October 2009

The

ROCK

Students participate in Artrageous

Rock Bridge High School 4303 S. Providence Rd. - Columbia, Mo. 65203

Artists at RBHS share their art at Artrageous Friday, an event hosted

by The District.

15

photo by Kelli Buchanan

Volume 37, Issue 2

October 29, 2009

Absences plague administration Zach Goree

Production Manager

he week of Oct. 12 seemed to T be a normal one at RBHS, with one exception. On any given day of that week more than 15 percent of the student body was absent.

However, this spike in absences has not been isolated to RBHS. “Overall there has been an increased number of absences district wide,” District Health Coordinator Lori Osborne said.

“There [have] been pockets of high absenteeism at [different] schools, but it’s just been sporadic throughout the district [from] week to week.”

Reasons for absences at RBHS included college visits and family vacations, but a majority of absences both here and throughout the district are, Osborne said, because of seasonal illness such as influenza.

“They’re not testing for swine flu; they’re testing for influenza,” Osborne said. “A lot of the cases are either an influenza or strep throat – something upper respiratory. But we are seeing a lot of positive influenza cases, and even though they are not testing for H1N1, we do know that approximately 98 percent of all influenza cases are H1N1.”

That means Friday, Oct. 16, when 332 students were absent, potentially an estimated 325 students were gone because of the H1N1 virus. With decreased student attendance, the administration is struggling with teacher absences as well.

In an average week principal’s secretary Denise McGonigle said she has about four absent teachers. During the week of Oct. 12, however, there were at least 10 teachers gone each day.

This left McGonigle, who also coordinates substitute teachers in the building, struggling to make sure classes have teachers.

“I print [a] report out in the morning, and it tells me [how many people] I have gone,” McGonigle said, “and then I have to go through it and see what’s the name of the teacher, what they teach and if there’s a substitute coming.”

The report comes from the district’s automated system for contacting substitutes, SubFinder.

Once a teacher has called the system to report an absence, the system generates a call to a substitute to fill in for the teacher. However, SubFinder cannot always find substitutes.

When there is no substitute for a class, McGonigle must manually compare the schedules of the available substitutes to the classes that need teachers.

“I start piecing it all together like a big puzzle,” McGonigle said. “And that’s why sometimes you might have a class where you have a sub and then you have [a substitute] come in [a different class] to teach.”

There were some days during the week of Oct. 12 where McGonigle had to go through the task of manually assigning substitutes, but for the most part teachers always had substitutes.

The influx of substitutes, however, along with the noticeable lack of students in the building, caused rumors to begin to develop.

“I heard plenty of people say things like, ‘If there are three more people absent, two more people absent, then they’ll close school,” junior Luke Volkmann said. “But the whole time I was thinking, ‘That’s probably not true. I haven’t actually heard anything from administration.’”

Volkmann was right in his assumptions. Despite the rampant rumors, closing schools never crossed the district’s mind.

“I think it is all student-based rumor. It’s not faculty-based or administration-based,” Osborne said. “There’d have to be a high percentage, about 35-40 percent absenteeism, and there has been no school that has been close to having 25 percent absenteeism.”

photo by Kylee Fuchs

Remembering a teammate: Football players pray on the 22-yard line in remembrance of senior Stuart Eiken before the homecoming game Oct. 16. The prayer is one of many tokens of memoriam the student body has given in his honor.

Students come together to commemorate classmate Kelsey Kupferer Editor-in-Chief

T

hough homecoming typically brings exuberance, the week of Oct. 5 was solemn as students mourned the sudden loss of senior Stuart Eiken. In the wake of his passing, students looked to each other for comfort, empathy and ways to commemorate the life of a friend.

Throughout the week students came together to organize everything from a memorial banner to scholarship fundraising.

Senior Logan Parks took charge of one of the first memorial efforts, a floor-to-ceiling banner on which students signed their names and wrote down their memories.

“I suggested the idea to some friends to create a giant dedication wall, and they were all very fond of the idea so it just kind of progressed from there,” Parks said. “I wanted to give people a place to vent their thoughts about Stuart, to write down small stories and say whatever they needed to.

[The banner] has done so much for a lot of people, and I’m just glad that I was able to

help people with it.”

For many students simply signing the banner was not enough to celebrate a friend’s life. The football team adopted multiple pre-game rituals to help ease the grief that comes with the loss of a teammate.

“We say a prayer on the 22-yard line of our home field before the game, we have ‘SE’ golden decals on the back of our helmets above our numbers and many write notes of remembrance or ‘R.I.P’ on their tape, arms or spat before games,” senior Chase Rome said.

“The guys who were really close with Stuart have worked out exchanging [his no. 22 jersey] throughout districts. It’s just a sign of remembrance, saying that we know you are here and wish you were here for certain people. It’s respecting the athletic ability that left along with him.”

As a result of Eiken’s lasting impact on the field, the Eiken family plans to start a scholarship fund for low-income athletes. DECA will help begin the fund by contributing the proceeds of the newly-created “StuCrew” shirts.

“The idea of making the

shirts came up one day in our “We decided on T-shirts because Sports and Entertainment Mar- they would be quick and perketing class,” said senior Beau sonal to us. We thought it was Reiske, DECA director of pub- important to do something not lic relations. “Since our teacher only because a lot of the girls Ms. [Elizabeth] Rawlings had were close to Stuart but also out Stuart in two of her classes, of respect. He deserves someshe suggested that thing even if it’s the shirts be sold minimal because “[Eiken] in the DECA Den. he influenced so DECA [is selling many people and deserves the shirts] so that made a difference something more shirts will at this school.” be bought, which As various even if it’s means more money groups continue to minimal will go to the fampublicly commemoily and the scholrate Eiken, individbecause he arship fund they ual students must are setting up. begin to reflect, influenced About 200 shirts mourn and come so many have been sold so to terms with the far.” loss of a classpeople.”

The cheerleading mate. squad also made “I think it’s rememorial T-shirts ally good that so to commemorate many people are Eiken, wearing deciding to do them at the homethings in honor of coming assembly him,” White said. and football game against Riv- “It sheds a good light on him, erview Gardens. which is exactly what he de“We started with the idea serves. And for everyone who that we wanted to do something didn’t know Stuart personally, for him, but we weren’t sure maybe all these things that peoexactly what,” senior football ple are doing will help them cheerleader Morgan White said. get to know him too.”

CACC construction adds to parking congestion Kelsey Kupferer Editor-in-Chief

s the Columbia Area Career Center A continues to undergo the extensive construction necessary to complete an

photo by Kelsey Kupferer

Fenced in: CACC construction compresses the north parking lot with an expansive work zone.

Index News pg. 1 Academics pg. 3 Features pg. 5 In-Depths pg. 7 Editorials pg. 11 Sports pg. 13 Arts & Entertainment pg. 14

Morgan White senior

Upcoming Events:

18,000 square foot addition, students must cope with a slight decrease in the number of available parking spaces.

“We lost 10 [faculty parking] slots in the current construction that’s going on, and so we have added 10 faculty slots to the west of our building that used to be available to students,” CACC Assistant Director Oscar Carter said.

“The main reason for that is we have several teachers on our staff that are traveling teachers between here and Hickman and other schools, and they have to come back and find a parking spot in a relatively short period of time or they will be late to their next class.”

Some students continue to park in the 10 spots against the west side of

the building, though they were clearly converted to faculty-only parking.

“A few more students have been parking in the Career Center faculty parking area than usual [since the construction began], but other than that it hasn’t been too bad,” parking lot attendant Chris Plummer said. “I usually have to give about 10 tickets a week to students parking in Career Center faculty spots. Before the construction began, it was about half that.”

In addition to reducing the number of available student parking spots, the construction along the south side of the CACC has made it difficult for students to safely enter and exit the lot during times of heavy traffic.

“It’s hard to drive through the north lot right after school because of the traffic back-up from the construction,” junior Martha Miller said. “The fence they set up makes the road really narrow so only one car can drive on it

story continued on page 2

Powder Puff Football

Fall Musical

The theater department presents the RBHS adaptation of “South Pacific.”

The seniors look to defend their perennial title on the football field. art by Oliver Clark

Nov. 6

art by Oliver Clark

Nov. 12

2 News

ROCK

The

October 29, 2009

Protestors organize to support band curriculum Craig Chval

News, Academics Editor

A

s part of its sixyear curriculum development process, the Columbia Public Schools board of education is proposing several changes to secondary curricula, including major band alterations for the high schools.

Miscommunication and protest surrounded proposals to revise music classes, especially as it relates to band. During its last September work session, the board suggested cutting junior high marching band as well as making high school marching band an extracurricular activity.

Some marching band students fear a separation would damage the programs.

“If you made [marching band] an extracurricular it would kill it,” said junior Nick Orf, who has been in band since sixth grade.

“It would kill both marching band and concert band because if you make it a class, it’s more appropriate to get involved as opposed to extracurricular where you lose funding; you lose support; you lose kids.”

Parents and teachers attended the Oct. 12 school

board meeting to protest these changes. However, that particular proposal was not on the agenda for the October meeting. Instead the board members discussed the effect of cutting junior high marching band.

Junior high band students “have something to look forward to,” RBHS band director Steve Mathews said to the board.

“There’s something mystical about them looking forward and going on to the marching program.”

Although there was little dissension about the need to teach junior high students fundamentals, there was no consensus about how freshmen should contribute to high school marching band.

“Say we decided ninth graders are taking high school band,” said Dr. Tom Rose, vice president of the board. “That’s not going to be until 2013 when ninth graders are with the high school anyway.”

However, transportation and scheduling are key issues in determining freshmen involvement in the time until CPS becomes a 9-12 high school system, as well as the development of young band members.

“I understand where they’re coming from [cut-

ting junior high marching band],” Orf said. “Because I remember freshman year learning how to play your instrument and marching in a straight line was hard enough.”

With the amount of protest and logistical issues, the board postponed a decision on junior high and high school bands.

However, band students anxiously wait to hear about the future of their program.

RBHS and Hickman High School marching bands “are some of the best programs in the state,” junior Nathan Cotner said. “It would be a shame to kill it.”

To show their support, a number of RBHS and HHS students, including Cotner and Orf, came to the board meeting. The board members listened to Orf’s defense before agreeing to suspend a decision for the curriculum committee to ponder the decision and argument.

“Separating marching band and concert band would be very difficult.

