October 2011

THE

ROCK

Patterson kicks his way to top through past experiences page 21

Rock Bridge High School • 4303 S. Providence Rd. - Columbia, MO 65203 • Volume 39, Issue 2 • October 27, 2011 • http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/rbhs/bearingnews

CPS adopts suicide prevention policy Alyssa Sykuta

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photo by Muhammad Al-Rawi

Making history: English teacher Randy Swift lectures his honors U.S. studies class during fourth hour. A proposal may merge honors and on-level classes, leaving A.P. and on-level classes as options for students.

US courses face challenge

Missouri districts find No Child Left Behind waiver attractive option

Proposal to remove US History honors classes moves forward Maria Kalaitzandonakes

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group of teachers is looking to eliminate the honors level class from the U.S. English and history course offerings at the junior level.

Instead, juniors would have two options: a team-taught Advanced Placement English Language class and A.P. U.S. History class or an on-level U.S. Studies class, team-taught by English and history teachers.

Teachers have scheduled a meeting with Mark Maus, principal, for Wednesday Nov. 2 to present their proposal.

“We redesigned the program because we wanted to push honors students to not only have good behavior,” social studies teacher

Austin Reed said, “but to have a curiosity about the topics and a real life application for their information.”

Reed, who has taught juniors history for seven years, said the curriculums of honors and on-level U.S. studies are so similar there is no need to separate them.

For those wanting an honors designation on their transcripts, Reed said students could contract for additional assignments.

The proposed curriculum change is not unique. RBHS Popular Culture class offers a similar option. Reed and Katherine Glover teach the Popular Culture class and say it has seen great success.

“Kids were picking to be in regular because they wanted to be with their friends and thought that they weren’t smart enough,”

Reed said. “Kids in honors were picking it so they wouldn’t have to deal with ‘riffraff’ and behavioral issues.”

In on-level classes, the percentage of students with behavioral issues is higher, Reed said, and when the classes are mixed, the percentage goes down. He said having only two course options would provide for a more successful learning environment.

Another advocate for the proposed course change is U.S. studies teacher Gregory Irwin, who has taught both on-level and honors U.S. Studies classes. He said he bases his reasoning on class-division research he and others have done which shows an association between socioeconomic factors and the class levels students choose. story continued on page 5

Policy aims to curb allergies Alyssa Sykuta

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olumbia Public Schools adopted a Student Allergy Prevention and Response policy in hopes of creating an effective system to prevent and respond to allergic reactions efficiently. According to the policy itself, the plan “is designed to increase awareness, provide education and training, reduce the chance of exposure and outline responses to allergic reactions.”

The rule states that not only can allergies be potentially deadly for some individuals, but, “allergies can negatively impact student achievement by affecting concentration, auditory processing and attendance.”

The policy states the “best form of prevention” of allergic reactions is avoidance of the allergen entirely. Because of this, the district has decided to crack down on the types of chemicals and fragrances used in schools that could spark allergy problems. This includes air fresheners, oils and candles along with certain types of cleaning materials, disinfectants and pesticides. The school board must pre-approve all of these supplies.

“We’ve moved toward all environmental products,” said Mike Jones, CPS assistant director of custodial services. “All of our products that we use in our buildings to clean our buildings are environmentally sensitive cleaning products. … They contain no added fragrance

and no dye, and they are also board-approved.”

Effects of the policy also reach school cafeterias.

With the approval of only certain cleaning supplies, the effectiveness of some chemicals in the kitchen could go into question.

Laina Fullum, CPS director of nutrition services, said cafeterias will take a little longer to fully implement the cleaning supply aspect of the policy.

“Some of the supplies are not changing at all at this point in time until we can find a product that replaces it,” Fullum said. “But we are working with building services facilities to start thinking about greener ways to use our chemicals and to be as effective. We have to be as effective; we still have ordinances that we must abide by. So as far as sanitation is concerned, if it doesn’t do the exact same or better in sanitizing, then we can’t change the products just yet.”

The district will also no longer serve processed foods. This aspect of the policy does not only concern cafeteria food; vending machines will only offer items labeled with a complete list of ingredients, and prepackaged items used in concessions, fundraisers and classroom activities must also include a list of ingredients on the package.

“Students who have food allergies sometimes have a very violent reaction to a particular food ingredient,” Fullum said. “We’ve always actually operated this way, it just happens to be in policy now. story continued on page 2

ophomore Maribeth Eiken woke up Oct. 3, 2009 in a broken world. Eiken’s brother and a former RBHS football player, Stuart Eiken, had been found hanging by the neck at a water pumping station near McBaine in an apparent act of suicide.

“It seemed that a whole bunch of people knew [that Stuart had passed away] before I did,” Eiken said. “It was definitely a big blow because, you know, you’re really young, and you expect [a sibling] to be there your whole life. It’s just like when your parents tell you that your brother did something awful. You don’t know how to react.”

Sophomores Haley Benson and Chandler Randol were barely teenagers when they heard the news of Stuart Eiken’s death. A year later, when assigned a project in government at West Junior High School, his suicide and the news of a local woman’s jump from a Columbia parking garage inspired them to take action.

“It started last year when we did Project Citizen, which we did with a group [of four other students],” Benson said. “We decided as our group thing to study suicide and create a new curriculum for schools to follow.” story continued on page 7

photo by Asa Lory

A clean problem: The new allergen policy attempts to control the risks associated with many cleaning materials in use.

Sami Pathan

I

n August United States Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced plans to implement a waiver system to allow individual states to opt out of the student testing mandates from the 10-year-old federal No Child Left Behind Act. This followed years of outcry from states about the ineffectiveness of the law’s regulations.

Echoing the same sentiments, President Barack Obama announced in a speech Sept. 23 that states would receive more freedom regarding elements of the NCLB law. The announcement could affect millions of children if states agree to create their own standards for improvement.

“We are pleased to be able to consider such a waiver, but it is too early to say whether the state of Missouri will apply,” said Missouri Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro in a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education news release. “We remain absolutely committed to accountability, but we believe the outdated NCLB accountability system is broken. The need to fix it is urgent.”

According to a 2010 study by the Programme for International Student Assessment, education levels in the United States have fallen dramatically in recent years, signaling a need for reforms to the system. Critics of the law say certain benchmarks are often unrealistic and brand certain schools as failures even if they make progress. This can lead to the firing of teachers and even the closing of schools entirely.

“The biggest problem with [NCLB] is really that it forces teachers to teach to the test and meet benchmarks set by the federal government that, for some schools, are unreachable,” wrote Michele Clark, communications coordinator for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in an email interview. “The consequences of not meeting the goals can be incredibly severe; teachers can get fired, and schools can be shut down.” story continued on page 5

Inside this Issue

No one’s LARPing around

Owning their own business

Rec-soccer allows freedom

After struggling on multiple occasions to create the perfect cupcake, senior Katherine Woodruff and her friend, Maddie Games, have started a successful baking retailer of their own, exhibiting original designs and flavors. The company has thus far brought in over $3,500 for the two girls.

Some RBHS students spend their Saturday mornings at Cosmo Park playing rec-soccer.

Unlike competitive sports, rec-soccer allows the players to enjoy other aspects of the game, such as personal victories, small rivalries and the love of soccer.

11

22

Our generation, our words photo by Asa Lory

Live action role players dress in medieval costumes and reenact imaginary battles in their spare time.

This form of sport, LARPing, has become increasingly popular.

9

Students take on a scholarly role and explore their own generation’s characteristics, influences and futures. They also consider the implications of both the veneration and apathy directed towards technology today, redefining what it means to be a member of the iGeneration.

13

photo by Asa Lory

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

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2 ∙ News

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

the

W rld in brief

Shabab threatens retaliation after Kenyan military action

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enya is facing increasing criticism from neighboring Somalia for recent military offensives into that nation in an attempt to oust Islamic rebels. Somalia’s president, Sheik Sharif Ahmed, condemned the actions, stating they were almost an invasion of the country.

Kenya sent hundreds of soldiers, backed by tanks and aircraft, into Somalia to fight the Shabab, Islamists who control parts of the country. Kenya claimed the purpose of the operation was to support Somalia’s government, which has been battling the Shabab with limited success for years, and that it plans to stay in Somalia until the threat of the insurgents has been reduced.

The Shabab threatened to retaliate against Kenya for the offensive and followed through Oct. 24. Two separate grenades went off in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi killing one civilian and injuring dozens of others.

Somalia and Kenya had signed a joint agreement on Oct. 18 calling for decisive action against the Shabab, who have pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. The Shabab had cut off food relief during a famine and killed numerous civilians in bombings and other attacks.

Sharif Ahmed however said while the assistance from Kenya was welcome, Kenya’s territorial sovereignty must be ensured.

Major earthquake in Turkey responsible for many deaths

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itizens in the northeastern Turkish city of Van experienced a 7.2 magnitude earthquake Oct. 23. The earthquake destroyed more than a hundred buildings in Van and the nearby city of Ercis.

The confirmed death toll now stands at 423, with the number rising as more debris is removed.

More than 2,000 teams with dozens of sniffer dogs are involved in the search and rescue effort to find surviors. However, more often than not, they find bodies of the deceased. Cranes and other heavy equipment are also being used to attempt to move the heavy slabs of concrete from toppled buildings.

Over 200 afterschocks rocked the region after the quake, further slowing down the rescue efforts underway. Aid organizations have set up makeshift hospitals and tent kitchens to help the thousands left homeless and the approximately 1,300 injured.

Leaders from around the globe have pledged assistance to the relief effort, but for now Turkish Prime Minister Recip Erdogan has stated that the country will be able to cope by itself.

Turkey lies on one of the world’s most active seismic zones and faces constant danger from the numerous fault lines running through the country. Experts predicted tens of thousands of deaths if an earthquake were to hit the northeastern part of the country where the capital and largest city of Istanbul lies.

-source: www.nytimes.com, www.time.com By: Sami Pathan

photo by Asa Lory

Setting up shop: The new shed behind the football fields will include many options to help RBHS teams, including batting cages and storage for equipment. With this new shed, the teams’ equipment will be safe from the winter weather.

Creating more space New sheds bring opportunities, safekeeping Nomin-Erdene Jagdagdorj

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he addition of a new shed beside the football field will provide baseball and softball with their own batting cages. The structure expands the storage space for outdoor equipment for other sports as

well.

The construction, which started in the beginning of September, has yet to end nearly a month behind the expected completion date, RBHS athletic director Jen Mast said.

“The batting cage need has been there for a long time,” Mast said. “A lot of schools have batting facilities in their gym. We don’t really have extra gym space.”

Although both the baseball and softball teams brought the idea to the athletics office, the RBHS Booster Club funded the $140,000 project. The club raised the money through its For the Love of the Game dinner and auction.

Money from the fundraiser also paid for the new track shed on the opposite side of the field. The school will start using the storage space in the newer structure immediately after completion.

“All of our outdoor sports will have some sort of storage base in there,” Mast said. The district keeps “some of their equipment out here that is specific to our campus.

The Rock Bridge Bruin truck will go in there.”

Physical education teacher and football coach Justin Conyers said the storage space will help keep equipment away from harsh winter weather. It will also help loosen the burden of overcrowding in existing sheds. For example, the football team had filled the older shed with its equipment.

“It’s gonna be great for us,” Conyers said. “It’s been needed. It’s going to serve all sports well, especially for us, to have our own little space that we can call our own and get all of our stuff out of the elements of winter.”

The batting cage will also help the softball and baseball teams practice more efficiently. MSHSAA does not allow teams to be on the field before season, but with this addition, those who need it will be able to practice hitting at their leisure for preseason training as well as serving as a practice facility in inclement weather.

“We have good hitting already, but [the new facility] is going to improve that even more,” sophomore softball player Conner Logsdon said. “If we need hitting time, we can go there, or if we just need a place for when it’s raining.”

The softball team uses a private indoor facility owned

by Logsdon’s parents. Having a batting cage on campus will be much more convenient.

“We won’t have to go anywhere to get to it,” Logsdon said. “We can just go across the field.”

District reevaluates cleaning policy

photo courtesy of AP

story continued from page 1 “It’s important for us to give parents and students access to that information so that they can avoid that allergen in their food.”

Although taking these extra measures is useful in preventing allergic reactions, the new policy provides extra precautions in case a life-threatening situation was to occur. Staff members must be regularly trained on causes and symptoms of allergic reactions, as well

as how to use epinephrine premeasured in auto-injection devices (epi-pens).

District health services coordinator Lori Osborne plans to take charge of this part of the rule.

“I am training the staff on the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis and allergies. [This includes] how to use an epipen,” Osborne said.

Training will occur annually in compliance with the policy, and it is required for every employee in the district.

With the implementation of new supplies and standards, the Student Allergy Prevention and Response Policy will take some time to fully institute.

But although the accommodations will be extensive, Fullum believes the plan will have a meaningful effect.

“I think if anything, the policy is only going to help the district and people in the buildings because you have fewer chemicals that are going to affect people on any given level,” Fullum said.

MUHS classes provide different online options Walter Wang

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nline courses may soon look different to RBHS students. The University of Missouri High School has split from the Center for Distance and Independent Study to join with MU’s Department of Education, because their focus on providing pre-collegiate courses falls under the Department of Education, which has a similar pre-collegiate core.

