope it leave until he finished. Instead, works out,” McAfee said. “I he reflected on how much he don’t really have pressure.” had practiced up to that point Since this was McAfee’s to calm him down. first year, he decided he was Throughout numerous au- “just trying it out and seeing ditions, Wang has learned to if it’s something I’d like to do.” feed off the pressure, which As students move up allows him to focus more on through grade levels, pressure his excerpts while playing for slowly increases. McAfee still judges. has two years of high school Wang reremainceived first ing, so he chair for felt little both malanxiety For a complete list lets and tima b o u t of results, please pani again making a this year. He state envisit BearingNews has worked semble at www.columbia. his way to this year. k12.mo.us/rbhs/ the top, first But bechair percause he bearingnews/ cussion ever failed to since his make it freshman on Satyear – an inurday, credible accomplishment since McAfee said he will feel more making All-State as a freshman pressure next year. is rare.

However, seniors faced the Once in high school, more lingering concern: it was their sophomores try out for state. last year to make an All-State Those who audition for the first ensemble. time do not have as much pres“For the senior who hasn’t sure, band director Stephen made it yet … they feel more Matthews said. Sophomore pressure,” Matthews said. “I violist Scott McAfee, who audi- think they know it’s their last tioned for All-State Orchestra chance.”

Although the majority of All-State ensembles are upperclassmen, with more than 1,000 hopefuls every year, it is still very difficult for seniors to make it. RBHS seniors approached the auditions with the weight of seniority on their shoulders.

“It really was my last chance,” senior percussionist Methma Udawatta said.

“I wasn’t really nervous until the day of auditions ... before I went in.”

To de-stress, Udawatta walked around HHS while waiting to play for the judges, which shifted the focus away from overthinking her last AllState auditions to relaxing. She recognized kids from around the state and felt the excitement in the air, which redirected her attention.

When it was time for Udawatta to audition, pressure and nerves reared their heads, but she was prepared to face them with hours of practice.

She made callbacks after her first audition and moved on to earn a spot as an alternate.

“I was a bit nervous right before my audition. I don’t think it helped then, but once I started playing ... I was fine,” Udawatta said. “I wish I’d gotten into the state band, but I was OK with my results.”

What was the hardest thing about auditioning?

“Not making pressure mistakes.

Technical accuracy is the most important thing. If you practice a lot ... that helps. [But] all photos by Daphne Yu they’re not judging you on one thing; they’re listening for a lot of things. It’s not just a score; it’s what the judges think.”

— Jacob Freyermuth junior

“In general, you have to put in a lot of time ... to do well.”

The hardest part of trying out was “psychologically preparing myself for the fact that I was going to miss a few notes here [and] there and that I needed to be able to move on.”

— Jonathan Ackmann junior

“ G e t ting the etudes— the written out music from jazz, [and] big band pieces that you need to play — perfect. You have to really get inside the judge’s head on what he wants to hear, and it’s hard to interpret” their thoughts.

— Caleb Jacks junior

Time for fun and games (top): To relieve stress before their auditions, junior Jacob Freyermuth and sophomore Daniel Shapiro play cards.

Rehearse and contemplate (bottom): Junior Ben Bergstrom practices his alto sax near the RBHS table in the Hickman cafeteria, while fellow jazz band member senior Sean Himmelberg mentally prepares for his audition.

24 ∙ Arts & Entertainment

December 8, 2011

The ROCK

’Tis the season for children

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Play, breakfast provide holiday fun for community

Fundraiser brings joy to local youths Isaac Pasley

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Theater department delights with fables Maddie Magruder

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s grasshoppers sang and a timid mouse assisted a cowardly lion, elementary school children cheered on a slow but steady tortoise and booed a big, bad wolf.

The Children’s Theater brought to life its production of “Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Cry Wolf,” a compilation of Aesop’s fables.

Junior Mallory Barnes, who saw the show with her Chemistry class, noticed not only that the younger kids liked it, but also the production was fun for RBHS students to watch and “really cute.”

The Children’s Theater 2-3 class started preparing for the play the first week of October after reading five plays and deciding on the menagerie of Aesop’s fables. During class time, the students blocked the show — telling the actors where to move, organized costumes, rehearsed scenes and created make-up designs.

One of the main skills practiced in class was embodying the characters.

Many of the characters are animals, which can be hard roles for students to portray.

Playing a mouse, a daughter and a townsperson, senior Sami Kanago worked on perfecting her voice for her character as one of the three mice.