You limit the opportunity to take marching band and concert band,” Orf told the board. “It’d be a shame to see such talent and work put in, only to end up killing it.”

photo by Kylee Fuchs

Tooting their own horns: The marching band plays at the football game on Oct. 12. The district is considering changing the secondary marching band curriculum.

Global issues club reorganizes, Tri-Theta works with HHS counterpart hosts belt George Brand Staff Writer

fter a disappointing fundA raiser last year that brought in close to $1,500 less than their 2008 campaign, Global Issues Club has reorganized, implemented new leadership and reevaluated their mission.

Club leadership has undergone drastic changes since last year. In addition to a new sponsor and student officers, two student activists from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Nadege Uwase and Phil Klopfenstein, have dedicated their time and support to making the club a success.

“As a leader I want to teach kids something new and increase their interest and awareness of global perspectives.” Uwase said.

After three years as club sponsor, English teacher Matt Webel stepped down because of his lack of available time.

First-year math and personal finance teacher Kathryn Fishman-Weaver has assumed sponsorship of the club.

“I have been involved in service learning and not-for-

profit work, and I think it’s important to help with humanitarian causes here at Rock Bridge,” Weaver said. “I’ve already been impressed by the student leaders. As soon as I met them, I knew there was no turning back. I was swayed by their ambition for the club and its goals. Beyond all else,I want to keep this a studentrun organization.”

Senior Kelsey Saragnese, club secretary, is optimistic about GIC this year after receiving help from new sources.

“Global issues was badly in need of structure and organization,” Saragnese said. “It sounds pretty obvious, but Nadege really hammered home the idea that we always need to know exactly what we’re doing, and so does everyone in the club.”

The club’s focus for first semester is raising money and awareness to help victims of human trafficking in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Beginning Nov. 16 the club will host a week-long fundraiser which will include a documentary screening, concert and 5K run, among other events.

In addition to fundraising, the club has another major goal: help revive some contemporary issues activities that left RBHS along with teacher Matt Cone.

“Contemporary issues always had a lot of speakers that either came to the class or spoke to us on the phone,” Saragnese said. “GIC is hoping to restart that and have some global issues-sponsored speakers and forums.”

The long-range goals for the club include collaborating with Hickman High School’s global issues club and possibly the Amnesty International clubs of both high schools.

“Both clubs have similar goals,” Saragnese said.

“I think we can be more effective if we work together.”

Uwase hopes the club’s influence will extend beyond Columbia. She wants to implement an

alternative spring break trip that will send sophomores on service trips around Missouri, juniors around the United States and seniors around the world.

“I want to do these trips through a program that I participated in.” Uwase said.

“I went to Philadelphia and worked with kids in low-income areas. I think it’s very feasible to do these service trips this spring break. We want to change peoples’ attitudes about global issues. This will prompt people to inspire change in others.”

Congo Week Schedule

Monday: FREEdocumentary,7pminthePAC Tuesday: BakesalewithIt’sAGrindcoffee Wednesday: Bake sale, cell phone drive Thursday: Bake sale, wear your t-shirt Friday: Dance party with live bands and DJ, 8 pm in the PAC

Construction affects north parking lot

Obama proposes more school hours

story continued from page 1

n a press conference Oct. Isuggested 6, President Barack Obama lengthening the

at a time.”

Though the CACC construction is inconveniencing students who park in the north lot, it was CACC funding which paid for the recent and much needed parking lot expansion into the old “gravel lot.”

“The whole northwest corner was paved by us, not Rock Bridge,” Carter said. “We provided the funding for that project; it was part of our capital funds grant. It cost us roughly $45,000 to pave that area.”

CACC administrators have no plans for additional changes to the parking lot in the future.

“We’re getting into a landlocked situation so we can’t do much more,” Carter said. “We can’t grow to the North because there is a gas propane line that runs through the property, so the Career Center won’t be making any more changes to the parking lot this year.”

Though the coveted spots against the west side of the CACC will remain reserved for faculty even after the completion of the addition, students can expect the north lot to be free of construction for the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year.

“It’s unfortunate that the traffic flow [in the construction area] has been a struggle for some students, and of course the few parking spots that we’re using for construction is unfortunate,” Carter said, “But expanding the Career Center will really benefit our students, many of which are Rock Bridge students. We have several programs that students are turned away from every year — it will be nice to finally get culinary in their own classroom as opposed to our corporate training center. So if everyone will just hang with us here, things will definitely get better.”

George Brand Staff Writer

school year in order to help bridge the achievement gap between American teenagers and those in foreign countries. On comparable standardized test scores, American teens consistently rank behind Asian nations, according to Obama’s speech.

American students spend 1,146 hours in the classroom each year, while kids in the Asian countries that consistently achieve higher scores on math and science tests spend much less time — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013) — despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong are in school for 190 to 201

days.

The United States’ school year is, on average, 180 days. The reason for this global achievement gap is unknown.

“I don’t think that lengthening the school year or school day would be nearly as effective as evaluating how teachers and students use class time,” sophomore Charlie Davis said. “If we got rid of all the unrelated busy work, we could spend more time really learning and we wouldn’t have to lengthen the day. Then maybe over a long period of time we could get Americans to value education the way other countries do.”

Because the ramifications of longer school years may have adverse effects, senior Georgie Zitsch opposed Obama’s philosophy.

Potential Obama Plan

infographic by Oliver Clark

infographic by Kelsey Kupferer

“If the school year was lengthened, we’d just slack off more because that’s what we do most of the time anyway,” Zitch said.

After considering global differences in cultural values, some reason that the achievement gap is natural and unstoppable.

“I don’t think there is a way to bridge the gap,” Zitch said. “Our lives are just so different; I don’t think there’s anything we could do.”

English teacher Rebecca Greer echoed Zitch’s thoughts.

“The solution to the achievement gap entails much more than longer hours,” Greer said. “It’s a cultural, societal and economic issue that needs much more than simply extending the school year.”

Differences in cultural mores play a major role in deciding the importance of academics in western and eastern countries.

Some believe the only way to solve the global achievement gap is to do so in traditional American style.

“We need to reconnect with a sense of an intrinsic value for learning,” guidance counselor Samuel Martin said. “Education is often seen as a hoop to jump through in order to prepare for the future instead of a commitment to valuing learning, critical thinking and a desire to be inquisitive.”

battles Latisha Hickem Staff Writer

n a Monday morning, senior O Monique White stood outside tallying the number of drivers

wearing seat belts as they entered the north lot.

White volunteered for RBHS TriTheta, which will be hosting a month-long campaign promoting seatbelt safety with proceeds going to ThinkFirst, an organization for injury prevention.

“Teenagers have the highest age group percentage of automobile accidents,” White said, “So we’ve been doing unannounced seat belt checks, hanging posters around the school and having people sign pledge card to wear their seat belt.”

Sophomore Joshua Hayes is aware of the dangers of not wearing a seat belt; his aunt died in a car crash in 2008 because she was not wearing her seatbelt.

“She was driving down the highway really fast,” Hayes said. “It was her and her friends, and she lost control of the car and crashed into a diesel.”

According to www.savemolives. com, only 77 percent of Missouri drivers buckle up regularly. This lack of seat belt use motivated the creation of Battle of the Belt.

The Battle of the Belt competition educates youth about seatbelt safety through Public Service Announcements and educational campaigns.

The Missouri Emergency Nurses Association and St. John’s Hospital developed this program.

In 2006 the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety and American Family Insurance expanded the competition to be statewide.

RBHS broadcast journalism students are producing public service announcements to enter in the competition.

“The PSA encourages students to buckle up every time they’re in a car,” broadcast journalism teacher Haley Brueck said. “The students really enjoy it, and it allows them to be creative and have fun.”

Winners of their respective region receive rewards. Schools that reach above 91 percent of students wearing seat belts will receive statewide recognition.

“This is our second year participating, and having last years’ entries for examples will help a lot in placing this year,” Brueck said.

Battle of the Belt is not the only seatbelt campaign. The Seat Belt Dance competition, Click It or Ticket and Arrive Alive assist in motivating people to buckle up to save lives. With the help of these programs, the national seat belt usage increased from 68 percent in 2001 to 83 percent in 2008 based on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Occupant Protection Use Survey.

Reducing the injury and fatality rates is imperative, especially when 15,147 lives could have been saved if a seatbelt was used, according to www.savemolives.com.

“Everyone should wear [seatbelts].

You never know what could happen,” Hayes said.

RBHS’s participation in campaigns like Battle of the Belt aims to educate students on the importance of seat belt safety and encourages them to buckle up.

“You could make a lot of people sad,” Hayes said, “just by not taking the time.”

October 29, 2009

Academics 3

The

ROCK

New clubs take off Morgan Hausman Entertainment Editor

S

tudents chatting at desks, music blaring from speakers and club presidents yelling out directions are all a part of club meetings.

Chaotic Style Crew, Women’s Outreach Club and Future Lawyers of America were founded since the beginning of this school year.

The Light, also new, is school-affiliated but not sponsored, meaning that a teacher sponsor is not allowed to participate.

Sophomores Lexi Lacy and Heather Zarhouni started the group out as Rock Bridge Steppers but changed the name to Chaotic Style Crew. They established a club that fulfills their wish to open a dance crew dedicated to dancing for fun.

“It’s for the people who want to dance and can’t get into the other dance teams,” Lacy said. “If they just want to dance and have fun, they can just join ours because we really let anyone in, and if they can’t dance, we will help them out. We just want to see their style.”

The Chaotic Style Crew meets Wednesdays in the math wing from 3:154:15 p.m. Future meetings will consist of discussing where and when the crew will perform and learning different styles of dance moves that they hope to incorporate into each dance.

“We are very different.

We have our own style of dancing,” Lacy said. “We are going to have a combination of Latin dancing, ballet and tap all in one song.”

Lacy and Zarhouni of women and how we hope integrating numer- see them here in high ous styles of dancing and school and during social letting anyone in to the life.” crew will build up the Though the club may club’s popularity and en- sound as if it is aimed tice people to join. at women, Neu hopes “We hope to be as big many male students will as UNIQ because they are join meetings as well as really good, and we want she tries to make the to live up to our name,” club geared toward both Zarhouni said. “You should women and men. come and be yourself and “My joke for the guys you can contribute any is this,” Neu said; “if the i d e a s club is for f o r women and “We hope to be dances.” there will On a be a lot of as big as UNIQ similar them there, l e v e l then why because they are as the wouldn’t really good, and Chaotic guys want S t y l e we want to live up to go?”