Organizationally, MUHS functions to provide online courses to high school students. The reason for the split is that CDIS merged with MU Direct, another distance learning program, to form Mizzou Online, a program aimed at providing online university education. MUHS will continue to offer classes to high school students with little difference.

“Hopefully, [students] will see little change on the surface since most of the changes are occurring organizationally behind the scenes,” principal of University of Missouri High School Kristi Smalley said.

“In the long run, it should mean increased course options for students with the possibility of other funding mechanisms that may allow school districts to help fund their students’ enrollments in high school level online courses offered through the University of Missouri.”

This year, because he couldn’t fit personal finance into his schedule, senior Minsoo Soh takes it online.

He takes classes at MU during first block but doesn’t drive, so it is difficult to get back on time for second hour, forcing him to take two alternate unassigned times.

“I didn’t want to take an online course because I’m interested in accounting, which is really closely related to personal finance,” Soh said. “But I had to because it was hard for me to be on time to second block, when I originally had personal finance.”

MUHS offers courses like remedial health and physical education to supplemental Advanced Placement courses such as A.P. Computer Science and A.P. United States history. In addition to MUHS, the MU College of Education is looking at establishing a K-12 virtual school that will have semester-based courses available to Missouri schools and districts.

Another program that offers classes such as these is the Missouri Virtual Instruction Program. MOVIP, funded by the state, operates through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. However, there has been a recent change that detracts from the value of MOVIP courses.

“MOVIP’s funding has been cut drastically, and this has greatly decreased the number of enrollments that MOVIP can support to a limited number of state-funded seats for medically fragile students,” Smalley said. “Students can pay tuition for MOVIP classes as well, but MOVIP

courses are more expensive and, for the most part, are coming from other providers outside the state of Missouri.”

This makes MUHS a reputable source for online high school courses. Because MUHS has been entirely self-supporting through the payment of student fees, they have operated essentially as a private school but voluntarily elect to follow Missouri’s graduation requirements, Smalley said.

Additionally, Missouri’s certified teachers are using Missouri curriculum standards develop MUHS courses, and students can work at their own pace.

“MU High offers online courses in a primarily asynchronous mode of delivery, meaning that students can enroll at any time and work at their own pace within certain parameters,” Smalley said. “In addition to offering almost 200 individual courses that students can use as transfer credit at the local high school, we also offer a regionally accredited diploma.”

Smalley said students in Missouri, the United States and those located internationally have taken courses from MUHS. In addition, recent changes to MUHS should not affect the ability of MUHS to deliver the same courses as they have in the past to RBHS students.

“Essentially, MU High School will continue to operate in the same way [as before],” Smalley said, “by providing high quality curriculum to Rock Bridge students and other Missouri students.”

MU Online High School 200+ 200+courses available Dual enrollment

+

Make up credits

diploma after graduation

Open admission $250-350 per semester infographic by Joanne Lee source: www.cdis.missouri.edu/high-school.aspx

News ∙ 3

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Parking meter increasing rates Mike Presberg

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number of downtown businesses report hearing about a proposal that would increase downtown parking meter operation hours. Currently the city of Columbia enforces them from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; if implemented, the new policy would change the hours to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

According to the council members, their approval of previous bills that increased parking prices was largely because of the city’s need to raise money for the construction of a new parking garage on Short Street.

Kurt Mirtsching, marketing director for Shakespeare’s Pizza on South Ninth Street, has conflicted feelings about the idea of increasing parking meter enforcement hours and the recent pattern of raising parking prices in the downtown area.

“As a citizen, I advocate higher parking fees [because] there’s inadequate parking and it just makes sense to encourage people to find alternative ways to come downtown,” Mirtsching said. “But as a business owner, I advocate lower parking fees because it makes it easier to come to my business.”

However, City Council member Gary Kespohl said he is not aware of a proposal to the Council regarding an increase in downtown parking meter enforcement hours, although he has “heard some talk about it.”

Senior Ashleigh Johnson has worked at Addison’s restaurant downtown since late July and finds paying for parking difficult enough with the current policy.

“The meter eats my quarters, dimes and nickels like candy,” Johnson said. “Now I park illegally because I don’t have the time or money to pay.”

Kespohl, though, believes the parking fee increase was necessary. He said a boost in parking prices was the necessary solution to the city’s two major problems.

“Part of the reason was [downtown parking] hadn’t had an increase in several years, and it was time for an increase,” Kespohl said. “The other part of the reason was, with the possible edition of the Short Street garage, the parking utility has to make itself profitable.”

photo by Halley Hollis

Paying up: Sophomore Gabbie Elliot pays the meter downtown on Broadway before shopping. Elliot is a frequent visitor of the downtown area and spends large amounts of her spare pocket change meeting parking needs.

The city of Columbia recently built a parking garage on Fifth Street, but there was little revenue. During the summer, KOMU reported the garage was only 27 percent occupied. This is part of the reason the city needs help paying for the construction of the new Short Street garage.

Senior Maria Ramirez works downtown at Shakespeare’s Pizza and said the Fifth Street garage was a waste of money. Ramirez said she feels there was adequate parking available

without the garage.

“There are already five or six parking garages in the downtown area alone,” Ramirez said.

“The people’s money is being wasted.”

However, the Fifth Street garage experienced a remarkable turnaround in early October. City Council member Helen Anthony said a recent temporary decrease in parking costs has caused the garage to “fill up rapidly.”

In a later interview, Kespohl said the garage

is now 70 percent occupied.

But a question remains as to whether this good news will supply the city with enough revenue to put an end to the recent pattern of increasing meter prices downtown. If proposed, Kespohl said there is still a possibility he would vote for the increase in hourly enforcement.

“I think it has advantages and disadvantages,” Kespohl said. “When I’m on the fence like that, I wait to hear the testimony.”

Board adopts bill regarding sex education Classrooms reevaluate the process of teaching with greater emphasis on facts Nadav Gov-Ari

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olumbia Public Schools reached the effective date of the sex ed bill passed by the Missouri Senate March 2011 regarding the role of sex education in schools.

The bill’s timeline set Aug. 28 as the date to for it take effect. The bill provides that any course material should be medically and factually accurate, and informative about sex.

Courses must educate teenagers on the biological, physical and chemical changes their bodies undergo, as well as potential risks of sex. The bill also encourages abstinence as a contraception method.

The bill intends to further protect teenagers from potentially making poor decisions by increasing awareness and educating them in regard to all aspects of sexual maturity and readiness.

Regarding potential modifications to the curriculum currently taught at RBHS, health teacher Candice Jorgenson said the changes made in the bill mirrored what is taught in CPS health classes.

“Looking at [a summary of the bill], this is really similar to what we teach. We try to educate and inform students about unprotected sex and the possible consequences,” Jorgenson said. “It’s good that we are improving the quality of our sex ed, and I’m happy that what we teach at RBHS meets this new standard.”

Jorgenson reiterated the importance of knowledge as power, stressing that teenagers not edu-

cated in aspects of sex make many rash decisions.

“My role [as health teacher] is just to inform the students,” Jorgenson said. “There is a lot of misinformation that the students get. I try to present the facts in a factual manner, definitely stressing that abstinence is the 100 percent effective method for preventing S.T.D.’s as well as pregnancies.”

The bill aims to present the facts and information to teenagers in a way that allows them to make educated, rational decisions regarding sex. Senior Iyas Daghlas disagreed with this perspective.

“The way they teach the curriculum, from my experience, is an implicit recognition of the fact teenagers have sex,” Daghlas said. “Because of that, the curriculum is geared toward preparing students for having sex in a safe manner. I think it should be geared towards showing students the consequences of sex that they wouldn’t be able to foresee on their own.”

Previously, the main target of sex education laws was to lower unintentional teen pregnancies.

The new bill focuses on the dangers of S.T.D.’s.

Daghlas said that showing teenagers uncensored examples of S.T.D.’s could be key in dissuad-

ing premature sexuality.

The policy also attempts to combat teen pregnancy for the emotional, hormonal and educational stress it creates. The bill specifically discourages teen pregnancy because of the time and effort required to raise a child. Teenagers almost always are not financially able to personally support a child, and are in no position to raise children, having yet to reach maturity themselves.

“Pregnancy is a difficult time for most women with all of the physical and hormonal changes going on anyway, but when you are a teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy these can be overwhelming,” Jorgenson said. “The social and emotional issues are more serious for teenagers than for adults, not to mention the financial stress.”

Regardless, Jorgenson is optimistic about the success of the health program, and satisfied about the curriculum the district dictates.

“I would hope so; I’d like to think,” the sex ed program is helping teenagers make decisions Jorgenson said.

“

The way they teach the curriculum ... is an implicit recognition of the fact teenagers have sex.”

Iyas Daghlas, Senior

Teachers search for equal voice Sami Pathan

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he Columbia School Board is searching for a new collective bargaining agreement, which would permit teachers to negotiate terms of employment, such as giving teachers say in the number of hours they work, salary, working conditions and other contract stipulations.

In September School board members suggested to the Board of Education that they create a policy on their own that would effectively discuss the issues surrounding collective bargaining for teachers.

“Much of this is related to Missouri State law and the Missouri State Constitution. The district will hire an attorney to assist in the writing of the policies,” Jonathan Sessions, a Columbia Board of Education member, wrote in an email interview. “Then the Board of Education’s Policy Committee will make the recommendation to the Board for approval.”

The school board has been considering two other collective bargaining options, HH and HA, before Board

members suggested creating their own. HH would allow teachers to request exclusive representative, such as a teacher’s association, to bargain with administrators, or multiple representatives to collectively bargain with administrators. HA would create legal ground rules for districts to negotiate with employee associations.

“Both of the policies, HA and HH, were written by the Missouri School Board Association. MSBA assists school districts with policy. However they try to write one policy that covers all 500+ school districts in the state,” Sessions wrote. “While often this is not an issue, sometimes these policies don’t perfectly apply to all school districts. While other districts might find these policies work for them, the Board of Education felt we could craft our own to better suit to our needs and values.”

The board followed through and wrote a new policy. However, Oct. 10 the school board voted 6-1 in favor of sending the policies back for review.

“We are referring the policy back to our Policy Committee after the proposed Policy HH, Version 1 was voted

down by the board on Oct. 10,” school board member Jan Mees said. “The policy committee will be working with outside legal counsel to ensure we have all our t’s crossed and our i’s dotted with a policy that best reflects Columbia Public Schools.”

Before 2007 teachers in Missouri did not have the right to bargain collectively with a representative of their choice for contract negotiations. But a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that year upheld Article 1, Section 29 of the Missouri constitution, which allows public employees to bargain.

To Sessions, the legislature passed the law without any guidelines, making it difficult for school districts to follow a path that did not lead to legal issues.

“This is something that needed to be addressed in 2007 after the Missouri Supreme Court case, but wasn’t because it was expected that the Missouri State Legislators would do their jobs, [but] they didn’t,” Sessions said.

“Now it’s the responsibility of the over 500 school districts in Missouri to deal with independently.”

RBHS teacher Jennifer Black-Cone,

believes teachers should have an equal say in their contracts.

“For some reason we didn’t have that say. So basically we are at the mercy of what the Board office decides to do with us. My contract is one page, one little page, and it basically says that whatever they want to do with me they can do,” Black-Cone said. “But with collective bargaining what we want is exclusive representation and what that means is that we would have one organization that is going to represent all certified staff.”

Board members hope to choose a policy and the have the issue finally settled within this school year.

Changes will only affect the teachers who choose to use the policy, Mees said.

“Impact on faculty will be most obvious … since the intent of collective bargaining is for employees to have voices heard and exhibit more control over contract,” Mees said. “But the National Education Association has issued reports that [collective bargaining] positively impacts student achievement too.” additional reporting by Sonya Francis

District earns recognition for success Blake Becker

F

or the eighth straight year, Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education awarded the Columbia Public School district with the Annual Distinction Performance Award.

District Superintendent Chris Belcher believes the award is a significant achievement representing honor for schools, allowing the district freedom from certain state regulations and bureaucracy.

“This gives us some waivers, and if you’re hitting the distinction mark then you are given more freedom to try some things,” Belcher said. “You don’t have to have an on-site accreditation, which is a real time consuming issue because our numbers show that we’re making progress and improvements.”

DESE annually completes assessments of Missouri school districts to determine if they qualify for the ADPA. To qualify, a school district must meet at least 13 out of the 14 standards measured by the state including criteria like attendance, test scores and graduation rates,which can be difficult for some schools to meet as they do not always have the resources needed to accomplish, Belcher said.

“The dropout rate is a pretty high standard, and we struggle every year to stay within that mark, so that gives us a bar to shoot for,” Belcher said. “Same for attendance, which is 94 point something, which is pretty good attendance so we’re constantly looking for ways to make those numbers stay true.”

CPS anticipated winning the award this year by looking at high scores in the Missouri Assessment Program and the American College Testing students take every year. Scores had improved from years past, indicating a chance of winning the award.