Children’s Theater teacher Terry Overfelt wanted Kanago to imitate a “high, squeaky voic-

es,” Kanago said, “but we still need[ed] to be understandable.”

Senior Mitchell Taylor created a pompous, lazy lion from the “Lion and the Mouse” fable, very different from Kanago’s character. Taylor had to perfect a deep roar, make up a secret handshake with his friend the tiger, and develop the charisma for the “king of the jungle.” During this process, he found support and laughter from his fellow classmates.

“A lot of people who join Children’s Theater are pretty open, pretty easy to get along with,” Taylor said.

“So it’s just a friendly environment.”

The show asks students to sing several songs, but angelic voices were not required.

As Overfelt told her students, it’s better to sing boldly, even if it might be out of tune.

“Some characters do need to sing and dance, but that is not a requirement or expectation in Children’s Theater class,” Overfelt said. “So we cast the show with no singing or dancing auditions, and then we work with each character to capture their part with exuberance and a joyful noise.”

With the bond the students had in this course, the play was a showcase of their hard work, both in and out of the classroom.

“This class brings out the very best in all of us,” Overfelt said. “It is a lot of work to be ready for a public audience, but it excites and enthuses us to do and be better.”

photo by Muhammed Al-Rawi

2 photo by Drew Rodgers

reakfast with Santa, held Saturday, Dec. 3 in and around the main commons, embodied the holiday cheer and spirit as children, mostly in elementary school, spent the morning in a classic Christmas world.

Seniors served the children, who enjoyed a continental-style breakfast, face painting and other crafts. This annual event was a means to raise money for many of the seniors’ end-of-the-year activities such as prom, banquet and senior picnic. Seniors involved were members of National Honor Society and Tri-Theta, among other clubs.

Besides a fundraiser, however, Breakfast with Santa was an opportunity for service and volunteer work, as well as just a time for children and their families to get together.

“The seniors serve the kids and adults their breakfast,” senior Shelby Smith said, “and [they] help with the crafts and making sure everything runs smoothly for the kids.”

In addition to serving breakfast, the seniors and their parents were in charge of almost every aspect of the event contributing to the festive atmosphere.

True to its name, one of the main highlights of Breakfast with Santa was Santa Claus. This year, RBHS parents dressed up as Santa, and the children and parents who attended looked forward to hanging out with him.

Smith liked “seeing the little kids’ faces light up when it’s their turn to meet Santa and they run straight into his arms,” Smith said. “The look on the kids’ faces, thinking that they’re really meeting Santa — it’s just priceless,” Smith said.

Many of the students who volunteered at Breakfast with Santa agreed their favorite part was hanging out with smaller children.

“Talking with kids makes you feel so innocent; I felt like I was enjoying it with them,” senior Ben Inslee said. “They just kind of brought me back to my childhood.”

This year, the elves were worthy of being on Santa’s good lists; they made sure the kids genuinely loved their experience, activities director David Bones said.

“I’ve never seen better elves,” Bones said. “I watched as they interacted with our guests. They were amazing. The kids just loved it.”

Although the event took time and effort — seniors arrived as early as 7:30 a.m. Saturday to set up — those who took the time to volunteer at Breakfast with Santa said they were mostly there to help out and enjoy.

“It’s more fun for the kids, more fun for the families,” Inslee said. “It’s a family oriented deal whereas anyone can make cookies. It’s just something makes you want to help more. Once you do it, you want to do it again.”

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photo by Asa Lory

1) Toys and Teamwork: Anthony Fagiolo (left) and Alexis Stillson learn the act of sharing while coloring.

2) Happy Holidays: Senior Kate Walker along with other seniors prepared carols, crafts and story time and visits with the man himself, Santa Claus. The senior elves this year “did a great job face painting and other crafts,” Activities Director David Bones said.

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photo by Asa Lory

4 photo by Asa Lory

5) Brains vs. Brawn: Senior Mitchell Taylor plays the lion who spares the mouse; senior Sam Garrett later saves him when he falls into a trap set by poachers.

3) Signalling the audience: Seniors Cheyenne Blackston (left), Whitney Wipfler (middle), and KaShaye Matthews (right) hold up signs during the play to encourage more audience interaction.

4) For the Kids: Senior Bo Bell and juniors Sam Keller and Troy Guthrie teach the saying, “If you try to please everyone, you won’t please anyone.”