Crew’s A club to our name.” goal to that helps change focus any w h a t student at people a law cathink at reer, Future RBHS, Lawyers of the goal America, of Women’s Outreach Club, founded by sophomores or WORC, aims to change Tahura Lodhi and Stephahow students think specifi- nie Perry, has a set goal cally about women. to get as many people inJunior Leslie Neu, pres- terested in coming to the ident of WORC, decided meetings to talk about law on the club’s acronym for and government. one reason in particular.

“There are people I “It is supposed to be know interested in getthe best ‘work’ you ever ting together to talk have to go to,” Neu said. about what it takes to And for many the ac- be a lawyer here,” Loronym fits the descrip- dhi said. “Also the nation completely. Through tional organization was fun meetings, such as a telling me that they have women’s self-defense class a mock trial program, so planned for November, Neu I was going to talk to hopes to keep attendance people to see how many up and help change how would be interested bepeople treat and think of cause it sounds like a lot women. of fun.”

“You know you hear so Meetings will be every often the ‘that’s what she other Tuesday in rooms said’ jokes or ‘you want 206-207.

Lodhi plans to to hear a joke? Haha, hold elections for officers women’s rights,’” Neu and discuss different law said. “I just want to see cases at future meetings. people be more respectful Lodhi hopes people will

Heather Zarhouni sophomore

photo by Bethany Ahlersmeyer

Pumpin’ it up: The Chaotic Style Crew breaks it down and works on their dance moves during practice. The group practices Wednesdays from 3:15-4:15 p.m. The crew started in October for the first time. come to the meetings to get the word out about the club even though it is new.

“I am kind a dork because I love law and government, so if I had just heard about a club like this I would have been interested,” Lodhi said.

“But I think people should come to the meetings because I really want people to know about the mock trial because I know Hickman has one and went really far so it would be cool if we could do that too.”

While Lodhi hopes her

FFA competes in national convention at Indianapolis Tasmeen Hussain Art, Design Editor

hile some see agriculture W simply as a career choice, Future Farmers of America spon-

sor Larry Henneke sees it as an opportunity for students to take farming into a competitive setting.

The Columbia chapter of FFA returned for the 82nd National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana Oct. 21-24. The chapter competed against students from all over the country in the largest recurring youth convention in the world. The teams achieved second place in the Livestock division, second place in the Forestry division and sixth in Landscaping.

“I was hoping for first place but still thankful because I believe we deserved it,” senior Josh Remus said. “We practiced twice a week for two 1/2 months before the competition.”

Two groups in the Columbia chapter included students from RBHS, including sophomore Kody Henneke and seniors Josh Remus and Andrew Pestle in Forestry, seniors Brady Chasteen and Russ Chambers in Landscaping and senior Jimmy Bennett in Grasslands.

Before the competition the stu-

dents prepared for the challenging convention ahead of them.

The Grasslands event “was about evaluating grasslands for wildlife habitat and for livestock value as well as identifying plants that grow in the grasslands,” Bennett said. “I also had to read soil test reports and be able to tell what the soil had to offer.”

Students participated in two days of competition, including topics in management, topographic map reading, orienteering, insect and tree analysis and a 10 minute oral presentation. The landscaping team performed sale demonstrations and set up nurseries, and all competitors completed a written exam about their respective subjects.

The students also found time to enjoy various activities at the convention.

These included a Toby Keith concert, a haunted corn maze, a hay ride and keynote speaker Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs.

“I really liked the environment at convention,” sophomore Leyna Craigmile said. “I liked seeing the cowboys because I like the wranglers.”

The competition also gives students a chance to plan for their futures and get interested in agriculture early.

“FFA Nationals taught me that when you set your mind to anything, you can do more than you would ever dream possible,” Bennett said. “I’m given the chance to be in a team and do projects such as welding and showing lambs.”

Henneke encourages students to join FFA to create more of an interest in farming professions and hopes more students will consider agriculture in their futures, either in practice or in college.

“We stress that we want involved students because it leads to better job opportunities in the future.

We promote it pretty hard as part of curriculum,” Henneke said. “Just about every college with an agriculture program also recruits at nationals with booths and information, so those sessions can attract students.”

FFA not only shapes a foundation in agriculture but teaches them to be proud of what they do.

“For those students who will continue school in Columbia, it helps them to realize that they won’t just always be considered ‘Aggies,’” Henneke said. “When they go to a function and see that 20 percent of the population will end up working in agriculture, they realize the actual prospects in such a field. It ends up teaching leadership, but it’s also a big reward.”

new club can discuss law and governmental ideals, meetings for The Light is taking more of a spiritual route.

Formed by sophomore Taylor Buster, the club has a focus on Christianity.

Buster expects The Light to be similar to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but he hopes to make the religious time spent a little differently.

“I have noticed that FCA is kind of short to get very deep,” Buster said, “so I made The Light so

kids could have longer devotions.”

Although he plans to make the devotions lengthier than those of FCA, Buster wants to include more time in the meetings to prepare fundraisers, such as one for kids who want to go to Christ In Youth, a Christian youth group retreat to have a little fun in the process.

“We play a lot of games, and they are a lot of fun; they are hilarious,” Buster said, “and we spend half the time laughing.”

Academic Briefs art by Tasmeen Hussain

Scholar bowl wins history contest or the second consecutive year, the RBHS scholar bowl F team took first place at the Truman Library American History Contest. The Bruins defeated seven other schools, mostly from the Kansas City area, to claim the victory in a contest that featured questions from the different branches of government.

Seniors Zach Goree and Alan Hatfield and juniors Craig Chval and Marc Micatka fielded the team coached by history teacher Greg Irwin. Although all four varsity members graduated last year, the group was able to defend the title in the second annual competition.

“We just studied hard and did well,” Irwin said. “It feels good being the champs again.” story by Kelsey Kupferer

College Board names Commended Scholars he College Board selects the top one percent of scorers T on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test as National Merit Semifinalists; RBHS has 13 students, in addition to nine Commended Scholars, who are some of the top scorers in the nation.

Seniors Amy Berry, Hannah Cambell, Heather Eaton, Katherine Gale, Cyrille Goldstein, Katelyn Gribble, Kelsey Kupferer, Joshua Litofsky and Thomas McClure scored at least 200 on the PSAT out of a possible 240, earning them Letters of Commendation.

Barely missing the cut for National Merit Semifinalists, Commended Scholars receive potential benefits when competing with other students for college admissions.

“Between National Merit Semifinalists and Commended Scholars, either is a good assessment of what you are,” EEE teacher Marilyn Toalson said. “As a junior it’s the first look at comparing yourself to other really smart kids.” story by Craig Chval

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Sports 13 Girls’ tennis takes second place The

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Boys hope to make a big splash at state

After impressive season Bruins battle best at state tournament

ambitious pace for the post-season where the girls had to defeat their toughest competitors, senior Sarah Heeter, ranked no. 2 in singles, said. The team did better than expected from its very first match. fter their first undefeated season in history, the “The team came back stronger than last year, which girls’ tennis team topped off their wins with was a real confidence booster,” Heeter said. “We have a second place finish in the state tournament. much more depth this year, which just means there’s The team played hard against several of RBHS’s a good amount of skill level from top girl all the way largest competitors, Coach Ben Loeb said. down to junior varsity. We don’t have a point where The most difficult moment for the girls in getting to the expertise drops off. The team is solid all the way the state championship was defeating Marquette High down.”

School in the semi-finals. They beat Marquette with a One of the challenges of tennis is trying to build large margin of 8-1 in the regular season. It was an a cohesive team out of individuals who are constantly unexpected challenge, but the girls competing against each other for top ranks on still won 5-3. the lineup. Senior Alex Majors, ranked no. 3 “We were down by three singles in doubles with junior Abby Kayser, said she “We were at matches,” Loeb said, “two of which tries not to worry about where she is on the state fightwere 10-8, which is very close. It was list each particular day in order to help her difficult in the tiebreaker, but the focus on her entire game. ing for first. girls pulled it together successfully “It’s hard for tennis teams to be tightin the end.” knit and together because technically I am I’m proud of RBHS fell 5-0 to Ladue Horton High always competing against the girls I’m standing that.”

School. Despite the loss the girls who right next to,” Majors said. “But our team played in the state championships are definitely works together as one unit instead satisfied with how far they progressed of individuals working towards personal gain, this season, Loeb said. which is where a lot of our success comes “Ladue had great ball speed and from. Even though we have many different tactics. They really did every play types of personalities on our team, we all excellent, and we had to pull out understand the importance of working together an answer to every shot they had. towards a common goal.”

Sometimes we didn’t have an answer,” senior Alice The leadership of the team does not only come from Mends, ranked no. 5 in singles, said. “We tried our Loeb. The structure of the tennis season also allows hardest, and I’m satisfied with it. I know our whole senior leaders to make many important decisions that team gave it their all. We were at state fighting for influence the overall atmosphere of the team. first; I’m proud of that.”

“Seniors set the tone for the team. We have to watch In the weeks leading to the post-season, when it how we carry ourselves,” Mends said. “If we don’t became clear the Bruins were going to finish the want to play a match and have a bad attitude, that season undefeated, Loeb changed the team’s routine attitude is going to cascade down the team. There’s a at practice. The Bruins began reviewing games and responsibility because we have to show the younger girls working on specific strategies for the upcoming games how to act on the court.” against rivals, such as Kickapoo and Ladue.

Some of the girls are going to take much more than “We tried to break down and analyze each play,” just physical fitness and a sense of satisfaction away Mends said. “Each [of the] girls knew the strengths from this successful tennis season. Players also learned and weaknesses of who she was playing against. So the value of perseverance in competition. to focus before the game, I just had to think about “I have learned from this season that I have to my strengths and abilities and the things I could do. believe in myself even in the worst scenarios when you I just have confidence in myself. I try not to stress think you’re totally down and not going to win it,” myself out.”

Mends said. “There’s always that chance that you’ll come Loeb motivated his players with a less-than- back and get it, that the odd thing is going to happen. conventional approach. Toward the end of the post- Never give up on yourself because things can totally season, he took more time to focus on breathing and change, and always give your best at each point in time visualization techniques, Mends said.

Loeb set the because every little thing counts in the end.”