“Our test scores were good, and we knew that the way they average them that we were going to hit [the standards] again [for] the MAP test and the ACT test,” Belcher said. For “all [of] the academic standards, we knew that we were on target even if we had a little dent with the [attendance] turnout.”

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News ∙ 5

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Dean & Aof Admissions

Q

Email responses

Q«

What is the most important thing you look at in a student when deciding admissions?

Princeton University — Princeton, N.J.: “We’re looking for a well rounded student. There is no formulaic, mechanistic way in choosing a candidate. Each student is looked at individually.”

University of Notre Dame — Notre Dame, Ind.: “We view everything holistically: the rigor of coursework, test scores, GPA, letter of recommendation, personal essay.”

University of Missouri, Columbia — Columbia, Mo.: “Each school is going to look at different things. Here at Mizzou we only really look at your high school classes, ACT/SAT scores and GPA. As long as you have the correct combination of each, students will be admitted. We do not require any essays, resumes or personal statements. ” Pomona College — Claremont, Calif.: “The most important part of a student’s application is the transcript. The transcript gives us a long lens through which to view a student’s academic performance and contains information about his or her achievement (the grades) as well as the strength of the program in which those grades were earned. The transcript itself, however, does not often make our decisions for us. Because there is not much variance academically in our applicant pool, the qualitative portions of the application become very important. Each student brings his or her unique talents, gifts and perspectives, and that is what we find most interesting in the review process. Perhaps I can best sum up by saying this: having a strong academic record is crucial for Pomona, but because most applicants have a strong academic record we have the luxury of looking beyond the numbers to identify who might be the best fit for the College.”

Amherst College — Amherst, Mass.: “This is a poor question because it assumes that there is one thing that is most important. We look at students holistically, trying to gauge if they are capable of success at Amherst.”

St. Louis University — St. Louis, Mo.: “We use a holistic admission process, reviewing the entire application for each student. We look at the student’s grades, ACT or SAT score, involvement throughout high school, essay and letters of recommendation. We also consider the strength and rigor of the courses that the student has taken at his or her high school.”

Q«

What sorts of essays stand out?

Pomona College — Claremont, Calif.: “I have found that the most effective essays are those that contain the student’s genuine voice. Students typically write stronger and more interesting essays regarding topics about which they feel very strongly. Those essays tend to tell us a little more about the student’s personality and thoughtfulness. We are looking for a certain level of writing, but the most effective essays aren’t necessarily the best written essays. Ideally, those two would coincide but that isn’t always the case. Some students can write very effective essays about mundane topics that are somehow elevated in such a way that allows us to learn a great deal about the author. Not everyone can pull that off though, so I think each student needs to find a topic and a style that best fits his or her personality and writing ability. Some students use the essay to try to become someone they feel colleges want them to be; this is rarely an effective strategy.

Students really just need to be themselves and present their own voice honestly.”

Amherst College — Amherst, Mass.: “Great question! Essay stand out when they are passionate, well written, thought provoking, and well organized. We love to read a well-written essay.”

St. Louis University — St. Louis, Mo.: “We really enjoying reading essays that are unique or different! I’ve read essays about sandwiches, chewing gum, Harry Potter, the end of the world, and a civil war in another country. As long as it’s well-written and makes sense, it’ll be a great essay. Don’t be afraid to pick a topic that seems different! Always have at least two adults read it. Normally I recommend and English teacher and a parent.”

Q « Any last tips?

University of Missouri, Columbia — Columbia, Mo.: “The best advice for someone looking at college to get out and see a variety of schools. Look at a big school and a small, public versus private. After you have done that they you can really get an understanding of the type of schools you want to look for.

Contact those schools and see exactly what their admission and application process are.”

Pomona College — Claremont, Calif.: “ Be yourself and have fun with the college search! Our role in the admissions office is to identify those students who might be the best fit for the College. The college search itself, though, belongs to the student. I think the student’s responsibility is to identify those colleges which might be the best fit for him or her. It is easy to view the college search strictly in terms of being admitted or not being admitted. While ultimately the goal is to be admitted into college, I think students should also be concerned about being admitted into the right college.”

Amherst College — Amherst, Mass.: “Relax! It doesn’t need to be as stressful as you make it at times. Try your best, and who can be disappointed with that?”

St. Louis University — St. Louis, Mo.: “My tip is to get started early! During first semester of your junior year, start attending college fairs and going to visits with counselors if they come to your school. Attend an open house, and go for some visits in the fall and spring. Then, over the summer, work on your essay. Narrow down your choices from 8-10 schools to 5 or 6. This will make it easier when you fill out applications. Apply early in the fall. You should be down to 2 or 3 schools! The earlier you get started, the less stressful the process would be. Always have a dream/ reach school, some schools that are a great fit for you, and at least two safety schools.”

Key

Janet Rapelye, Dean of Admissions

R. Christopher Perkins, Assistant Director David Brunk, Associate Dean of Admissions Leykia D. Brill, Associate Dean of Admission Laura Kleinschmidt, Admissions Counselor Patrick Elmore, Admissions Representative infographic by Joanne Lee

photo by Michelle Haas

Superpowers activate: Senior Kenzie Jacoby holds fire as part of an honors chemistry combustion reaction experiment. District officials scrapped the lab for 2012 due to liability issues. This photo was retrieved with permission from Flashback 2011.

Experiment burns out Popular chemistry lab deemed unsafe Atreyo Ghosh

H

onors chemistry students are no longer permitted to light their hands on fire in a popular lab experiment.

During the lab last school year, many students uploaded pictures and videos of the alight hands to Facebook, where parents and school district officials saw them.

District officials were concerned with the images, and voiced fear for the students’ safety. Neither principal Mark Maus nor the district officials had been informed of the lab prior to the experiment.

“I think we could’ve prevented this,” Maus said. “At the time the new science coordinator had been turned over, I was new, and a lot of [the issue] was how other people found out about” the lab.

Although district science coordinator Mike Szydlowski reassured the district that the students were safe, assistant superintendent for secondary education Dr. Wanda Brown still scrapped the lab due to liability issues.

The experiment was instituted to help students classify and balance chemical reactions. After soaking their arms in water, students would hold methane-filled soap bubbles which were then ignited giving the illusion of holding fire.

“There are a couple of [labs] that are slightly dangerous,” chemistry teacher Barry Still said. “This is one of those that the safety concerns outweigh the educational value because, if done incorrectly, you have a potential to hurt yourself.”

The lab has not been completely cut though. Chemistry teachers can still perform the reaction, but students cannot hold the bubbles. Maus does not think the change will negatively impact student learning.

“With as good as our teachers are,” Maus said, “they’re

going to be able to find another way to make sure that the chemistry students know the stuff.”

Chemistry teacher Gregory Kirchhofer did the lab to provide to students a good example of a chemical change, so they could clearly differentiate between physical and chemical changes, as well as to give students a physical action to connect with the curriculum.

“They’re doing something kinesthetic (learning by physical movement),” Kirchhofer said, “that they’re going to remember is a chemical change, as opposed to watching a video. If you actually do [the educational material] yourself, it’s going to stick better.”

A number of former students dislike the ban. They said the lab had been a memorable experience in the class. Senior Connor Gundy had looked forward to the experiment from the beginning of his junior year and had taken the class in part to do the lab.

“Not only is [the lab] a good learning experience,” Gundy said, “but it also excites the kids about challenging themselves in an honors course at Rock Bridge.”

Some of this year’s honors chemistry students are also unhappy about the absence of the lab in this year’s curriculum. Junior Jack Scoville was disappointed when he heard the class no longer did the experiment. He had looked forward to holding the fire.

“I really wanted to do that this year,” Scoville said. “It looked like one of the highlights of chemistry. A lot of people talked about it, and I was pretty upset.”

However, the lab is not necessarily gone for good. Maus believes the decision could be reversed in the future.

“There are riskier experiments done, I know, in honors chemistry,” Maus said. “I think we need to keep it open and talk to everyone to see what we can do. It certainly is abnormal for us to say no, but that’s just kind of the situation we’re stuck in though, sadly.”

Much support, hope for ‘honors US’ reevaluation story continued from page 1 “Honors kids ‘get’ school, mostly because of their parents’ involvement,” Irwin said, “on-level don’t.”

According to data Eric Johnson, an assistant principal at Hickman High School who team taught U.S. Studies classes with Irwin in the past, discovered about 34 percent of students in on-level RBHS U.S. Studies classes are on free or reduced lunch. Nine percent of kids in an honors class receive free or reduced lunch.

Additionally, the number of students with an Individualized Education Program is much higher in on-level classes. About 15 percent of students in on-level U.S. Studies classes have IEPs. Three percent of honors English and history students have an IEP. Teachers worry about the current demographic makeup among the English and social studies courses offered junior year. On-level classes have 36 percent of students who are “non-white” compared to 13 percent of students in honors U.S. Studies classes.

“As a history teacher, the class is a preparation for real democracy,” Irwin said, “and we don’t want to have a school-within-a-school segregation.”

Despite being armed with evidence Glover, Irwin and Reed believe shows powerful reasons for the course offering change, they realize some students and parents may not be open to the switch. But Irwin thinks their proposal is in the best interest of current on-level and honors students.

“If the average honors student’s parent walked into an on-level class, they’d see how difficult it is

to teach,” Irwin said. “Then I think they would appreciate what teachers are trying to do here.”

Irwin said U.S. studies teachers in charge of this potential change would take suggestions and concerns to make the process easier and helpful for all students. They hope the change in course divisions would occur for next year’s juniors, all of whom are required to take U.S. history and English language.

English department chair Mary Dix said the changes will have a positive impact for the U.S. Studies classes.

“I am absolutely for the change,” Dix said. “I’ve discovered from teaching pop culture where honors kids are mixed in with on-level students, and all different abilities and different motivations and different interests in one class: that’s the way the world is. I think the more authentic we are in our classes, the better off we [teachers] will be, and I really believe it will benefit students.”

Although teachers are optimistic about the change, some students are voicing their concerns.

“If I was a junior again … and had to make the choice … I would think on-level was a joke. But A.P. would kind of scare me,” junior Aaron Myers said. “I’m worried that people would choose not to push themselves just because, like me, they have too much to juggle.”

Reed said he heard similar concerns early on with pop culture, but he assured his students the workload and curriculum for honors and on-level has been almost identical.

He believes this change will create a more authentic learning enviorment and will be productive and positive for all students.

Missouri considers new waiver story continued from page 1 Though the Missouri Department of Education is in favor of waiving its right to the law, things are far from concrete. However, the department does have its own school improvement and accountability program, the Missouri School Improvement Program Five.

Depending on legislative work within the federal government, the MSIP Five in addition to the Missouri Assessment Program may become the educational standard for the state.

“At first glance it appears the waiver could support our state’s high standards and accountability principles,” Nicastro said in the news release. “We are already establishing a framework to push toward excellence, reduce gaps in academic achievement and ensure all students graduate from high school ready for college and careers. Barring any surprises in the fine print, it may be a good fit.”

RBHS social studies teacher Matt Dingler said the change from NCLB to a state-sponsored standard is positive because of the restrictions the law imposes on schools and teachers. For some schools, teaching to the test has become a normality to meet the sometimes unrealistic requirements set by the law.

“I feel that [NCLB] really traps schools into it by making them pursue the wrong goals. And if they don’t meet these goals which are often unattainable, they’re penalized,” Dingler said.

“The intentions were good, but I think, as is the case a lot of times, you have people making these laws that know very little about education. They’re politicians, not educators.”

6 ∙ Ads

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October 27, 2011

Community ∙ 7

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Teens dance at India Nite Maddie Magruder

T

he lights in Jesse Auditorium dimmed as the audience hushed in anticipation of the spectacle about to begin. The curtain rose, and the stage glowed from the bright

lights.

The audience watched in amazement as dancers with colorful costumes jingled and jangled across the stages. Melodies flowed from singers’ mouths with beautiful intervals distinct to only one culture: India.

The 20th annual India Nite had begun.

“It was fun,” junior Earl Simmons said. “It was unique. I’d never seen most of the dances, and that was really impressive.”

The Cultural Association of India, a program organized to showcase ethnic talents at the University of Missouri—Columbia, sponsors the program.

Community members of all ages participate: some singing traditional Indian songs, some dancing with choreographed blends of traditional and modern moves and some emceeing and entertaining the crowd with cheesy jokes.

Sophomore Trisha Chaudhary has participated in India Nite for the past five years, dancing with friends to old and contemporary Indian music.

While in past years she learned the dance from someone else, this year she helped choreograph it, along with juniors Ipsa Chaudhary and Sumidha Katti.

The three started practicing with their group, juniors Aniqa Rahman and Julia Schaller and senior Shivangi Singh, in September — practicing two to four hours a week. For some the dance was just as easy as deciding and learning the steps, but for Schaller, the choreography brought more of a challenge.

“I haven’t had much experience with Indian dances,” Schaller said, “so it’s hard to get some of the moves, like having to put your hands in a certain way.”

Rahman also found the distinct Indian dance style challenging; her Bengali background greatly differed from the Indian culture.

“I’ve never done anything like it before,” Rahman said. “It’s hard getting the body movements for me.”

While some are new to the festivities, some have participated for many years. For the past 11 years, special education teacher Punam Sethi has

Teens work to prevent suicide story continued from page 1 Columbia Public Schools personnel are aware of the rise in teen suicides nationwide since 2003. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, suicide is the third leading cause of death in Americans between ages 10 and 24. A startling 6.9 of every 100,000 teens between ages 15 and 19 died from suicide using methods such as self-induced poisoning, asphyxiation or use of firearms, according to an additional study in 2007 by the NIMH. Because of such statistics, CPS sets aside 50 minutes each year to talk with students about topics such as bullying, depression and suicide. However, the Project Citizen group decided the amount of time allotted by the district was not getting the point across.

Benson hopes more time on the subject will encourage students to speak out, lowering the suicide rate.

“It’s hard to understand how someone who is struggling with that feels because they’re so trapped inside their own mind that they don’t see who all really cares for them and who really wants to be there for them,” Benson said, “They don’t think that anyone will understand, but people do understand; if you just start talking, your friends will listen.”

After coping with the death of her brother two years ago, Eiken attests to the miraculous effect of support from peers. The love she received helped her through the grief.

“It’s one of those things where you don’t really know how to feel,” Eiken said. “It’s just a tragedy that you can’t explain. ... At first it was really hard, but then I had all these people around me that loved me, and everything kind of just started falling into place.

For somebody who is coping with the loss of a loved one to suicide … it’s very hard because you sit there and you wonder, ‘I could have done something different. I probably could’ve saved them.’”

Although Eiken recognizes there is nothing she could have done to save her brother, she needed a helping hand to rescue her from the pain.

“If someone’s coping with a suicide, people around them — they need support,” Eiken urged. “And whoever is going through the tragic situation, just hold on because it’s always better when things calm down and you can breathe and look back and live.”

contributed to the event.

“I like the making [of India Nite] part. We’re all mothers. We get to hang out with one another” because of the dance, Sethi said. The mothers “decide the costumes. The music part, sometimes if it’s a medley, we chop the music. [The performance] just goes through so many steps and so many phases.”

The Sethi family got involved with India Nite as soon as they moved to Columbia. Sethi’s daughter, Anmol, started participating in the event when she was three.

Punam loves the evening, but she has noticed the event’s focus shift from the traditional Indian culture to a Bollywood style, a film industry in India.

Bollywood “is more popular, so everyone likes to get the music from the movies,” Sethi said.

While Trisha has also noticed the change, she still believes the traditional acts come to life on stage, including her own dance which is a blend of both modern and traditional music.

“I know my friend’s parents are doing something,” Chaudhary said, “so [India Nite] overall is a pretty good reflection [of Indian culture] because it shows the modern age but also the older generation.

Representing one’s culture is challenging, and the dancers feel that pressure before they perform.

Before each performance Chaudhary’s stomach gets jittery.

Even with years of experience on the auditorium stage building her confidence, the rush she gets never seems to fade.

“Right before you go on and the curtains are opening and you hear the crowd cheering, it feels kind of like you’re going up a roller coaster ride, and you’re chugging to the top, and you’re right at the top of the hill, and right when you fall you get that [same] feeling in your stomach,” Chaudhary said. “There’s butterflies, and you’re really anxious. You’re really nervous that you’re going to forget the stuff, and the crowd’s cheering really loud[ly], and the lights are really bright. It’s kind of surreal, the feeling, like it’s not really happening.”

Chaudhary is excited to continue the tradition, but she does not know what her future in the India Nite festivities will hold since her group consists only of older girls.

“I’m the only sophomore,” Chaudhary said.

“Next year they’ll all be seniors [and therefore super busy] or going to college, so I’ve got the make the best of it.”

photo by Asa Lory

A budding Bollywood star: Junior Sumidha Katti fully immersed herself in the difficult dance moves and lively music during India Nite.

The auditorium swayed to the dancers’ passionate movements.

MU celebrates century of homecomings Kirsten Buchanan

1

I art by Joanne Lee

2

photo by Muhammed Al-Rawi

1) Truman in a tux: The striped mascot struts the parade in a formal attire.

2) House Decs: Fraternities and sororities put on a show to show the history of Mizzou’s homecoming tradition.

3) Marching Mizzou: The band provides spirit with noise and feathers to the onlookers.

photo by Halley Hollis

3

photo by Muhammed Al-Rawi

n 1911 only 32 years had passed since Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. It would be another 64 years until the first personal computer and yet another 93 years until Facebook appeared. 1911, though, was also the year when University of Missouri—Columbia hosted the first homecoming.

Around 9,000 fans came to the homecoming football game in 1911; 71,004 fans attended the game Saturday, Oct. 15, when Mizzou beat Iowa State 52-17, according to The Missourian. The football game was only one of many events Mizzou hosted during homecoming.

“We are bringing back old traditions and doing them in new ways, like the romp, chomp and stomp tailgate before the game kickoff,” said Carrie Bien, adviser of the homecoming steering committee for Mizzou. “In the ‘50s the Romp, Chomp and Stomp was a Friday night event that had a dinner, skits and dance, so this is kind of our new way to bring it back into the 21st century. Now it’s just a huge tailgate with thousands of people celebrating the centennial blowout.”

Other homecoming events included a talent competition, blood drive, campus decorations and parade. Senior Anna Wawrzyniak who attends the homecoming parade every year enjoyed it more than usual this year because of the special anniversary.

“My favorite part of homecoming is the parade. It seems like the entire town of Columbia was at it because it was the 100th one,” Wawrzyniak said.

“I love seeing the old men in cars. They drive these really tiny go-kart type cars, but the streets are really narrow, so they almost hit each other and the people in the crowd, so it’s really funny. Everyone can enjoy it.”

Bien said all the homecoming events brought the community together. Even people who did not even attend the University of Missouri—Columbia came out to support the community.

“I think Mizzou homecoming has something for everyone and is such a family-friendly celebration that it really brings community members out to our events,” Bien said. “In addition, our service components is a huge way our community gets involved, like coming to the blood drive or donating food at a local grocery store. The combination of [the events] really bring[s] together the campus and the community.”

8 ∙ Features

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

An identical copy Cloning provides applications in life Thomas Jamieson-Lucy

A GENETIC COPY MACHINE

said. “In the past n 1993 scientist Ian there have been Wilmut and his team things like DDT that began a project making genetic scientists thought changes in farm animals. He never imagined his work were great but ended would lead to creating a clone. Four years later, he conup being very toxic, ceived a healthy, cloned lamb named Dolly. and I think it’s just an ele“Our objective was to make genetic change, and I think ment of the unknown with we always thought we’d find a way of doing that,” Wilmut GMOs.” said. “The other possibilities, making clones of adults, This aspect of Wilmut’s reat the beginning almost nobody expected that to search sparked heated debates and work; it wasn’t our objective.” affected billions of people because genetiThe original goal for Wilmut was cally modified organisms are unavoidable in to create an efficient way of society. Wilmut’s project not only allowed for In making precise gethe creation of genetically modified organisms, it also each of netic changes in opened up new methods for studying and treating disanimals and ease. Applications of cloning have the potential to help our cells, six feet making gecure illnesses through stem cell therapy. of DNA exists packed netically “There’s a company that has cattle which make huinto 46 chromosome modified man antibodies. The human genes have been put into the only 0.0004 inches animals animals and the bovine genes have across. practical. been taken out,” Wilmut “ W e said. “If you were to were one of a take the protein from, number of groups that knew let’s say, H.I.V. or how to make genetic changa cancer, we could Lining up all of the DNA es in animals by adding choose the right in the human body would genes into animals, but that protein and inject it reach to the sun and process [was] inefficient, into these cattle to creback more than where only one percent of ate antibodies. Then those 600 times. the eggs that you manipulatantibodies could be injected ed [became] animals where the into people to treat H.I.V. or genes work,” Wilmut said. Genetic cancer. And that is probably the change “was limited in that you [could] best thing to come from cloning.” only add genes, but we began to think about Stem cell therapy has a wide apwhat would happen if we could have cells in a lab plication because stem cells can grow to where we could make changes in the cells, which is become any type of cells in the body. This can something molecular biologists do all the time. We help patients recover from tissue-damaging discould make changes in the cell and then do nueases such as cancer. clear transfer from them. It would mean the “The fact that the genetic material is identical livestock would have the precise gene we in clones is incredibly important,” senior Nikhwanted to make.” ilesh Sharma said. A person “can grow a kidney The process Wilmut used to or something from their own genetic material, and clone Dolly — nuclear transfer there will be no rejection, and that’s probably what’s — involved taking the nuclethe most interesting to me.”

Dolly us of a non-reproductive cell Sharma, who is interested in becoming a doctor, the and putting it into an egg works as a research assistant at the University of Miscell without a nucleus. souri—Columbia. Although he helps with a project focloned The egg cell then becused on cancer detection, he sees how stem cell therasheep was gan to divide, creating py will play a role in cancer treatment. named after an early stage embryo.

“The thing about cancer in general is that it’s realDolly Parton.

The embryo had the same ly harmful to the surrounding areas [of] the tumors,” DNA as the original nonSharma said. “If a cancer tumor is taking up space or reproductive cell, and a clone taking up blood, it could destroy the stem cells that are of the original cell was created. already there. Then new cells won’t grow there, even if The precision that scientists you remove the tumor just because those stem cells are now able to achieve because of won’t be there to differentiate into the specialized Wilmut’s research was also important in decells that are in the region. That’s an instance in veloping genetically modified foods. Since which growing stem cells can be used to regrow most of the food people eat is genetically that tissue.” modified in some way, this has become a Although Wilmut’s research provided a basis controversial issue. for the science behind stem cells, which aid in canIn the United States, genetically modified cer recovery, he believes the most important thing foods are not labeled, making it difficult to to come from his research is the way it has changed know whether or not food is genetically modithe way people think. His work showed that a cell fied. At the same time, scientists can modify a could go back from an adult non-reproductive cell to plant’s genes in such a way so plants can produce an embryonic stage, which laid the foundation for modmore in a smaller area. ern stem cell research.

“I wouldn’t say that I am 100 percent against “We all start off with a single cell which becomes all them, but I’m definitely not for [genetically modiof the different cells to make up an adult person. Biolofied organisms]. They are really helpful as far as gists have wondered for a long time — how does that haphumanitarian aid and for people that are hunpen, what controls that?” Wilmut said. “Biologists used to gry and have no other way to get food,” sethink the different tissues were so complex and so rigidly nior Kate Okker-Edging said. “In the United fixed that it would not be possible to take a cell and make States, where we have the ability to produce it go back down to an earlier stage. What Dolly showed food, companies don’t have to label geneticalis that that’s not true, and the egg can [go back]. And so Our DNA ly modified foods, so you don’t really know it made people think about different ways of taking a cell is 99.9% if you’re eating them, and I think that’s what and making it go back.” identical bothers me the most. I would like to know Even though Wilmut’s breakthrough happened 15 to all other what I’m eating.” years ago, his discoveries hold more potential. The immembers Since precise modifications of genes in portance of his research goes far beyond creating identical of the plants has become widespread in such a copies of animals; it is changing how we approach dishuman short time, scientists still do not know if eases believed to be impossible to cure before. race. genetic modifications will produce unfore“We can take skin cells from somebody, change them seen consequences. to these embryonic cells and then use them to differentiate “A lot of it is we don’t know that much something else, say a liver cell. One day we may think of about them. It could turn out that they’re putting the cells back into the person,” Wilmut said. “In fine and everything works out perfectly, but the present it is a very, very powerful research tool, and in art by Anna Sheals there’s just that unknown,” Okker-Edging the future [it] may be a source to treat diseases.”

I

source: thinkquest.org

Mexicans celebrate traditional holiday Luke Wyrick

N

ight dawns over Mexico. Children dance on graves, singing and praising the dead in the moonlight.

What sounds like the start of a horror movie is actually a holiday the people of Mexico have been celebrating for over 500 years.

Originating from the Aztecs, the Day of the Dead is a ritual passed on from the native people of what is now modern Mexico. Parades, sugar skulls and long tables of traditional dishes are only some of the ingredients that make up this traditional holiday.

It’s not the skeletons, living dead or delicacies that make this celebration so monumental; it’s the remembering of family that distinguishes this special holiday from so many others.

While children in the United States dress in costumes Oct. 31, scampering from one door to the next, junior Jose Garcia will be remembering a favorite relative.

“When my great uncle died, he was well known,” Garcia said. “Everyone was sad and had a big party in the center of the town. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that party.”

The American holiday of Halloween is renowned for its creepy costumes and candy-filled baskets, but it also shares this day of festivity with its neighbors south of the border.

Every year, thousands of Hispanic adults and children pay respect to their deceased loved ones.

They spend their day enjoying a family gathering and sharing stories about the departed, luring parents and children in for a mysterious occasion. The somewhat pleasant atmosphere is meant for encouraging the acceptance of death in a way that isn’t as frightening as Michael Myers.

“Halloween is more of a fun time,” Garcia said. “The Day of the Dead is more serious. You’re quiet and you pray.”

With loved ones beyond the grave in Mexico, Garcia said his family gets together each year around this time to acknowledge and remember the family members they have lost. Even though the ancestors are physically not here, Garcia and his family believe their spirits remain.