Kelli Buchanan

Hannah Strawn

Commentary Editor

Staff Writer

ince its start in August, the boys’ swim team S has been training three hours per day, swimming thousands of yards and lifting dozens of pounds.

Despite the rough start the boys have had, they are positive their hard work will pay off at the upcoming state championship, Nov. 15-16 at the St. Peter’s Rec Plex in St. Louis.

“We’ve not performed as well this year,” senior Devin Robinett said. “Our first few meets were sluggish, but we’re hoping to turn that around.”

When it comes to making this change, Robinett is looking to the season’s new and improved support system, something that has not been as strong in years past.

“We’ve been hanging out a lot more this year than in seasons past,” Robinett said. “It’s brought us a lot closer, which helps us in the pool as well.

We support each other a lot more, and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

One form of team building included the traditional Speedo run at the homecoming football game, a cold experience but great for team bonding, senior Zach Mertens said.

Another reason the boys have a closer team this year is because the roster is much smaller. The size has led to an increase in individual swimmer quality, meaning there are more people on the team that score points and have the ability to swim a wider variety of events, Mertens said.

“This year the team has been much smaller so everyone has a more personal relationship with every swimmer,” Mertens said. “The team doesn’t have that typical divide between age and ability level anymore.”

The team’s strong relationship gives Mertens high hopes of winning at state.

“I decided a long time ago that I’m winning at state this year,” Mertens said. “This means that I’m going to place first in the 100 breast.”

While Mertens is sure he will score points at the upcoming championship meet, Robinett is confident in the team as a whole.

“At the moment we have less guys qualified for state than we did at this time last year,” Robinett said. “We’re hoping, though, that at state three different people will qualify for finals. Our relays will also be pretty stacked this year as well, so I’m expecting Rock Bridge to finish well.”

Cross country changes history at districts meet Latisha Hickem Staff Writer

first place finish at districts Oct. 24 by the boys’ A cross country team enabled all seven varsity runners to compete this Saturday at sectionals in

Camdenton.

The girls’ team, which nabbed second just barely behind the first place Jefferson City Jays, will also send its seven varsity runners. The strength of these district wins opened up an opportunity for the Bruins junior varsity team to compete in the open race Saturday, hoping to qualify for the state tournament Nov. 7 in Jefferson City.

The Bruins’ success came in spite of the illness that spread throughout the team.

“Callie Floyd was feeling really ill but ran a tough and respectable race [in district meet],” Coach Matt Miltenberg said, “and Meghan Schulte had the race of her life and stepped up huge in Callie’s sickness to place in the top 10.”

The boys’ win was the first district championship in the Bruins history. Sophomore Caleb Wilfong was the individual district champion and 14 varsity runners claimed all-district honors. Competing while sick displays the perseverance and dedication the team has had all season.

“There were times when runners missed weeks of training,” Miltenberg said, “but the team has depth and a competitive edge.”

The team’s early season had both highs and lows. Motivated by a loss at the Liberty Invitational Sep. 5, the Bruins performed exceptionally well, head coach Neal Blackburn said.

“It was one of the biggest meets in the United States,” Blackburn said. “Out of 80 schools, the boys [varsity] took third and girls [varsity] took seventh.”

Nearly a month later in the Border War Championships Oct. 10, the boys varsity won by 80 points, and the girls varsity lost by just three points to Kirkwood, taking second place.

As the Bruins head into sectionals Saturday, Blackburn hopes all the runners will “remain healthy, stay relaxed and do what we have been doing all season long.”

A

Alice Mends senior

After cross-town rivalry games, Bruins feel pain of defeat Defending their title: Junior Emily Holt jumps to block an HHS player’s spike during RBHS’s senior night showdown at the Hearnes Center Oct. 22. RBHS easily dominated the Kewpies, winning the first three of five games.

Yet the Bruins were taken by surprise Monday evening as they were defeated in three games

by Hickman in the first round of the district tournament.

Kelsey Kupferer Editor-in-Chief

fter defeating Hickman High A School five times during the regular season, the volleyball team

photo by Kelsey Kupferer

lost to their cross-town rivals in the first game of district play.

“We went into the game too cocky and assuming we would win it,” junior Emily Holt said.

“We realized that we weren’t playing well after the first game, but we thought we’d be fine, so we didn’t really feel alarmed or anything. Once we dropped the second game pretty bad we decided we needed to try and pick it up. In the third game we were up 18-13 at one point, but we kept making a bunch of dumb mistakes.”

The loss was an upset, as the Bruins were ranked third in the district tournament while the Kewpies were seeded sixth.

“I think ultimately we beat ourselves,” Holt said. “We weren’t playing very well and so that made us get down on ourselves, which led to bad attitudes and more mistakes. I think it brought us closer as a team to go through something like this together, though.”

Disappointed with the outcome, some members of the team disagreed with Holt’s reason for the loss.

“I don’t think we were overly confident or cocky,” senior Lizzie Frericks said. “They just came out on fire and wanted it more than we did. They were really upset about us beating them on senior night, and they felt like they had something to prove.”

Girls’ golf finishes season undefeated

Goal - driven team engages in a successful season falling just below the title of state champions Breanna Dumbacher In-Depths Editor

he girls’ golf team sunk its final putt T with success. The Bruins placed fifth overall as a team at state at Freemont

Hills in Nixa, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1983. The girls played 18 holes each day and the top four players’ scores counted toward the team result.

Although the team faced some difficulty, coach Melissa Melahn said they worked hard.

“State was a really long two days for us,” Melahn said. “The course itself that we played is a pretty difficult course.

It’s really lined with trees, and you’ve got to be really careful about making decisions about what club you’re going to use and where you’re really going to hit your shot to keep yourself out of trouble. I think the girls did a really good job during their practice round knowing where they were going to hit it and what club to use.”

Standing at the tee early in on the season, the girls’ golf team could not predict the success that would come in the long journey ahead of them. The first challenge to conquer was dealing with the shortage of upperclassmen.

“We are a fairly young squad,” Melahn said. “The bulk of the team [is] freshman

and sophomores. It was a rebuilding year, but the girls who came in were talented, and we were able to be just as competitive as last year.”

Once camaraderie developed among players, the girls were ready to compete.

Victory at their first tournament, the Warrensburg Invitational, started the season on a positive note. The team continued soaring above the fairway with multiple victories.

Undefeated in match play, the Bruins won eight tournaments, placed third in one and fifth in another. Melahn thinks the success is because of a team effort.

“It hasn’t just been one person,” Melahn said. The success has “been spread, which has added to the depth of the team.”

With a positive outlook, the team headed to districts. This year Melahn took a different approach to preparing the Bruins for this event. Last year the team focused on imagining districts before it happened. This year, however, the girls viewed it as just another game and decided not to get nervous about its implications because the girls had seen all of the teams already. The result: the team won districts for the first time in 20 years.

“Just concentrate on themselves and

the course, that’s what I asked them mistakes but sees these slip-ups as to do,” Melahn said, “and it obviously opportunities to improve next year and into college, where she plans to continue worked.”

Having conquered districts the playing.

“My goal this year was team glided toward to get top-five, and I tied the green: Missouri for ninth,” Mueller said.

State High School “It hasn’t just “It was really just one Activities Association been one perhole yesterday that really Championships.

For stopped me from reaching senior Kayla Burri, son.

[The sucthat goal, but I know I have preparing for state was one more year to come extremely important. cess has] been back and do it again, so Because she does not spread, which hopefully that happens.” plan to play in college, Melahn agrees the team this was her last season has added to should be able to improve to shine. next year upon the “I wanted to do the the depth of mistakes made at state. best I could,” Burri the team.”

She points out they said, “so I can look missed the fourth place back and know I did spot by two strokes, letting the best I could rather them improve for next than regret something I season. could have done.”

“I know the girls have Being goal-driven the potential to do this, paid off as Burri tied and I’m just excited that for fifth at state in the individual competition. Junior Meghan now that they’ve been there, and they’ve Mueller was also successful individually, played that they realize they had that tying for ninth with 81 the first day ability all along,” Melahn said. “It’s a and 82 the second day. This is the first tremendous accomplishment whether we time RBHS has had two top-10 finishers made it in the top four or not, and at state. Both athletes earned all-state three of those girls will get to come back and give it a good run next distinction.

Mueller admits she made some minor year.”

Melissa Melahn girls’ golf coach

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Taking the Stage Musical addresses mature themes Katelyn Gribble Fine Arts Editor

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acism, deceit and love are the main themes in “South Pacific,” the fall musical. It will be performed at 7 p.m. Nov. 12-14 and at 3 p.m. Nov. 15 in the PAC. The musical tells the story of a young navy nurse, Nellie, who falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner, when she travels to an island in the South Pacific during World War II. Romance also blooms between Lieutenant Joe Cable and a young Tonkinese woman Liat. Both couples are torn apart by prejudice and racism, and the characters have to choose between love and the rules of society.

Although the musical addresses some very mature, serious issues, senior Hannah Satterwhite, who plays Nellie, said high school students can relate to the story because of the universal themes of love and war.

“Everybody has probably experienced something that’s in this musical, whether it’s at a personal level or they’ve just heard about it,” Satterwhite said.

Satterwhite also believes that the subject of racism is still relevant to today’s audience. When the musical was written in 1949, racism was a predominant social issue. Despite the societal changes that have taken place since then, Satterwhite said she still witnesses racism occasionally among her fellow students.

“There are still stupid jokes that people make about different races,” she said.

Besides drawing attention to the main themes of the musical, director Mike Pierson said another way to help students relate to the play is to make sure the story seems real. All of the characters in the story are adults, making them especially challenging for the young actors to portray realistically.

Pierson tries to help the actors portray the adult characters in a way that is believable.

“We talk about developing that character through an accent or through actions,” Pierson said, “and everything they do in developing that character then has to come out on stage.”

Jessica Iveson, who plays Liat’s mother, Bloody Mary, found the best way to get the audience to relate to a character is to play that character convincingly. To do this Iveson is studying the script and the backstory of Bloody Mary to better understand the personality of the character and communicate that personality to the audience.

“I said lines like I would say them, and then I thought, ‘Well, how would Bloody Mary say it?’” Iveson said. “‘How would she say it with the accent?

H o w w o u l d she say it with the older kind of deep earth mamma tone?’”

Despite the challenges Pierson likes the way high school students can connect to a story like South Pacific through the young actors. He believes seeing high school students portraying adult characters on stage makes the audience able to relate to the story in a unique way and helps them see the issues involved from a different perspective.

“I think there’s an interesting connection of looking up on stage and saying ‘That kid is the same age as I am, but he’s portraying a character that’s much older, and now I can see different points of view through his performance,’” Pierson said.

Students combine theater, poetry Katelyn Gribble Fine Arts Editor

B

y merging the lyrical diction of poetry with the drama of the spoken word, students are bringing new vitality to the world of poetry.

The Advanced Placement Literature and Acting classes are participating in Poetry Out Loud, a nationwide competition in which students memorize and recite poetry. The purpose of Poetry Out Loud is to introduce English and acting students to the dynamic aspects of oral poetry according to www.poetryoutloud.org.

After all of the acting and AP Literature students perform in front of their individual classes, a panel of teacher judges will choose one student from each class who will go on to compete in a school-wide competition Nov. 19 in the PAC. Senior Allison Frisch, an acting student, believes her theater background gives her an advantage over the AP Literature students.

“Acting students know how to take text and make it personal because we act,” Frisch said.

Acting teacher Mary Margaret Coffield said her students are more comfortable performing in front of an audience because they have more experience.

“It may be that my students overall are going to be more effective as a class in articulating and projecting,” Coffield said, “because they’re so used to doing that compared to the AP kids as a whole.”

Although the acting students have more experience, Coffield also believes they have some disadvantages because they are used to a different kind of performance than what is required by the competition. Acting students are used to portraying a specific character, but poetry requires them to convey

the emotional tone of the writing.

“You’re really investigating more how the power of words can convey an experience, whereas, with a play, you really have to be interactive, and they are just totally different skills,” Coffield said.

“Sometimes it can be a detriment because they may think they’re supposed to act the poem, and they may not be allowing the words from the poem itself to be as powerful.”

Frisch agrees the most challenging thing for acting students is resisting the urge to act out the poetry while reciting it.

The acting students have to learn how to act only with their voice and not their actions.

“If the poem’s like, ‘Then I dropped a piece of cheese,’ then you’re not going to actually drop a piece of cheese,” Frisch said, “but you’ll make your voice sound like you’re sad because you dropped the cheese.”

Coffield also thinks the AP Literature students have an advantage over the acting students because they are accustomed to poetry analysis.

“I think some of the lit. kids are more able to pick challenging poems that are also really interesting,” Coffield said.

“They’re very good at analyzing the meaning of the poems.”

Despite the differences between the two classes, English teacher Debbie McDonough believes the students’ passion for poetry, and not their acting or literature background, will decide who wins the competition.

“I don’t think that they necessarily have an advantage over each other,” McDonough said. “I think it’s about the passion you have for the poem that you’re working with, and when you are very passionate about the meaning of the poem or the structure of the poem, that’s going to come across to the audience.”

art by Jessica Wells

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‘The District’ offers artistic venue Bethany Ahlersmeyer Fine Arts Editor

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ast the hustle and bustle of downtown life a loud whistle is heard. This whistle comes from art teacher Sharon HyattWade as she prompts and prods her art students to change canvases.

The District’s Artrageous Weekend Oct. 9-11 showcased many of Columbia’s downtown galleries and this year RBHS students showed off their art skills in a non-traditional way. The Columbia Art League’s education director Patty Jaconetta-Groening proposed the idea of RBHS artists painting outside the Art League during the Artrageous Weekend, but that idea evolved into something much bigger.

“Sharon got back to us with this idea that the students wanted to do a sort of participatory, wearable art with cardboard,” Groening said.

“I can’t even quite get my head around it so I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. It’s turned into an art happening. It seemed to evolve, especially from a perspective of the students, and that is what I am excited to see.”

Hyatt-Wade has high aspirations for her students and always pushes them to go above and beyond traditional art. This drive motivated

her students to do more than Columbia Art League asked.

“When the Art League invited us to come down, it was their idea to just do artwork in front of the building,” Hyatt-Wade said. “The art students and I decided to do music and nontraditional techniques. We wanted to add just a bit of zip.”

Students were stationed outside the Columbia Art League at 207 S. Ninth St. with multiple corrugated cardboard canvases and a variety of artistic media and supplies. When the students heard the whistle, they had to change either the material they were working with or the canvas they were working on. Accompanying all this activity was a slew of drummers giving the artists a funky beat to listen to while working.

“It’s kind of crazy, but it looked like fun,” senior Morgan Pitchford said. “They seemed like they were having a lot of fun and I like the idea that it is downtown because then people in the community can get involved and see what kids in our school are doing in the art world.”

Jessie Hicks, National Art Honor Society secretary, thinks that community involvement is important for the RBHS artists.

“Last year our art started getting put in shows here at the Art League and PS gallery.

We have gotten more involved in the community,” Hicks said. “I know this year National Art Honor Society is trying to do a lot to not only benefit ourselves and our students, but to also benefit the community.”

CAL is supportive of RBHS artists and their desire for more community involvement. They hope RBHS artists can participate and help plan other events that CAL hosts.

“From my perspective having students determine the program themselves is important rather than adults coming up with the programs,” Groening said. “I think this is a perfect fit as far as youth driven programming.

We are looking forward to hearing more suggestions and feedback from Rock Bridge about what kinds of programs we can offer here at the Art League that would be of interest to them.”

art by Garrette Daugherty

Third Eye Blind

Nov. 3 The Blue Note

any RBHS students can remember M summers of their youth, popsicles by the dozen and frolicking in the

yard sprinkler. That scene wouldn’t be complete without Third Eye Blind’s summer smash “Semi-Charmed Life.”

While nearly 12 years have passed since their self-titled debut album, the band is still churning out soon-to-be classics.

With the August release of their first album in six years, Ursa Major marks a turning point for the alternative rock band, debuting at no. 3 on the Billboard charts. The pre-released single “Non-Dairy Creamer” struck a chord with old and new Third Eye Blind fans alike, while integrating a political tilt unknown to a band of catchy guitar licks and witty lyrics. The next single, radio ready track “Don’t Believe a Word,” deals with a messy breakup, and retains the scream-the–lyrics-out-loud quality that Third Eye Blind fans have come to expect.

And those devotees will get the chance to do just that, as Third Eye Blind comes to the Blue Note Nov. 3. Tickets are $28, and doors open at 7 p.m.

Lauren Croll

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Hinder

Nov. 13 The Blue Note ombining complex, energetic riffs C with memorable hooks and smooth vocal harmonies, Hinder aspires to join

Painting a masterpiece (top): A young spectator joins in and paints on a representation of the Mona Lisa.

Drumming with the crew (bottom left): Junior Isabel Accurso takes a break from art to join the percussion crew.

Abstract art (bottom right): Senior Katy Ross combines water color spray and webbing to create an abstract look.

the ranks of rock legends Aerosmith, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses. Promoting their album Take It to the Limit, which debuted at no. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 81,000 sales its first week. Hinder will be at the Blue Note Nov. 13 with The Veer Union and Faktion.

A risky blend of raucous anthems and melodic ballads, the album is a compelling sampling of rock reminiscent of the classic rock of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The album’s lead single “Use Me” has already generated massive radio buzz and impressive iTunes sales, peaking at no. 3 on U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks. If hard rock isn’t your thing, the album has no shortage of soft and slow ballads to counter the more rambunctious songs. With provocative lyrics and catchy melodies, the album has earned its praise. Known for their rowdy, enthusiastic stage performances, Hinder is the one concert that should not be missed.

Tickets are on sale at The Blue Note box office or Ticketmaster for $22 in advance or $25 the day of the show, not including the $2 minor surcharge. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Kelsey Kupferer

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photos by Kelli Buchanan

Sequel elaborates on freaky bestseller Bassnectar Zach Goree

Production Manager

he title Super T Freakanomics: Global cooling, Patri-

otic Prostitutes and why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance only alludes to a

fraction of the material covered in Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s new book.

Released Tuesday, Oct. 20, the 2005 sequel to Freakonomics, reports on the same bizarre economic findings.

It introduces readers to an odd assortment of people, from a Southern Baptist turned prostitute to a real world Harry Potter.

The book provides intriguing insight into

everything from society to monkeys.

In the very first p a g e s ,

S u p e Freakanomics

suggests c l a i m s that seem contrary to comm o n s e n s e .

However, the aut h o r s ’ evidence p r o v e s their assertions, such as televis i o n ’ s positive effect on women’s rights in India. The subsequent chapters offer unique

perspectives on controversial topics such as global warming, human altruism and hospital efficiency.

T h e various subjects, more than 15 in all, are all supported with statistical facts, no matter how controversial.

This was the case when the photo by Kylee Fuchs authors addressed human altruism, beginning with an initial theory, moving to a different, ex-

perimentally-supported theory and finally ending with a completely new, factually-supported proven theory.

By the end of the book, claims such as the safety of drunken driving over drunken walking, how necessary child car seats are and the continued sexism in society are supported, if not proven, by fact and a number of intriguing case studies.

Super ics, like

Freakanom-

its predecessor, sells itself through the attraction of human curiosity.

Even a quick skim of the pages is sure to draw attention and demand a more thorough reading, if not the whole book, then at least a chapter.

Nov. 20 The Blue Note

magine Imoving system;

the music realm as a solar millions of celestial bodies at their own pace and occasionally colliding. Now imagine it as a second-grade solar system project, where the second-grader carrying it trips, causing all the planets and stars to be knocked off their axes in an indescribable calamity.

On Nov. 20 at The Blue Note in downtown Columbia, the latter image is exactly what to expect from Bassnectar.

Bassnectar holds true to its style — it connotates sweet beats with their delicate intensity in every song. From hip-hop mixed with classical to jazz mixed with rap, Bassnectar gives variety while staying tied to its obvious favorite electronica.

With a new album, Cozza Frenzy, just released Tuesday, Bassnectar’s performance at the Blue Note is sure to be different from anything previously seen at one of their concerts. The concert is sure to be packed full of people in their teens to mid-20s, lively with high energy and full of crazy dance moves.

Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 the day of the show with a $2 minor surcharge; the doors open at 7 p.m.

Lauren Baker

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photos used under fair use exception to copyright law

Create a steamer with pumpkin, spice and everything nice

Kate Hrdina

Editor-in-Chief

ou know what the worst things Y in the world are? Broken things.

Things that are highly dysfunc-

tional when they are not supposed to be.