“People dance, and everyone dresses up,” Garcia said.

“It’s not meant to scare you, though, it’s just to show the dead are here.”

“

The way the spirits resurrect themselves is through prayers and memborabilia displayed on an alter dedicated to the interests of those who have passed away. Alters are decorated with items that signify his or her individuality such as a musical instrument they used to play, writings or their favorite toy; other items like photographs, food and flowers can also be present.

“The Marigold flower, actually the flower of the dead, is very interesting because if at any other time you brought these flowers to their home they would think it was very disrespectful,” Spanish teacher Carla Danner said.

A native of Peru, Danner teaches Spanish at the second and third level. Because she is not of Mexican descent, she does not celebrate the Day of the Dead but instead celebrates Halloween.

“All over Latin America, they celebrate Halloween in the same fashion,” she said. “I remember when I was young I was also knocking on the doors getting all the candies.”

In America, the youth have held a tradition that has become a Halloween custom.

The popular practice of dressing in costumes and Trick or Treating has made holiday history.

“You know, you don’t have people dressing up in costumes that are scary,” Danner said,“and when you do see them with a costume on, it’s to make fun; to help the children get used to the fact that there is an afterlife and that it’s okay that their family is there.”

Danner teaches the Day of the Dead in her classes using videos, photos and by comparing American holidays to Hispanic. In doing this, she makes a connection to the lives between the students and the celebration.

“Halloween has nothing to do with the afterlife,” Danner said. “It’s about the things that are supposed to be scary.

There’s supposed to be monsters, devils and witches and all of these dark forces that’s completely different from the Day of the Dead. It’s like there is actually evil on one side and good on the other.”

Wise words are not the only thing she shares with her students. She tells how her students use another aspect of learning and creativity in learning about the Day of the Dead.

“When I used to teach level one we made a class alter,” Danner said. “Everyone brought what they thought best represented them and we made something that represented the whole class.”

The Day of the Dead is more serious. You’re quiet and you pray.”

Jose Garcia, junior

Features ∙ 9

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

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3 1

1) Facing the pain: Aaron Aubuchon (right) and Rob Schuster engage in a mock medieval duel.

Role players enjoy alternate realities Adam Schoelz

T

4 photos by Asa Lory

2) Learning curve: Aubuchon explains medieval fighting styles to newer members of the SCA. 3) A knight’s armor: A small group of artisans, including Aubuchon, handcrafts swords, helmets and gauntlets to use in battle.

4) A coat of arms: Aubuchon’s shield reflects his family’s real coat of arms; he comes from a line of nobles.

he two knights are squared off, standing waist deep in fall shadows. One is dressed in a boiled leather breastplate over a sewn red surcoat, the other in a blue long shirt with leather armor over it. Both men wear ornate helms, exquisitely crafted yet functional.

They raise their shields, protecting their torsos, gripping their swords tightly in hand-crafted gauntlets. With yellow leaves spinning in the autumn wind, it seems the world itself is holding its breath, waiting for the first move.

Then the red knight strikes, and a duel begins.

The red knight’s name is Aaron Aubuchon, a 30-something adult, and without a helmet he sports a short blond beard and glasses. His shield is handmade and so is the armor, along with everything else the knight wears.

Though the medieval ages have been over for hundreds of years, Aubuchon and those like him remain stubborn holdovers, essentially living anachronisms. He’s part of the Society of Creative Anachronisms, an organization devoted to re-creating the Middle Ages, warfare and all. The society is part of a larger group of organizations devoted to “live action role play”, or LARPing.

“The community is thousands of people, all over the world. The United States is divided into a number of kingdoms, each with their own royal households and cultures,” Aubuchon said. “There’s branches in Europe, Asia, Australia, across America, and there’s even some groups on aircraft carriers in the military.”

Outside of the bounds of Calontir and the SCA, however, there are others that portray a fantasy lifestyle. Junior Jake Alden role plays another game, based mostly around political spies and high imagination. In Alden’s game, saving the world a dozen times is all in a day’s work.

The first time Alden role played,“We sat down in a circle, and we got our role or character,” Alden said. “They explained that, in regard to the actual live action role playing activity, [this event] wouldn’t be combat oriented and would be more props oriented, and the conversations we had would be played out more realistically.”

Like Alden, Aubuchon’s interest started in high school, inspired by a display of medieval pageantry in the school’s

international day. The fast, brutal and real combat attracted Aubuchon, which indicated to him that living history was something special.

“Immediately, it was watching the people in armor actually doing a little battle at our school, out in the field,” Aubuchon said. “That was probably the flashiest — it’s the first thing people notice,” and they said “‘Wow, those guys are really fighting.’”

From there, Aubuchon said, joining the SCA was a process of learning, watching and borrowing hodgepodge armor and weapons from whoever would lend it. New members learn combat and history, and when ready, Aubuchon took up arms and fought — the journey took years.

For Alden this process is just beginning. Although he’s already a high-level character, he feels much like Aubuchon did at the beginning of his journey — astounded by the wealth of information.

“Role-playing as a whole is unquestionably a massive field that has even more people involved in it that I could ever explore,” Alden said. “Really, you’re talking about the full depths of the human imagination.”

Even with the little experience, Alden has had a positive time. Alden has saved cities from siege, received encrypted messages from spies and commanded fleets of ships. But Alden is interested in joining the SCA, too; however, he prefers his own game.

“Without a doubt, realism tends to be more fun than blatant escapism,” Alden said. “A more realistic form of fantasy offers some creativity that straight realism lacks.”

Though Aubuchon and Alden come from different backgrounds and enjoy different styles of role play, they have one thing in common — the envy and suspicion of a public that views them as at best an oddity and at worst a threat to what they perceive as ‘normal.’ Aubuchon shrugs off the public with a laugh, believing there is more hidden interest than displayed doubt, but Alden thinks the view of roleplayers as more derogatory.

“I think people think of LARPing as its silliest or crude form with people whacking at each other with foam weapons in very badly done period pieces and shooting ‘lightning bolts’ that consist of powdered sugar,” Alden said.

“What we do is more groups acting scenarios that we try to play out realistically.”

Dieters risk health, strength for weight loss Sonya Francis

C

leansing diets are nothing new.

As far back as Buddha, people have taken on fasting for spiritual reasons. The monastic community considers it an ascetic or dhutanga practice, meaning to invigorate.

The idea of cleansing one’s body for the sake of shedding pounds has increased, especially since the fashion revolution when Twiggy the first female model to convey the desire for women to be skinny.

In 2009, Tyra Banks publicized one way for women to achieve a lower weight. The diet consisted of ingesting a tape worm so it can eat away the stomach, causing one to lose up to eight pounds a week.

Diets like this give the impression a woman will improve her body by participating; however, they can be extremely harmful, such as the Master Cleanse diet.

The Master Cleanse, a strict detox, is designed to flush out bodily toxins resulting in a more vivacious body and mind. The recipe consists of fresh lemon juice, rich maple syrup, ground cayenne pepper and water. However, this drink is the only thing that the dieter consumes for the seven-day time span of the detox, besides nightly laxatives. The whole purpose is to flush out almost everything in the body.

Senior Lauren Kearns tried the detox without taking any laxatives; she orginally thought she received positive results.

“After the first full day I woke up

feeling so clean, like my whole body was so rejuvenated and bright,” Kearns said. “I guess cleansing all the bad things you eat out of your system really makes you feel better. It makes you wonder what goes in our food we eat.”

Kearns started the flush under the impression that it would energize her body, but little did Kearns know that the detox would not have a good effect on her system after all.

While on the diet “you are missing out on most nutrients, which leads to vitamin or mineral deficiencies,” said Janie Garrett, Columbia Public Schools nutritionist. “Lots of these diets may say that they will make you energized or detox your body, but your body already has normal things built in for detoxing elements and that’s your liver, your kidneys, and all of those are detoxing. ...

So you don’t really need to do a detox diet because your body already has that taken care of that.”

Luckily, Kearns did not go through with the whole program, stopping at day four with a craving for a burger.

Not only was she physically noticing a necessity for more food, but she needed it for emotional reasons too.

“The last day [of the detox] I woke up just knowing that today would be the day I would fail. I woke up at 8 a.m. from hunger pains and couldn’t fall back asleep. I got up for the day, tried to drink another drink for breakfast, but my stomach hurt even worse after. But I kept on pushing on with my day,” Kearns said. “By noon my mood was just so awful, completely irritable and upset. My dad started to

get ticked off with me so he made me a Panini sandwich, and I ate [it] faster than anything I’ve ever eaten.”

As many people know, the way and how much they eat can affect their moods. In fact, it has a direct correlation to serotonin chemical levels in one’s body.

According to www.interactivepsychiatry.net, the lower the serotonin levels, the more susceptible one will be to depression, anxiety and a lower sexual appetite.

“When we aren’t eating enough calories our bodies feel like its starving, and the blood sugars go low,” Garrett said. “Then you might be more irritable and a little bit more grouchy.”

Though Kearns’ detox wasn’t a good diet, there are healthy options for someone looking to rid the toxins in their body as well as a couple unhealthy pounds.

Senior Sarah Henzel has tried one particular detox four times and has received good results. The detox requires just fruits, vegetables, water and vitamins. Yet after five days of this, her body still has its difficulties.

“The first two days are really difficult depending on your eating habits beforehand because your body really craves sugar and junk honestly. So during this time it really sucks, and you don’t have much energy,” Henzel said. “But after the first few days, you feel so great and not weighed down by all the unhealthy food and I find myself much more alert and awake throughout the day and generally happier.”

There is a large difference be-

tween the two diets. According to Garrett, one deprives the body of nutrients and uses laxatives to flush everything out — even the ones the body needs. The other is an acceptable detox because a person receives nutrition through fruits and veggies and, if needed, can take extra supplements and vitamins; however, cleansing can still be dangerous.

“Make sure you don’t do [detoxes] past five days,” Henzel said. “I’ve done that once and it really wasn’t

healthy because your body needs more.”

Garrett said, ultimately, the goal is to be healthy. The best way to do this is to understand how the body works all together rather than going for a crash diet or extreme detox.

“I think it depends on the person,” Henzel said. “You just have to be careful not to become extreme with them because that is when they can become harmful — just do them sparingly. It’s all about the moderation.”

art by Kelly Brucks

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Personality Profiles ∙ 11

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Young baker starts small business

MEET YOUR FELLOW STUDENT:

Maddie Davis

A

s senior Katherine Woodruff frosted her first Minnie Mouse cupcake, she felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes. The Disney-inspired cupcakes were not shaping up to what she had hoped for.

She made the ears on the heads of the desserts with Oreo cookie icing and dotted them with frosting. But instead of looking as planned, the ears looked like large black dots.

“The butter cream didn’t set right at all,” Woodruff said. “I actually cried because we had a really big order of 40 [cupcakes] to make, and the ears were not sticking, but instead they were falling off, and they looked like blobs of icing. I ended up fixing it by scraping off the butter cream and adding more powdered sugar to thicken it up, but it turned out extremely sweet. I was making them for a birthday party, so the kids probably got a coma from how sweet they were.”

Woodruff often runs into catastrophes with her cupcakes because of the business she owns. She and college freshman Maddie Games opened Peace Cupcakes in June 2010.

What first started out as a form of entertainment soon developed into a successful baking career, bringing the girls in around $3,500 since they started. They charge $26 for a dozen and $20 for a dozen minis.

“Maddie lives in St. Louis, but we have always been best friends, so whenever we would see each other we would try to think of something fun for us to do,” Woodruff said. “We started baking cupcakes because we didn’t want to always cook a meal or something, and then we would take them to people who would say that we should start a business because they were so good.”

Even though neither of the girls’ parents owns the business, Woodruff’s mom helped the two get started. In order to turn their idea into a real thing, the girls had to get an Limited Liability Company and a zoning license.

The license allowed their homes to become the main place of business.

They also developed a Facebook page to bring in more customers. Once Peace Cupcakes was real, the only thing missing was customers.

“My mom is a graphic designer and really into advertising, so she made our logo and business cards,” Woodruff said. “She likes to help us get our business out there. Whenever we work events my mom will leave [our] business cards so that we can get more customers and publicity. People ask if it is her business, but then they [find] out it’s actually mine, and they always think it’s weird and cool. It actually helps though because then people buy cupcakes to see what we can do and if they’re any good.”

Owning a business at age 17 doesn’t limit the girls from having complete confidence in what they do.

Maddie Davis

art by Anna Sheals

Q:How many class-

photo by

Woodruff focuses on designing and creating the distinctive decorations for the cupcakes whereas Games comes up with new flavor combinations. With every aspect of the desserts covered, the girls believe they have the total package.

“We don’t like to just make vanilla cupcakes,” Woodruff said. “We always make the cake first, and then we’ll fill it with something that compliments the flavor and then ice it with a form of butter cream.”

Some of the combinations Peace Cupcakes has made include key lime pie with a graham cracker crust and a lime filling, and cranberry-flavored cake with apple cider filling and cranberry fruit reduction topping sauce.

“We really just cater to what people request and what people like,” Woodruff said.

The flavor combinations are not the only thing that separate Peace Cupcakes from the normal ones. Senior Brian Beckman said Woodruff and Games’ cupcakes have better texture and are more moist than others.

Woodruff “usually has one flavor for the actual cupcake and then a different one for the icing or filling,” Beckman said. “They’re really unique because they’re not just like a cupcake. It’s more of a small cake. A normal cupcake is harder, but her cupcakes are way softer, and the icing is really thick but still fluffy somehow.”

Peace Cupcakes tries to match its unique flavor combinations and texture with just as

ollis

Halley H

intricate designs. Woodruff’s favorite decoration so far has been the topping on a pumpkin cupcake. She iced the gold cupcake with gold frosting and then sprinkled edible gold over the top.

Even though decoration is Woodruff’s favorite part, it is not always easy to do in her house.

Baking “can get really stressful because it is just me baking and handling everything by myself sometimes,” Woodruff said. “I also have to use my own oven which is pretty small, so I have to put in new pans over and over again. Plus we don’t buy in bulk most of the time, so we have to try and calculate how much we should buy, and we run out all the time. We have to think about that, but one time we did an order of 250 cupcakes, and it was really scary because it was so much to do in such a small kitchen area.”

Owning Peace Cupcakes is satisfying to Woodruff for now, but she is not sure if she will continue to expand the business into college.

“We’re both going to finish out four year colleges, but if we don’t fall in love with a job after that, then we probably will make the business into our actual life careers,” Woodruff said. “It’s something fun for us to do, and we enjoy it so much because we’re able to be creative and able to do something we like for money. I could definitely see it continuing on for both of us.”

es are you enrolled in?

A: I’m in four classes. I’m taking anatomy, college english, floral and plant design and college algebra.

Q: So you’re a partphoto by Halley Hollis time student?

A: Yeah, because I work about 25 hours a week.

Q: Where do you work now?

A: Charley’s in the mall. I don’t like it because food isn’t my thing. I’m a people person, so I’d rather be interacting with people than making sandwiches behind the glass. But I just got a job at Pac Sun too.

I haven’t started working there yet, but I’m really excited because I wear their clothes and will get to interact with people.

Q: What do you want to be in life?

A: I want to go to [medical] school probably at [University of Missouri—Columbia], but then I’ll hopefully transfer to [Washington University in St. Louis] for their medical school, and then I want to go into dermatology.

Q: Why? A: I’ve always wanted to be a doctor but now that I’m growing up I’ve been thinking a lot about eventually wanting a family. I really want to be a reconstructive plastic surgeon on burn victims. But with that I wouldn’t have enough time to have a family, so I figured dermatology would be good because of set hours.

Q: Where do you want to live when you’re older?

A: I would love to live in New York because I visited there last summer and just fell in love with it.

But that seems out of the question, so I’m taking it step-by-step and figuring it out.

Q: How do you express yourself?

A: I have about eight piercings and two tattoos.

Plus my hair is partly blue. So I like to show off who I am through that.

Q: What are your tattoos?

A: I designed the one on my wrist because my grandma has cancer, and she said to live my life to the fullest, so I got one on my wrist to say “life.”

And the other one I got on a whim, so it doesn’t really mean anything. I’m getting one soon in honor of my great-grandma because she was full Choctaw Indian and the coolest person ever, so I’m getting a dream catcher.

Q: What other hobbies do you have?

A: I play the piano all the time. I’ve played for about 11 years now. I also love to paint and draw.

Q: Do you think you’re good?

A: Yeah, I used to want to be a tattoo artist.

Q: What do you think is special about yourself?

A: I do my own thing and really just like everybody. I’ve never had a specific clique. I have blue hair and a lot of piercings, but I still hang out with the preps and the nerds and, you know, whatever I like, I do it.

Color guard generates security, confidence Avantika Khatri

W

photo by Muhammad Al-Rawi

Trying something new: Learning new flag patterns, sophomore Jake Phillips follows the instructors’ motions in preparation for Friday’s halftime performance.

hen sophomore Jake Phillips first came out of the closet at the end of seventh grade, he lost many of his “friends,” and his parents struggled to understand. At that point he could have retreated from the fear of rejection, but instead he challenged convention by trying out for cheerleading at Jefferson Junior High School and then by joining color guard at RBHS. Over the last three years Phillips has stayed true to himself regardless of what others have thought, but he has faced suffering along the way.

Though he believes the world has grown in acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, there are still people who don’t understand what he feels.

“Being a part of the LGBTQ myself, it’s something that I feel very passionately about because of the things that I’ve been put through,” Phillips said. “Things happened at Jeff Junior. … There was one instance where I was walking to my mom’s work after school … and one of the kids that went there that knew I was gay started throwing rocks at me on my way to my mom’s work, and I got to my mom’s work, and my face was cut up; I had a busted open lip and everything.”

Because Phillips could not identify the perpetrator, the school did nothing about the incident. But the incident made him tougher.

“I figure, what’s the point of being depressed about something when all it’s going to do is bring you down?

And the past is the past, that’s all I can say,” Phillips said. “I came out stronger than I was. I figure if that didn’t happen, where would I be today? And

I always think these experiences help in life. While, yes, they’re a bad experience, it’s something you learn from.”

Though Phillips is firm in his beliefs, having support in color guard has helped him through tough times with his parents and people at school who make fun of him. The crowd at games typically does not jeer at him during performances, but one of his best friends sophomore Courtney Wheeler said when they do, it hurts Phillips.

“At our last football game ... [the color guard was] going off the field, and somebody said something to [Phillips], and he ran into the boys’ bathroom, and I didn’t see him,” Wheeler said. “When I was walking back out [junior] Nidhi [Khurana], who was the guard captain, told me to go to the boys’ bathroom because that’s where Jake was … and he was in there crying, and I helped him stop. … People say rude stuff to him sometimes.”

Wheeler said while on the field, they usually cannot hear any name-calling, but in the stands people sometimes call him names like “flaggot.”

“If somebody does that to him, we have a thing, like a guard circle, and we all just sit down, and we talk with each other,” Wheeler said. “We just talk to him and tell him it’s going to be OK. I mean, color guard is happy, so it’s like an escape for him, and he loves it.”

It helps that Phillips has found a home in color guard, more than in his strained relationships with his parents.

“We connect as a family,” Phillips said. “If someone came up to me and started to either beat me up or try to bring me down, I know the whole guard will be behind my back. And they’ll be there in 10 seconds flat to defend me, to help me. And I would do the same for any of them.”

The color guard has his back even during practices. When Phillips missed a few days of practice in a row, the guard had learned many new moves, but Phillips only had to ask someone before she taught him the moves. “ T h e y ’r e there for you; like, they make that time in their schedule[s] to help you learn that stuff because they want our show to succeed.

They want to win,” Phillips said.

“All of us do.”

In the years between coming out and joining color guard, Phillips had a rough run. It wasn’t until color guard that he found a close group. Taking part in color guard has helped alleviate his tense relationship with his father.

“He raised me to think of myself, but once I finally did start thinking for myself, we were disagreeing,” Phillips said. “I just made it 10 times harder on him whenever I told him I was gay. …

When I joined color guard, he started to see what my true interests really [were]. … He has a better general idea of it, and he’s starting to accept it more.”

“

I came out stronger than I was. ... If that didn’t happen, where would I be today?”

Jake Phillips, sophomore

12 ∙ Ads

The ROCK

October 27, 2011

October 27, 2011

In-Depths ∙ 13 The ROCK

W

e are the children of the X’ers and the younger siblings of the Y’s. We are obsessed with ourselves, some scholars say, naming us Generation Me. Others argue we are best defined by our dependence on and desperation for technology, titling us the iGeneration. We are unrivaled competitors, spoiled techies and avid multitaskers ­­— a generation shaped by society, trying to shape society itself.

art by Joanne Lee

We are Generation Z We don’t need no education Early competition belittles traditional schooling for teenagers Daphne Yu

W

all Street used to symbolize America’s presence in the global economy. It was the place where the rich, the successful and the educated went to prove their worth. It was the center of global attention, the master bank of banks, the place that really ran the international economy.

With the recent protest, “Occupy Wall Street,” the icon that once mirrored the spirit of the American population shattered into a completely different façade — people today are unemployed, fed-up and rebellious. The economy is crumbling and everyone — even teens — know it.

Marvin Marshall, Ph.D., an education veteran and author said the teens in our generation are more hard-working and more competitive — especially when it comes to more education nowadays — because they have to be. Competition begins with academic courses fit to propel students further so they get the upper hand in the future.

“There were no AP classes whatsoever when I was here,” social studies teacher David Graham, Rock Bridge class of ‘86, said. Not many students took honors classes because “there weren’t a whole lot of honors sections to take.”

Two decades later, RBHS offers more than 15 AP classes ranging from the core class groups to the arts and foreign languages. Students, such as senior Jonas Gassmann, who take these classes, have the opportunity to get a head start on the competition.

Gassmann is taking five AP courses

and plays varsity soccer.

Though he has a rigorous course load, Gassmann understands the value of education, saying that being well-educated is beneficial, especially when it comes to competition.

“It’s partly that I like to feel prepared, but it’s mainly because I’m a really competitive person in everything I do,” Gassmann said, “And I like to challenge myself to see the best I can do.”

In the near future, according to Penelope Trunk, co-founder of the career management tool for the next generation, Brazen Careerist, criteria like good grades and basic knowledge will become essential when applying for jobs.

Lumina Foundation for Education said fewer than two out of 10 high school graduates attended college before the 1950s. In the 1970s, 50 percent of high school graduates pursued postsecondary education. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college enrollment rose to an all-time high of 70.1 percent in 2009, but the unemployment of college graduates last year – 2.4 million – was the highest since the Bureau began keeping records in 1952.

Nowadays, many students put themselves in the competitive mind-set to mirror a society where jobs are scarce. With the increase of people seeking a higher education, getting a college degree no longer guarantees employment as it used to.

“Now you have to go to college and you have to prove yourself,” student teacher Mallory Weber said. “It’s no longer, ‘Oh, I have a degree.’ It’s ‘What did you do in college? What’s your grade point average? What other things did you do?’ It’s getting more and more com-

petitive so you have to constantly be able to up your game so you can compete in the world that’s out there.”

The world is changing daily. Twenty years ago there were no iPhones, Wi-Fi or hybrid cars. Ten years ago Facebook, Twitter and YouTube did not exist. The rapid rise of technology and the development of machines are taking over previously stable occupations held by humans, resulting in both the extinction of careers and the creation of new jobs.

“It’s really hard to get jobs at every level. You see very educated [people] working well below their qualifications.

At the same time, machines and computers are replacing jobs,” Gassmann said.

“So it’s definitely very competitive.”

To get the upper hand, Trunk wants to help teenagers find jobs in the future, encouraging them to begin preening themselves for the pick.

Trunk said survival of the fittest will come to play. People who teach themselves and have good social skills will prevail — the rest will soon disappear.

In addition, students will have to adapt more quickly than before. The world is evolving and flexibility is important.

“If you have skills that the job market needs, it’s good,” Trunk said. “You should look at what the job market needs and build those skills.”

Teens of Generation Z are “likely to have at least five careers and more than 20 employers” because of the competitive atmosphere, social researcher Mark McCrindle, director of McCrindle Research said.

Caused not only by the rise in population but also by the after-effects of the recent (and perhaps ongoing) recession, surviving in the working world will be-

come tougher. “[This generation is] more … competitive because their parents don’t have the money to help them get started,” Trunk said. “Salaries are lower, and they’re not going to have the money to look around for jobs.”

Teens in Generation Z are also “more competitive because they’re better at selflearning” through easily available information brought on by the rise of technology.

Sites such as Google, Wikipedia and YouTube contain information accessible with a click of the mouse. Schools use databases like Angel and student e-mail to communicate with students. Teens take advantage of these to contact peers and complete assignments.

“It helps with doing homework – you’re not stuck with what [teachers] told you in class and what your parents know,” Gassmann said. “You can look online for help with homework.”

With the job market evolving so quickly, Weber believes the classes she took to become an educator and the lessons she will teach are still relevant in teens’ everyday lives — in the present and the future.

“Even though technology is taking over in a lot of ways,” Weber said, “the skills that we’re teaching in class to get you to think analytically and different kinds of writing skills will help you no matter what you take on because those skills are universal.”

Teens’ future livelihoods depend on how well they can master the needed talents in the job market.

“They need to develop skills they need,” Trunk said. “Because the job market is unforgiving if they don’t.”

In-Dep

14

The ROCK

ource

www .socia

lmark eting .o

rg

Parent ing Maddie Davis

S

enior Will Kinney’s excitement increased exponentially as he unwrapped his final Christmas present. His new iPad 2 joined his iPod and iPhone. The Apple logo was a common sight for Kinney, but each new gadget was more and more thrilling.

These up-to-date devices are a pricey expense, but Kinney does not believe ownership of them makes him spoiled.

“I think spoiled is a relative term. My family is just a firm believer in technology,” Kinney said. “I just think our generation has more opportunities available to us, so it may seem that we are spoiled when compared to our parents.”

Director of undergraduate social work at the University of Missouri—Columbia Kalea Benner, Ph.D., agrees it is hard to say whether or not kids are more spoiled today than in the past.