Take my dog Buddy, for example. He lies directly in front of the door, motionless, every day.

He can run for about a tenth of a mile before getting exhausted. He sinks like a rock when put in a pond or river. Buddy is a Golden Retriever.

He is supposed to be active and energetic. He isn’t exactly what I meant when I wrote “dog” on my Christmas list, Santa.

Another thing that invariably breaks around this time of year is the heater. Oh, it’s fine, heater.

You’ve only had a six-month-long vacation. I understand that you’re still tired. Lazy bum. So if you stop by my house in the next couple of weeks, don’t be surprised if you see me garnished in colorful fuzzy socks, multiple layers of plaid flannel pajama pants, an ugly homemade Christmas sweater and my ski hat with the fluffy ball on top. I’m peacocking.

Thinking about the inevitable the other day, I decided to try something new this year. Instead of waiting for the morning when I wake up to the chatter of my own teeth, I prepared for the coming cold. Take that, procrastination.

But after resurfacing my insulated face mask, I realized warm clothes hadn’t really cut it in years past.

And they weren’t going to this year.

So I had to find myself a friend who would snuggle under the covers with me and my book when that fateful day arrived. In the past I resorted to hot chocolate.

But he was a bad friend. He made me feel slightly chubby.

So I tried a pumpkin spice steamer.

Much healthier, right?

Hah, fat chance.

The ironic part of this situation is that I realized I, too, am highly dysfunctional at times. My first indication: my attempt to make “simple syrup.” Simple my asterisk.

Once upon a time, my uncle told me that to make simple syrup you just have to melt sugar in a pan. I now consider that uncle a liar. I put sugar in a pan and turned on the stove.

After quite some time, the sugar started to burn so I added water.

The nasty gooey mess started to boil and sizzle. It turned black and started to smoke. My attempt to make simple syrup had turned the sugar into a bubbling witch’s brew.

After quite a few failed efforts, I came up with a wonderfully delicious Pumpkin Spice Steamer. It tasted like Thanksgiving.

I am no longer the worst thing in the world. I have cured my dysfunctionality — at least for the time being.

So accept your failure. Embrace your brokenness. And then fix it.

And while you’re at it, have a Pumpkin Spice Steamer.

infographic by Kate Hrdina

16 Backpage

ROCK

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October 29, 2009

The Experts expose the most spine-tingling Thrillers

Faces of Terror

AGES

Through The The Shining (1997):

“Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is at the top of my list for the ’90s. Jack Nicholson tearing down the bedroom and sticking his head in with his “Heeeeere’s Johnny” is a funny moment in a very scary movie.”

—Rich Hadfield

Friday the 13th (1980):

“Friday the 13th is the best.

If that isn’t enough, you can watch parts two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight in this decade. Hollywood can smell money over blood.”

—Rich Hadfield

Psycho (1960):

“Psycho is one of the pivotal pieces of modern horror. It’s still creepy after all these years, thanks to Bernard Hermann’s nail biting score, Tony Perkins’ career defining performance and, of course, Hitchcock’s quintessential direction.”

—Scott May

Alien (1979):

“Director Ridley Scott set the standard for all modern sci-fi horror with this stylistic masterpiece of oozing, claustrophobic terror. Fantastic cast featuring a strong female lead, played by the then unknown Sigourney Weaver.”

—Scott May

The Blob (1958):

“My first contact with scary movies was as a young child when my uncle took me to see The Blob. My mother didn’t know.

Today this would be far from a scary movie, but when I was a young child, I’m sure it would have been PG-13, and I was, like, six.”

—Rich Hadfield

Critic Biographies:

Scott A. May

May is a movie critic who writes reviews for the Columbia Tribune’s Go! magazine.

He is also a computer consultant and has been writing information about personal computers since 1989.

Rich Hadfield

Hadfield is the music and film analysis teacher at RBHS. He was graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia and majored in music.

He has always had a passion for movies and completeted film workshops in Chicago before teaching here.

Runners-Up

1950s:

The Fly Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1960s:

Rosemary’s Baby The Pit and the Pendulum

1970s:

The Exorcist Carrie

1980s:

Nightmare on Elm Street Night of the Creeps

1990s:

Silence of the Lambs Cape Fear

Haunting horrors of the new millenium

Ginger Snaps (2000): “This droll, feminist ode is one of the better examples of modern horror, intelligent and well crafted.”

—Scott May The Others (2001): “A brilliantly told ghost story with a classic twist. Even if you know how it ends, there’s enough brilliance in the small ensemble cast to warrant repeat viewings.”

—Scott May Other scary sights: Jeepers Creepers (2001) The Ring (2002) Saw (2003) Paranormal Activity (2009)

Bracelets spin support

Features 5

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Senior Molly Totten sells bracelets to support her friend Amanda McDaniel, diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in 2007.

Emilie Lewis

Editorials Editor

T

he bracelet is simple — nothing more than a single bead on an eight-inch strand of hemp. Yet it was this simple idea that raised more than $200 in only a month for a friend with cancer. ­ “I went to Christian Fellowship School with [Amanda McDaniel] my freshman year,” senior Molly Totten said of her friend. “That year she got diagnosed with Sarcoma cancer.”

Osteosarcoma is a childhood bone cancer that usually occurs when DNA errs during a growth spurt. The treatment of Osteosarcoma is most often chemotherapy. McDaniel, now 17, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 15.

Chemotherapy caused McDaniel to lose her hair and when treatment did not work, her leg was amputated.

Still, McDaniel and her family remain strong.

“It hasn’t exactly been a really easy road,” McDaniel said, “but I’ve been blessed. I cannot complain at all.”

Even with a gloomy diagnosis, neither McDaniel nor friends lost hope.

Totten came up with the idea of selling bracelets at school and church for one dollar apiece after receiving encouragement from her mother. To Totten’s surprise her bracelet sales have added up to about $10 a day for McDaniel’s family.

Fuc hs

Totten is not the only one who is helping support McDaniel and cancer research. After McDaniel’s initial diagnosis, her friends made T-shirts in support along with a 5K run and father-daughter dance that are now annual.

“I think it’s important because I wouldn’t want anybody else to have to do this,” McDaniel said. “And the more the research progresses, the numbers [of patients] continue to go down.”

Aside from attending the same school, Totten and McDaniel became close when they spent the summer of 2007 together in Houston, Texas while Totten was visiting her sister, and McDaniel was receiving radiation.

The overall cost of combating the disease has been expensive.

McDaniel wears a $60,000 prosthetic leg and frequently travels for treatment so every little bit helps. Thankfully many are dedicated to raising money and awareness for McDaniel.

“I never take it off,” junior Justin Miller said of his bracelet. Miller met McDaniel at CFS and has supported her since her initial diagnosis.

“It reminds me every day of what Amanda’s going through.”

Miller is not the only one to support McDaniel. Sophomore Bethany Eubanks continues to correspond with McDaniel since their days at CFS. “Amanda is one of my really

“When I look at it, I remember to pray for her and just think about her.”

Bethany Eubanks sophomore

photo by Kate Hrdina

Hanging onto hope: Merely a single string with beads, each bracelet made by senior Molly Totten raises $1 for Amanda McDaniel’s family. The money helps cover small travel, treatment and other costs.

With McDaniel’s help Totten comes up with a new design monthly for the bracelets. November’s bracelets each have one green bead; some also have two complimentary beads on either side. good friends,” Eubanks said. “I keep in touch with her and call her a lot.”

It is not just former classmates who are showing their support. Senior Page Dodam has never met McDaniel, though she actively supports her.

“I’ve got some friends who are really close to her,” Dodam said, “and I don’t know her that well, but I think every thought counts for her condition.”

Upon hearing of Totten’s project, McDaniel was nearly at a loss for words.

“I think it’s absolutely amazing,” McDaniel said. “It just blows my mind. You wish you could say thank you to absolutely everybody that’s helped in one little way or another.

It’s amazing.”

The outpouring of support has encouraged Totten to continue to sell the bracelets monthly. McDaniel will pick out the bead color, which Totten hopes will remind everyone to send out a thought each time they glance at it.

The beads are not necessarily prayer beads, though seeing them does spark a few to send a thought or two heavenward.

“When I look at it, I remember to pray for her and just think about her,” Eubanks said.

But the bracelets represent more than just a prayer for a friend; Totten hopes her friend’s struggle will inspire many more.

“It’s just the thought of someone having cancer who is our age, and you hear about it but you don’t really think about it,” Totten said. “I see this girl, and she goes home and does her homework. She’s still trying to graduate with her class next year, and all summer she [had] chemo and stayed inside.”

Yet McDaniel has not let cancer get her down. She has depended on support from friends and family to overcome the disease.

“It would have been very, very hard to do this — to be as far as I am now — without them,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel continues to garner help from friends and supporters through the blog her parents write, www.CheersForAmanda. blogspot.com. She relies heavily on her twin brother Caleb, and her stepsister Abby, a 2009 RBHS graduate, who shaved her head along with McDaniel in

2008.

Totten says the blog is a way for her to feel connected, even when she has not talked to McDaniel for some time. The McDaniels update the blog with treatments, family outings and anything that has had some effect on McDaniel’s condition and recovery.

Though McDaniel has proven strong, she has recently encountered a scare.

“They thought it was in her other leg, [too], but it turned out there was nothing there,” Totten said.

But cancer or no cancer, Totten values McDaniel most for her friendship, noting that McDaniel “has this personality [that is] on fire.”

With an attitude that draws people in and a group of CFS and RBHS students behind her, McDaniel has proven to be an inspiration to all.

“I think she just deserves this because she’s fighting cancer where we’re living our teenage years. [While we are] struggling with different things, she struggles with everything on top of that with this cancer,” Totten said. “She definitely has inspired me.”

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October 29, 2009

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October 29, 2009

u o y s e g a p e s e h t e d i s In . r a e f e c a f y l e r will su o h w e y l l a e p o h Abandon . e r e h r ente

In-Depths 7

Art by Sawyer Wade

8

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Kylee Fuchs

T

All Customs that linger

Photography Editor

he first Halloween dates back 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (sow-in). The Celts lived in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern France. The Celts celebrated the New Year Nov. 1, which marked the end of the summer harvest and the cold winter ahead. For this reason the day was often associated with death. On New Year’s Eve, Oct. 31, the Celts believed that the boundary between the living and the dead became tainted. They believed ghosts of the dead reverberated back to earth on this night. To celebrate, Celtic priests called Druids built a sacred bonfire and people dressed in costumes burned crops and sacrificed animals in honor of the Druids.

European immigrants brought many different Halloween customs when they came to America. When these traditions began to mesh together, an American version of Halloween emerged. New immigrants poured into America in the second half of the 19th century and promoted the spread of the Halloween celebration. The tradition of dressing up in costumes came from the Irish, who went from house to house asking for food or money, which American transformed into today’s “trick-or-treat.” source: www.historychannel.com

T

“Wicked Cold”

he woman lay in bed, curled into a tight ball, every muscle taut, listening to the crashing of the thunderstorm outside. Colin was late, later than she had ever known him to be, and the weather was fierce in its fury. She hated to think of him outside in this torrent, up on the poles. They needed the money from the overtime, but she realized, not for the first time, that it might be better just to have her Colin home with her, safe and warm. The life of a lineman was never easy, but on nights such as this, it was absolutely murderous.

A thunderbolt crashed, filling the room with noise as the flash of lightning filled it with blue light. It was then she sensed Colin in the room and heard his long drawn out groan of exhaustion as he peeled off his sodden clothes. In a minute she was rewarded with the sensation of feeling him climb into bed, one arm around her waist, pressing himself against her.

“God, you’re frozen,” she complained.

“Wicked cold out there,” he said simply, his voice tinged with a profound tiredness.

“Jesus, you’re like ice. Come on, snuggle up closer and get yourself warmed up.”

His voice sounded far away, as if he were near to sleep. “A transformer blew while we were up in the bucket, and it snapped off part of the cable. The tension was tight, the wind caught it. Cracked around us like a bullwhip. We were right next to it.”

“Damn,” she whispered, pressing up against him, trying to bring him her warmth.

“You’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

“Funny you should mention tha

epths

hallows’ eve

9

October 29, 2009

Haunted houses battle for dominance Lauren Baker Staff Writer

B

ill Schnell, owner and manager of Necropolis since its opening in 2004, is a hard man to please. Heavy breathing, pupils dilating, veins bulging— this is how he expects his customers to feel after exiting his haunted butchery. One aspect that is unique to Necropolis is that their actors can touch customers in order to scare them.

With Necropolis, we are trying to be as intense and scary as possible, and touching adds to it,” Schnell said. ”Because of that we have to do things like not let anyone under 12 go through without an adult. It’s mainly geared towards high school age and above.”

Necropolis is located downtown on Rogers Street and offers one attraction: the haunted Bishop Factory Butcher. Necropolis is not the only haunted attraction for teens. Fear Fest, the alternative scare in mid-Missouri, features four attractions: Sarah’s Legend (a haunted house), a corn maze, a hay ride and the Slash Masters’ Asylum according to wwwfearfesthauntedhouse. com. It is located three miles west of Columbia off the Fayette Exit of I-70.

“The general theme and feel of the two are different, and a lot of that has to do with location,” Schnell said. “We use the old butcher factory, giving us an old, industrial theme, while Fear Fest uses more of a country feel.”

Despite the differences between the two, both places made changes to make their sequences less predictable.

Fear Fest “re-did Slash Master’s with new actors and new roles,” Courtney Barker, first-year actress in Sarah’s Legend, said. “There’s the same basic theme, just everything is switched.”

Unlike Fear Fest Necropolis got rid of their second attraction Freak Show in 3-D in order to have more space to focus on the Bishop Factory Butcher.

Though both haunted attractions vary from year to year, the question of which one people prefer continues to stoke controversy in most teenagers. Junior Kyle Sherman said Fear Fest is the scarier of the two “because it changes what it does, so you’re more prone to be surprised.”

But junior Laura Mellitt disagrees with Sherman’s assessment.

“Fear Fest is a lot bigger, but Necropolis is scarier because they can touch you and get closer,” Mellitt said.

Location also affects Mellitt’s decision.

“I’ve never been to Fear Fest,” Mellitt said, “because it’s a lot farther away and a lot more expensive, and people usually choose Necropolis.”

Whichever the preference both Fear Fest and Necropolis have maintained the same back-story throughout the years, and both offer fun and fright. Fear Fest and Necropolis close after this weekend; both attractions are open tonight. The last chance to experience Necropolis is Halloween night, whereas Fear Fest lasts until Sunday. Fear Fest costs $23 for all four attractions, and Necropolis costs $13.

“

art by Sawyer Wade

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October 29, 2009

Students search for Halloween style

“Chuck Norris, for sure. I wore a flannel shirt tucked in with coal on my face and I also had a Texas Ranger badge.”

—Erik Knight, senior

art by

Garr

ette D

Missy’s how-to: make a last- minute Halloween Costume

photos by Kylee Fuchs

The Cowboy 1) Wear jeans and a plaid

The Football Player 1) Go in your dad or brother’s

2)

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shirt.

Find a brown ten gallon hat.

Get a large belt buckle and a belt to compliment it.

Wear some cowboy boots and attach spurs. Or even safer make spurs out of aluminum foil.

Dig in your toy-box and find a stick-pony. Giddy up.

3)

4)

5)

closet and find a football jersey.

Find some very tight pants… hopefully from your sister’s drawer.

Get some pillows and stuff them up your shirt. Real shoulder pads might work too.

Grab some tennis shoes or cleats and put them on your feet.

Paint two black horizontal streaks on your cheeks.

Get some Gatorade! Quench your football thirst.

5)

It’s all in the bag E

very year on the night of Oct. 31, senior Ellen Gold cheerfully walks with friends down little kid filled neighborhood streets carrying a pillowcase full of candy.

Everyone around her dresses in crazy costumes, from spaghetti and meatballs to Dorothy carrying a wicker basket with a tiny, shivering Toto underneath a miniature blue blanket.

Gold plans to continue the tradition of candy crammed nights this year by trick-or-treating with a group of friends like she has for so many years in the past.

“I love trick-or-treating, and it is free candy,” Gold said. “High school students are not too old to go trick-or-treating.

If people feel too embarrassed to trickor-treat in high school, then don’t, but if not go right ahead.”

Gold demonstrated her love for trick-or-treating last year by strolling through the streets with nine friends. The crowd started out by meeting at a friend’s house. They snacked on cookies and roasted marshmallows over the heat of a fire, setting the scene by adding music to the background.

90% of parents Gold and her friends waited until a little before dark to hit the road. While they walked they admit to sneaking chatted and laughed, and every once in a while awed at goodies from their kids adorable little kids in pumpkin costumes walking by. trick or treat bags At the same time, they debated who had the best costume in the group. They had to choose from a banana, a robot and a southern belle. info from purpletrail.com “We had a costume contest while we were trick-or-

street corner. Be sure the box is not wet or covered in food.

Remove the bottom of the box.

Cut two holes on each side and one on the top that your head can fit through. Be real. If you have a big head, the box needs a big hole.

Wrap the box with colorful paper.

Wear bright pants that compliment your box. These directions are for a birthday present, not birthday suit.

Put a ribbon on your head, attach it firmly to prevent it from falling in any costume party craziness.

3) 4)

5)

Entertainment Editor

erty

2)

4)

Morgan Hausman

augh

The Birthday Present 1) Get a cardboard box off your

3)

6)

s

Staff Writer

e Fuch

Missy Wheeler

costumes can morph into millions of forms. Halloween prompts wild attire, and there is no rule saying teenagers are too old or cool to join in on the celebration.

“I think we are going to be superheroes,” junior Shannon Fox said, of her friends Gabby Gotangco and Hannah Reese.

“We saw some costumes at Hot Topic, but they were really, really slutty.”

Although Fox doesn’t plan to purchase the costumes, the superhero idea has stuck. But, gathering funds and resources may be a common problem for teens.

“We’re going to come up with [outfits] on our own,” Fox said. “I’m kind of broke. I’m not willing to pay for a Halloween costume.”

In senior Anchal Sethi’s case, costumes aren’t hard to come by.

“Last year I got a Greek goddess dress at the drama department sale for 50 cents,” Sethi said. “Next time there’s a toga party I’ll wear it.”

This year, her costume took more effort and adjusting.

“My mom’s friend gave her a dress,” Sethi said. “I guess it’s fashionable. I cut it up and made it into a Pocahontas dress.”

Unlike Sethi junior Teddy Perkins did not have a hand in the creation of his Halloween attire.

“I’m going to be Hannah Montana,” Perkins said. “It’s a bet against Kristen [Thackery]. I didn’t think I’d get a job at Factory Card Outlet.

So I made a bet that she’d owe me $5 if I didn’t get the job and if I did, I’d wear a Hannah Montana costume. And then I lost.”

As much as Perkins looks forward to wearing the wig and skirt for fun, he probably won’t wear them anytime after Oct. 31.

“Hannah Montana was the first and lamest thing I could think of,” Perkins said. “I’ll never again dress up as her unless I lose another bet.”

Although trick-or-treating is one trendy way to rock the pop-star, superhero and goddess looks, parties are an alternate way to spend Halloween night.

“My parent’s won’t let me trick-or-treat anymore. They said I’m too old,” Fox said. “If there’s a party I’ll just be a superhero there.”

Whether the incentive for dressing up is candy, a bet or a party, the costume tradition will continue on. People like Perkins participate just to have a good time.

“There’s nothing better than a cross-dressing guy on Halloween,” said Perkins.

“I dressed up as a wacky scientist once. I took my mom’s science coat and glued eyeballs, snakes and a fake hand on my shoulder. I also had wacky hair and glasses.”

—Collin Williams, junior

art by Sawyer Wade

Junior Coral Hoelscher models Greek goddess, Dorothy Gail, and go-go-girl costumes for The Rock. They are for sale and rent at Gotcha, a costume store downtown at 27 N. 10th St.

rom the catalog vampire to F a webbed Spiderman to the personally designed ‘chick-magnet,’

“I’m going to be a ferret this Halloween.

I made myself a fur dress, and I have a fur tail. I also have long black nails for claws, and I have a mask with whiskers.”

—Becca McCaulley, senior

Did you know?

Rocking the Halloween ‘not-so-spooky’ look

by Kyle

What was your most original Halloween costume?

photos

10 In-Depths

art by Kelsey Reimler

Students take time out to go trick-or-treating

treating,” Gold said, “which made it even more exciting. In the end the robot won.”