“A major difference is that it’s more obvious when it happens,” Benner said.

“Material objects are always coveted by kids, and in today’s world there is certainly many to choose from.”

These new spoiled lifestyles correlate directly with new styles of parenting, which are much different than 20 years ago.

Sophomore Brandi Smith believes movies and television shows display the past’s different style of parenting.

“On really old movies and stuff you can tell that parents are a lot less protective than they used to be,” Smith said. “I think parents are just really busy now because of

trends al

demanding jobs so they don’t really know what’s going on with their kids.”

Although no one has determined one reason why parents are more relaxed, RBHS students agree this shift is apparent. Junior Justin McDaniel said it is shown through his generation’s openness in discussing their alcohol consumption.

“I know a lot of kids who talk to their parents about the parties they go to and what goes on at them,” McDaniel said. “It’s obvious that our parents’ parents wouldn’t have allowed that to happen. I just think our parents don’t think they can stop it, so it just happens.”

With the amount of access to pop culture our generation has, it is difficult for parents to protect their children from negative activity. Social media are available in any form, from television to music. The many technology options present new information to teenagers even if teenagers are not supposed to view it.

Sixty-seven percent of teenagers hide what they do online from their parents, according to www.facebook-parental-contolreviews.com. On top of that, only 40 percent of parents are concerned with what their child will come across on a social networking site.

“The rate that technology develops allows for information to spread faster,” Kinney said. “There is greater

background and infographic by Joanne Lee, Theresa Whang, Muhammad Al-Rawi

Generation Y — Born 1977-1990 · Influenced by media growing up · Knows technology · Considered “team players” · Family oriented · 1: 9 have a credit card co-signed by a parent

Generation Z — Born 1991-2012 · Considers any sort of slow technology useless · Much less privacy · Called “Digital Natives” · Good at multitasking

low sp o

knowledge of the benefits of education and embracing every opportunity that comes your way. It’s just the way parents deal with situations.”

The lack of attention from parents drives teens to push the boundaries further than ever. Benner said although communication is key to a successful relationship, it is often what is lacking in families.

“The most common problem is unrealistic expectations on behalf of the parents,” Benner said. “Parents often think that children should be expected to ‘know better,’ yet, depending upon the developmental age of the child, that can lead to many issues.

A teenager should know about parental expectations yet peer influence is stronger than parental influence at some ages.”

With varied ways of communication, it is hard to tell whether or not teens are aware that they are pushing limits with their parents. Instead of wanting materialistic items, kids want love and affection, Smith said.

“So many parents think that if they get their kids want they want then they will

iled life styles

obey them,” Smith said. “But that kind of makes kids starved for attention, so they rebel a lot more and try to get a reaction out of their parents.”

As technology increases and jobs continue to become more demanding, McDaniel predicts parenting will be even looser when he is an adult.

“I think that’s why parents are the way they are now because it’s impossible to shield their kids from reality now,” McDaniel said.

“A lot of parents seem to have just given up with protecting their kids because they know they can’t. Boundaries are so easy to stretch and that allows us to keep pushing and pushing until we do get what we want.

Once we start to push, then that becomes the norm, and once we get what we want, then we expect that.”

How ma ny invo af

Generation X — Born 1966-1976 · Known as the most educated generation · Hardworking, feels entitled to the money they earn · Resistant to change · Sometimes also resistant to technology s

pths

15

October 27, 2011

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Technology encourages multi-tasking, busy lifestyle Mahogany Thomas

A

lthough weeks pass, seasons change and daylight hours decrease, one thing in junior Madison Burke’s life stays consistent — her fast-paced digital world, made possible by her cell phone.

Burke’s dependence on her cell phone encourages her to accomplish as much as possible in as little time as possible, transferring the speed of her technology to the speed of her lifestyle — a characteristic shared by 57 percent of teenagers, according to www.marketingcharts. com, who view their cell phones as key to their social lives.

Just two years into her cell phone usage, Burke is more than hooked.

She wakes to its alarm, completes math homework with its calculator, documents her thoughts with its notepad application and catches up on her social media with its Internet.

As technology has evolved, cell phones have

not just made landlines archaic; they have also compiled all aspects of life for this generation in a small, addicting handheld device.

“It is the first thing I do,” Burke said. “I check it all first before anything.”

Psychology professor at the University of Georgia Thomas Reeves, Ph.D., found Burke’s digital lifestyle is common for today’s teenagers.

“How members of your generation use their time has changed dramatically,” Reeves said.

This generation’s take on social media and technology has become a part of teens’ daily lives, which causes teens to make technology a priority.

R e e ve s said

this is why teens have problems getting off Facebook and their phones to study.

Burke’s cell phone is more than a routine part of her life, allowing her to stay connected even when occupied with other priorities such as class. She finds no reason why she cannot study and text at the same time.

“When I’m in a serious conversation and I really need to find out something, the urge is really hard to resist, and that’s all I think about,” Burke said.

Beyond communication other new features on mobile phones have replaced their non-digital counterparts, integrating cell phones into every facet of life. More and more, phones are a necessity rather than a convenience.

Students multitask every time they use digital media. The average use is seven hours and 40 minutes every day, according to the recent Kaiser Family Foundation report on Generation M2.

Reeves said spiraling usage of technology and multitasking

cripples certain aspects of teenagers’ lives.

“With all this media exposure, combined with the lack of free time young people have today, your generation may not have the opportunities to develop the habits of critical reflection and intellectual curiosity to the same degree of earlier generations,” Reeves said.

Juggling jobs, clubs, volunteer positions, homework and athletics, teenagers rarely slow down.

Junior Carleigh Thrower, a member of RBRO, Young Moderates, the state-winning tennis team, an employee at Randy’s Frozen Custard and taking classes in broadcast journalism, photography and journalistic writing, exemplifies this busy lifestyle. She rarely finds time to just hang out with friends, she said, but staying busy keeps her motivated.

“I probably overextended myself, but I also love to be busy,” Thrower said. “If I don’t do anything, I just feel very sluggish. I like to have something to do every day that I have to work towards, like tennis

and making money at my job.”

Fast-paced lifestyles are a defining part of this generation because of people’s out-ofproportion egos, Reeves said.

Because of their inflated egos, teens make the incorrect assumption of thinking they are capable of handling much more than is reasonable.

Teens say they feel vital to society because of their dependence on social networking sites and constant task switching, creating a sense of arrogance to accompany the extreme lack of sleep and stress of this generation.

Reeves said teens won’t stop moving because of their need to multitask and broadcast their experiences; from Facebook, to sports, to texting to homework, teens live with anticipation of the day’s next activity.

“I love being able to talk to multiple people at once while doing other things,” Burke said.

“Sometimes if you’re alone, it’s nice to have someone to text to keep you company.”

16 ∙ Editorials

The ROCK

October 27, 2011

Honored no more

Rhetoric poisons Unneeded level between on-level, A.P. courses politics

THE

ROCK

Rock Bridge High School 4303 South Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203-1798 Vol. 39. 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

The Rock staff voted

Yes-14 No-18

should just take the honors classes, especially if the coursework is the same, the issue of peer pressure once again comes into play. Because the curriculum is so similar, the division between the two classes is moot. Furthermore, teachers can individualize instruction — providing literature sets and supplementary assignments for those needing more challenge.

Currently Popular Culture classes have an honors credit project available; students sign up for the project to receive honors credit. When the program was first implemented, teachers noted many students said they had not taken an honors class before but did with this option. This disproves the stereotype of the noncaring student and shows teens will take advantage of an honors system when they can do so without going against the will of their peers.

The system allows for a more authentic learning environment, one that replicates the workplace with its people and their varied abilities.

Combining classes works to resolve the discipline problem and ends the system of quiet segregation.

Finally, mores students will have a greater academic challenge than they have had in the past.

It truly would be the best of both worlds.

Are honors U.S. History and English Language level courses a necessary supplement to A.P. and on-level classes?

Chicago

William H. McNeill

The

Pursuit of Power

JOHN STEINBECK

FOURTH EDITION

SOCIETY

East of Eden

photo by Halley Hollis

Third Edition

AP US HISTORY STUDY GUIDE

McKay Hill Bucker _____

A HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE

MERRIMAN

A HISTORY OF

AMERICAN SOCIETY

AP US HISTORY STUDY GUIDE

Barron’s

A HISTORY OF

AMERICAN

Chicago

MERRIMAN

A Narrative History

A HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE

George Brown Tindall David E. Shi

photo by Muhammad Al-Rawi

William H. McNeill

No 14%

George Brown Tindall David E. Shi

A Narrative History

AMERICA

East of Eden

AMERICA

The

JOHN STEINBECK

Barron’s

“Yes, they are. It separates the smart kids from the dumb kids. The regular classes are just filled with kids that you don’t want to be in class with. I want to be in class with fun, smart people.”

—Caleb Wilfong senior

photo by Halley Hollis

Pursuit of Power

“The people who are kind of used to honors aren’t going to be able to handle the workload for A.P. and balance just wouldn’t work out.”

—Tony Ngassi senior

Yes 86% FOURTH EDITION

“No, I don’t think they are.

If you really want to reach higher in your classes, you might as well take an A.P. class instead of just getting halfway there by taking an honors class.”

—Wednesday Corley senior

Third Edition

H

ave you paid attention to any political speeches recently?

Every one seems opens with a vapid little rhetorical question that is almost immediately followed by a lengthy diatribe of meaningless drivel.

But why are we sucked into these speeches and editorials? Why do we listen to people who have so very little to say? To what end are they trying to pit brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor?

It is because of words. Words, I tell you, are the blades of those who speak them. These violent scum, the traitors to this glorious Union, use words to ignite the flame of hatred.

The vile poison of empty rhetoric threatens the very fabric of this great nation, and what do the American people do? We sit and we listen. Even now, these destructive diatribes rampage against the very walls of our freedom! For where there is malicious speech, there is either true malice or corrupt emptiness behind it, and both are an equally deadly poison to the American country.

Why, you ask? Why? Because the very foundations of this republic depend on the citizen’s mind, and the citizen’s mind can no longer walk unmolested by petty cries to frighten or goad. Yes, while it is the mind of the citizen that has made this nation great, that mind can no longer function amid the mighty storm of unsupported pathos!

Would you leave a baby in a desert, all alone, to starve? Would you use a puppy as a wrecking ball?

They would, had those who used such language be in control. Those who use it are wildly un-American.

They refuse to call out specific problems, only making out a group of people in the vaguest sense, as if their language were not cowardice enough.

These politicians, who may be better framed through the phrase “Emptiers,” because of their empty rhetoric, can only be described as vile. Such “Emptiers” want to blame all the problems of the world on a group of conveniently unidentifiable people. The group they select is just vague enough to the point where it’s existence is not guaranteed but specific enough that the politician can simply call his enemies that apparently despicable group and they will shy away like animals from gunshots.

Another classic tactic of the “Emptiers” is to use buzzwords and “violent-ize” all political conflicts.

They paint targets across enemy districts, declare war on many topics and peoples, and generally must view life as a permanent conflict, where the enemy is anyone who deviates from them in the slightest.

For the ‘Emptiers’ it is their way or the highway. For the only weapon of the Emptiers is empty rhetoric; their only friend is themselves.

They have a stranglehold on the public discourse, a knife at the throat of America.

Well, I declare war on hate speech. We must give no quarter!

Bar no holds! We must burn the land of these “Emptiers” and salt the earth beneath them. There must be a target over every center from which this speech flows!

If we give hate speech ground, it will overflow into all of our society, poison our country and destroy our American way! It will burn our crops and steal our gold! The mindless fear mongering of the “Emptiers” must not be tolerated!

Be nice, be balanced or else be destroyed!

W

often require extra time from teach- problems. But when combined with ers. The time teachers must spend be- teachers who spread too thin, such cause of the disparity creates a black disturbances seriously derail the hole of inequity. class. Disruptive classroom environOn-level students deserve a bet- ments contribute to an overall negater ratio so that everyone has equal tive stereotype about on-level classes. access to teacher expertise, thereby A stereotype exists that the on-level creating a more student basically successful wants to coast learning envithrough school. ronment.

In fact many onGiving a level students are small group very invested in of students their education. too much time However, there makes it easy is pressure from for the majorpeers to fit into ity of a class the image of not of teenagers to caring — not to talk, text and be considered generally mess nerdy or geeky around.

The — and so the Should honors U.S. teacher must stereotype is selfHistory & English then regain perpetuating.

Language level class control of the The final class, which problem is honbe eliminated? causes resentors courses put ment among on-level students the students. at a disadvanAnother difficulty in the cur- tage. While honors U.S. studies do rent system of honors and on-level essentially the same coursework as classes is the creation and reinforce- on-level classes, students in those ment of stereotypes. Most students classes get an honors credit for their will take classes to be with friends. transcripts. While some may say By itself this can cause disciplinary students who want honors credit

McKay Hill Bucker _____

Adam Schoelz

e have a problem at RBHS. Though quiet, it exists. This problem is so insidiously subtle one might not have noticed; its effects aren’t overt. But, like a twisted weed creating cracks in the foundation of education, the problem warps us.

The problem is RBHS has segregated classes.