The excitement of costumes, knocking on front doors and saying ‘trick-or-treat’ also plays a large part in senior Alex Jacobson’s Halloween nights.

Jacobson made it a “habit” to go trick-or-treating every year to keep with the tradition from when he was a kid.

Like Gold and her friends, Jacobson loves costumes and seeing the different outfits everyone comes up with.

“It is a chance to dress up and be ridiculous,” Jacobson said. “You want to see people every day in what they wear during Halloween because it is creative and you can be whatever you want.”

Last year on Halloween, Jacobson created his own innovative costume as he carved a face out of a Styrofoam pumpkin and cut a hole in the bottom so it could fit over his head.

Then he added a bike helmet light in the back and it became a lit up pumpkin head.

“I guess I was a Sleepy Hallow-esque person,” Jacobson said. “I have been just about everything for Halloween.”

Jacobson and friends wore their costumes door to door collecting candy just like the younger children out on Halloween night.

“I mean, some people could argue [trick-or-treating] is for little kids and that older people could be taking advantage of the holiday,” Jacobson said, “but it is a random American holiday that makes no sense so I think it is fair game to anyone.”

Besides students teachers celebrate this American holiday, as well. Chemistry teacher Gregory Kirchhofer has fun dressing art by Sawyer Wade up and making Halloween a family day.

Kirchhofer goes trick-or-treating with his children every year, most of the time wearing costumes such as a wizard or a black-eyed pea. This year he plans to keep his costume top secret until Halloween day.

“I go trick-or-treating with my girls and they have to give me 10 percent. It’s a math lesson,” Kirchhofer said, “and a way for me to get candy but mostly a math lesson.”

“It is a chance to dress up and be ridiculous. You want to see people every day in what they wear during Halloween because It is creative and you can be whatever you want.”

—Alex Jacobson, senior

October 29, 2009

Editorials 11

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EDITORIAL CARTOON

In Memoriam

Extending school days will not lead to higher U.S. student test scores

Dec 9, 1991 - Oct 3, 2009 B. Eiken, a RBHS senior, passed away Saturday, Stuart Oct. 3 in Columbia, Missouri. He was 17 years old.

He was born to Bradley J. Eiken and Beth T. Graessle-

C

oming home each day in time for dinner is a difficulty for many busy American families. Just as unique is eating dinner at school every day with your peers instead of your family.

With President Obama proposing to add three hours to the school day, students would not leave school until close to their dinner times. Family dinners have decreased by one-third, according to http://childmin.wordpress.com.

Obama did not just have the idea to lengthen the school days because he wanted to show his concern for education. American students’ test scores were not as high as other countries; recent scores prove his assumption true. But test scores are not an accurate reflection of the country’s progress because every student’s test scores are part of the count.

As for other countries, they only send in their best and brightest students’ test scores, which gives them an advantage, making scores unfair to the United States.

This basis of comparison is not consistent. There is no need to add hours to the school day because lengthening it wouldn’t necessarily make us any smarter, and as a result would not make our test scores any higher.

The United States would not lengthen the school days, not solely because of students’ views on school but because the lifestyle of Americans is not the same as that of people in other countries.

The three-hour difference would only hinder after-school activities because our lifestyles are unique; students have extracurricular activities that require a lot of time, especially for students who want to participate at the competitive level. According to www. bls.gov, students spend an average of 2 1/2 hours a day doing homework, though many students stay up late, around midnight to 1 a.m. with extra work from honors and Advanced Placement classes.

If Obama adds three hours to the school day, will that result in students staying up until 4-5 a.m.?

While students in other countries have sports, they don’t coincide with school the way American students’ schedules do. Instead students overseas tend to specialize; either they are in school full-time or in a sport full-time, unlike many American adolescents completely committed to school and sports.

Whether the additional three hours would be beneficial or not, when a drastic change occurs in education it costs a lot of money, especially with adding three entire hours to a school day. Money spent by each school district include: energy costs, paying teachers, sponsoring of each new club that arises and sports. Were Obama to make many changes to the United States, it would be extremely difficult because we are already in extreme debt. The extra cost spent on this proposal would be astronomical to the United States and the outcome will not necessarily be as promising as anticipated. Three extra hours every day will not make the American students any smarter.

It may make us work more diligently and stay up later but that in no way guarantees an increase in intelligence.

The Rock staff vote: Would adding three hours to the school day increase test scores?

Yes: 2 No: 24

The Rock Rock Bridge High School 4303 South Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203-1798 Vol. 37. Issue 2 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 accurately in an open forum. The Rock is a member of the National Scholastic Press

Eiken in Columbia, Mo. on Dec. 9, 1991.

Eiken was a member of the RBHS varsity football team last season and was the second-leading rusher with two touchdowns and 457 yards. He participated in the ShowMe State games with the Columbia Tigers football team.

Eiken had played football since second grade. He was also a member of the Jefferson City Vipers and Columbia Cobras baseball teams.

Eiken is survived by his parents; sister Maribeth “MB” Eikin of Columbia; maternal grandfather Donald A. Graessle of Jefferson City; parental grandparents of Bernard and Jadine Eiken of Jefferson city; aunts and uncles Dan and Dawn Eiken of Jefferson City; Donna and Simak Hagh of Shawnee, Kan., Jeanne and Ron Prenger of Springfield, Dale and Carol Graessle of Benford, Mass., Ellen and Max Deshon of Overland Park, Kan., and Glenn Graessle of Olathe, Kan.; and 10 cousins.

His grandmother Mary Graessle preceded him in death.

A funeral Mass was held Oct. 7 at Our Lady of Lourds Catholic Church. Eiken was honored by fellow photo courtesy of Brad and Beth Eiken RBHS students with posters and t-shirts.

Where has the creativity in television gone?

Omar Taranissi Features Editor hen I tuned in to watch Fox’s W “The Cleveland Show”, I did so with an open mind. Seth MacFarlane

already had two programs on the Fox Animation lineup: “Family Guy” and “American Dad”, and the two shared an identical style of sporadic, edgy humor.

Sure enough, as I watched “The Cleveland Show,” I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was just viewing another episode of “Family Guy.” Now don’t get me wrong, “Family Guy” is a great show, but after seven seasons, a nearly identical counterpart and now a spin-off, it all gets a little stale.

And it is not just “Family Guy;” a majority of television nowadays is recycled. Lost takes the two hour “lost-on-an-island” film and stretches it to more than 100 hours of programming. House is the same as Grey’s Anatomy, which is the same as ER. If you played a 10-minute Law & Order clip, I couldn’t tell you if it was from the original Law & Order, CI or SVU. And don’t even get me started on “reality” television.

Like everything else in our society, cable programming has fallen to capitalism. Network executives care more about ratings than the content they broadcast because ratings equal money. If they have a show that’s getting big numbers, then their job is to milk that show for all it is worth.

The result is that cable programming is all starting to look the same. It has gotten to the point where I’ve actually considered reading my AP U.S. studies book for variety. What has happened to

Association and International Quill and Scroll.

Advertising is $50 for a quarter page, $90 for a half page and $130 for a whole page.

The Rock accepts letters from the 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 the writer will be printed.

original programming? Is it dead?

No, but original programming is on life support. Any starting program labeled “different” poses a risk since it doesn’t bring instant ratings.

Fearing even the slightest drop in profits, executives shut these risks out, leaving intricate, well-thought out shows to suffocate in their i n f a n t stages. “ T h e Whitest Kids U Know” takes sketch comedy to a whole new level, utilizing dark humor to garner three times as many laughs per episode as Saturday Night Live.

Nevertheless, it finds its home on the obscure Independent Film Channel and brings in minimal ratings.

Aziz Ansari is God’s gift to women trapped in the body of a chubby, greasy Indian guy. He and Amy Poehler make any episode of Parks & Recreation worth watching, yet the series’ undersized audience has put it at risk of cancellation.

When Arrested Development premiered in 2003, it provided a breath of fresh air for those looking for change. The six-time Emmy award-winning series had an array of intriguing characters and a satisfying plot.

Like the “WKUK,” Arrested

Editors-in-Chief: Kate Hrdina, Kelsey Kupferer Production Manager: Zach Goree Chief Financial Officer: Ismam Islam News Editor: Craig Chval Features Editor: Omar Taranissi Editorials Editors: Emilie Lewis, Soumaya Necibi In-Depths Editor: Breanna Dumbacher Commentary Editor: Kelli Buchanan Sports Editor: Michael Trecha

Development experimented with new and creative ideas to keep content fresh and stimulating. And like the “WKUK,” Arrested Development didn’t earn as much commercial success as “The Hills.”

After failing to bring in ratings for three seasons, Arrested Development was canceled in 2006.

Now maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there is a depth to “The Hills” that I’m missing out on.

Maybe I don’t see the artistic vision in all those “reality” television shows because I don’t complain about my boyfriends all day.

More than likely though, we as a society are at fault for the garbage that Hollywood subjects us to.

When network executives slip us the same show nine times under nine different titles you would expect people to start turning away. It could be that a repetitive, monotonous television schedule parallels the repetitive, monotonous lives that so many of us lead. If so our acceptance of mediocrity will leave us an accessory to murder.

Capitalism has original programming by the throat. How do we solve this?

We don’t. We could try to yell and shout and demand change, but we won’t. If there is one thing that should be clear to us living in the United States, it is that capitalism always wins. Original programming, rest in peace.

The result is that cable programming is all starting to look the same. It is ridiculous; it has gotten to the point where I’ve actually considered reading the AP U.S. studies book for variety.

Entertainment Editor: Morgan Hausman Fine Arts Editors: Bethany Ahlersmeyer, Katelyn Gribble Personality Profile Editor: Ashley Claybrook Art/Design Editor: Tasmeen Hussain Artists: Garrette Daugherty, Jessica Wells, Kelsey Reimler, Oliver Clark, Sarah Brennan, Sawyer Wade Photo Editors: Jessica Schlager, Kylee Fuchs Staff Writers: Brian Dresner,

George Brand, Hannah Strawn, Latisha Hickem, Lauren Baker, Lauren Croll, Mary Herndon, Missy Wheeler Adviser: Robin Fuemmeler Stover

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12 Ads

October 29, 2009

Congratulations

Rock Bridge Seniors!

Moonshadow Studio owner and lead photographer Jennifer Roberts (RBHS Class of ‘92!) invites you to let us help you celebrate your senior year with a photo session designed around YOUR personality and talents.

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