Granted, segregation is a strong word and needs some clarification.

This segregation is not like ones of the past; it is the failure of a system set up with good intentions, but one that now divides courses along socioeconomic lines.

Of students in regular U.S. classes, 36 percent are non-white, compared to the 13 percent in honors. Fifteen percent of students in regular courses have Individual Education Plans, compared to three percent in honors classes. Around 40 percent of students enrolled in on-level courses are on free or reduced lunch, compared with nine percent in honors classes.

Beyond the initial moral revulsion to the idea of segregation, it causes some severe problems.

First is inequity in terms of time teachers have per student. Simply put, there are five times the number of IEPs in on-level courses than in honors classes. These IEP students

The Rock surveyed 180 students Oct. 24. infographic by Joanne Lee

Change unnecessary, harmful T

he proposed elimination of honors-level U.S. Studies courses violates the RBHS mantra of “freedom with responsibility.” Students deserve the freedom to choose a course that best accommodates their needs and often busy teenage schedules.

According to teachers backing the elimination proposal, honors-level courses have widened the achievement gap by separating students by ethnicity rather than ability, and an increased number of behavior problems and students with IEPs prevents teachers from adequately fulfilling the needs

of their students.

The group believes eliminating honors-level courses would allow for a more even distribution of students with different socio-economic statuses, cutting down on behavioral issues and assisting teachers with classroom management.

But the proposal ignores the students’ voice. According to a survey of 180 students conducted by The Rock Oct. 24, 71 percent believed honors-level courses were a necessary supplement to both Advanced Placement and on-level courses. This demonstrates the need for classes that require critical

Rock is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and International Quill and Scroll.

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

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

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thinking without the often burdensome workload of an A.P. level course.

The absence of honorslevel courses will have a detrimental effect on students who still wish to c h a l lenge themselves but carry busy schedules.

Students will be forced to choose between an engaging curriculum or a manageable course load. Students who choose to take A.P. level courses rather than the on-

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

level alternative may have to sacrifice extracurriculars or risk a penalty to their gradepoint average.

Instead of attempting to n a r row the achievem e n t gap by eliminating honorsl e v e l courses, administrators should seek out alternative methods to solving the problem of the disparity between honors and on-level classes.

Smaller on-level class sizes, or additional after-school

The Rock’s

Dissent

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

tutoring and remedial programs could achieve the desired effect of narrowing the gap without damaging honors-level students.

RBHS clearly respects student opinions, as evidenced by the accomplishments of groups such as student coalition.

Students must take advantage of this opportunity and make sure their voices are heard as the policy change begins to be debated.

In the meantime, perhaps the school can adopt a new mantra when considering eliminating U.S. Studies honors-level courses — “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

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

Editorials ∙ 17

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Applications for college need fixing Walter Wang

T

he steps for applying to college are staggering.

There is an endless stream of essays, monotonous paperwork, difficult coursework and a need for increasingly higher standardized test scores.

There needs to be a better method for applying to colleges that does not involve a number and some not-soinsightful essays. This way, students will not need to try to kill each other for coveted spots. By the time students actually go to college, they are burned out from trying too hard to do so much in high school.

This is detrimental to America, as it results in students doing poorer during college, a more important aspect of higher education than high school.

College applications revolve around good standardized testing scores and taking hard high school courses while maintaining an amazing grade-point average. However, even those “most challenging of courses” are getting more difficult as students rise to higher standards and try to show each other up by going beyond that. According to www.mycollegeguide.com, while a 4.0 GPA and good extracurricular activities would have nearly guaranteed acceptance into Ivy League colleges a few years ago, this is no longer the case.

Besides, tests like the SAT show no difference between someone who just walked in and scored high and a student who studied for hours to get that exact same score.

Taking challenging classes has also become a necessity for getting into top-notch colleges. The College Board implemented Advanced Placement courses in 1955 for select students who wanted to prove they were capable and already had learned the skills needed for entry-level college courses. Now, AP courses are almost mandatory for entrance into top-tier colleges.

In addition, colleges expect students to convey the essence of their entire life into a personal statement. It is difficult to express all of one’s beliefs, experiences and individuality in 500 words. No essay can truly embody a student’s life; rather, actions speak far louder than words.

What students do in their lives should show colleges what they believe in. A student who enjoys an academic challenge will pursue academic interests; others who like athletics will play sports, yet others who appreciate service will volunteer their time.

However, the way that colleges approach the application process has limited many students’ potentials.

Colleges like to see students achieve perfection in all their classes and activities. Students shy from AP courses with the threat of a grade below an A, even though the course might greatly interest, engage and benefit them. Likewise, students are scared of focusing on just one extracurricular for fear of colleges needing to see other activities they were stellar at.

This limitation is restricting progress; if students are allowed to pursue what they desire without fear of recriminations, they will learn a better lesson for life than if they learn to conform to what is expected and do nothing audacious.

Instead of increasing expectations every year, colleges need to settle on a standard of excellence. This new system would track what the students have done over four years and focus more on interviews so colleges could get a feel for who the student is, rather than forcing students to write an ineffectual essay. To get a clearer picture, colleges must look beyond simple essays and tests. Standardized tests and short essays cannot convey the essence of a person; that can only be seen through experience.

Students should be able to begin the application process as freshmen rather than having to wait until senior year.

With interviews spanning four years, colleges can really see the maturation of a student, giving far greater insight into a student’s personality than simple essays. The job of colleges is to groom students for the future.

To do that, they must find what is best for each student, which the current application process does not do because of its impersonality. This process does not put a face on the applicants; instead, it turns them into numbers.

Instead of trying to outshine everyone, focus on what you are truly passionate about. This will show colleges who you truly are; if they do not like that, it is too bad for them. Everyone is unique; colleges cannot expect to see perfect cookie-cutter students. Prospective freshmen should be who they are, and express their interests to the utmost, instead of conforming to college standards that homogenize society.

art by Kelly Brucks

Advisory wastes time Program impacts productivity Isaac Pasley

P

icture this: You’re in a classroom, but the teacher’s not giving a lesson, so you have an hour and a half to do assignments. This doesn’t sound that bad on the surface, but halfway through the period, you’re finished with all your work. You feel really hungry and want to grab a snack from the vending machine, and could use the restroom as well.

However, the teacher doesn’t let you leave the room without permission, and she wants you back within 10 minutes, so you just spend the final 45 minutes sitting around and staring at the clock, waiting for the bell to finally release you.

Such is the ordeal all RBHS sophomores suffer, as they drift through the dull, featureless void known as sophomore advisory.

Currently, juniors and seniors, as long as they maintain good grades, have access to a special privilege known as Alternating Unassigned Time. “Sophomore advisory,” on the other hand, takes place in a specific classroom. Because sophomores are new to RBHS, sophomore advisory is meant as a way for students to get accustomed to their new surroundings. However, after the first few days, advisory often just involves sitting around anticipating the next class. In general, sophomores would benefit greatly by having AUT in place of advisory, just like their fellow juniors and seniors.

By its very nature, sophomore advisory goes against the ideals of RBHS. What makes RBHS the school that it is is its emphasis of the concept of “freedom with responsibility.”

Administrators believe within certain bounds, sophomores should be able to retain some degree of independence. Being free of the teachers’ restraints for at least some of the time is crucial for students because it gives them a preview about what life in college and afterwards will be like.

AUT is an important part of the RBHS experience because it teaches students

the vital life skill of making important activity that sophomores need to do, the decisions by themselves, something which office could just make an announcement. can’t be learned in the classroom alone.

On the other hand, for the majority of Students will be better prepared for adult time when there’s nothing else for the life if they are on their own as soon as students in advisory to do, they would be possible. better off being left to their own devices RBHS teaches students the concept of instead of sitting and staring cooped up in freedom with responsibility from day a classroom. one. How, then, does it make sense to In fact, sophomores once did have give sophomores the idea that they’re AUT until advisory came about as a way not responsible enough to go off on their to help welcome new students to RBHS. own? When students are not receiving Introductions can only go on so long, class instruction or doing schoolwork, they however, and advisory mostly becomes should not have to ask permission to walk a time when students all too often just around the sit around with building by nothing to do. It themselves. is little more than Most people a way of belittling The Rock surveyed 180 students with the questions who defend students, basically sophomore saying they’re not advisory responsible just say it helps because they’re new. incoming This is a problem sophomores because it goes learn the directly against the ropes and get idea of freedom with The results were acquainted responsibility, which because they is key to RBHS’s are new mission, and as such, to school. the school impresses In reality, it upon students things taper right from the getdown a bit go. As a result, after the first advisory sends two or three mixed messages days, and and leaves students the overwhelming majority of time after confused. And if students are receiving is spent sitting in the classroom doing mixed messages, how will they be able to homework, and after that’s done, it’s believe what other people are saying? The mostly just sitting around and waiting, truth is, sophomores do not have to be “left often with one’s head on his or her desk. out” of certain things, such as AUT, simply Because of this, getting rid of advisory because they’re younger. wouldn’t cause much of a loss especially Giving sophomores AUT instead of since there is a system already in place forcing them to sit through the 95 minute for communicating with students on their slog of advisory every other day would AUTs. help considerably. The more opportunities Presently, if juniors and seniors on their students get during their three-year stay at AUTs have a special event to attend, such RBHS to demonstrate they can make wise as a presentation in the Performing Arts choices on their own, the better they will Center, they will be notified of this over function once they get through college and the intercom system. If there’s any special out into the real world of adult life.

“Could the time spent in Advisory be used more productively?”

Yes-60% No-40%

Headphones distract drivers Shannon Freese

M

Yes-83% No-17%

ar

y tb

e

n an

Jo

e

Le

anufacturers pack so many additional things into cars these days allowing drivers to do almost anything while on the road. From basic radios and CD players to satellite and iPod hook-ups, auto manufacturers seem to incorporate distractions as one of their selling points, putting everything into the car as if they’re begging drivers to do something other than drive.

These days it’s even become trendy for people to wear headphones while they’re driving their cars when they should be focusing more on the road instead of what song is going to come up on shuffle next.

With so many extras built into the car, the driver adds more distraction by wearing headphones while driving. Wearing headphones when driving is dangerous, and law enforcement needs to take steps to prevent it from continuing.

Unlike a car’s stereo, headphones can cut off the majority of sound around the user in

a more direct way. As a matter of fact, most it dangerous for the emergency vehicles and headphones create a more solid sound by those they may be attempting to help, but they preventing outside noise from interfering with are also a danger to those who share the road the music experience as opposed to the every day. Wearing headphones while driving more filling sound the car’s stereo distracts the driver, and distractions are provides. one of the most dangerous things With little to no sound that can happen on roadways. reaching drivers’ ears, According to www. emergency vehicles like distraction.gov, distractions ambulances and fire caused 20 percent of car trucks are harder to accidents that ended in locate. The purpose injuries in 2009. In this of wailing sirens is nation, 16 percent of so drivers on the all fatal crashes in 2008 roads can hear an involved distractions emergency vehicle according to www.nhtsa.

The Rock before they see it. gov. When drivers tune surveyed I’m not saying that into what’s playing through 180 students drivers shouldn’t their ears, they have trouble Oct. 24 listen to music. But focusing on the road. RBHS while they’re jamming already has enough horn to Ke$ha, there’s probably honking and close calls in the some old lady 20 minutes parking lot before school, after away who fell and can’t get up. school and during lunch — surely the Not only do headphones make last thing the school needs is yet another

reason to hate driving through the lot every day.

Despite this distraction’s deadly consequences, there is no law against it in Missouri. A law would help prevent distracted driving and the interference of emergency vehicles. In states like California and Michigan, laws keep drivers focused on the road without restricting all of the driver’s ability to utilize today’s technology. California law states drivers can have only one headphone in, therefore allowing things such as a phone’s hands-free options while preventing the driver from tuning out their surroundings with loud music.

Driving while wearing headphones is extremely dangerous, and the only way to prevent it is by creating a law to oppose it and punishing those drivers who do endanger others by doing it. Missourians need to raise awareness by bringing the problem to the people who can make a change such as lawmakers as well as the Missouri law enforcement in order to make sure this issue can be stopped as soon as possible.

The last thing the United States needs right now is worse drivers.

18 ∙ Ads

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

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Commentary ∙ 19

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Childh

d melts

Ice cream truck delivers memory of old simplicity Abbie Powers

T

he twangy, digital sound planted a small seed of hope in my ears the moment it squeezed its way through the mesh of the open windows. My assurance that the tune was only a whisper of a distant sound wave was slowly letting down its guard.

As the stinging notes began to string together and create a full-blown melody, my heart began to pump with inherent exhilaration.

I couldn’t help my excitement: It might be coming. It might be cruising down our street right now, right out my window. What if I don’t make it in time? I can’t let it get away.

Its sound was more electric than ever as I heard wheels roll slowly past my house. I knew then my dreams were confirmed – the ice cream truck was floating down the street, a blown up toy car and fluffy childhood playmate.

An oversized plastic ice cream cone teetered cheaply on its top, waving and wiggling with each dangerous lurch of the gas pedal. The rainbow of stickers pasted to its side advertised much bigger and fuller treats than the actual dull, squished popsicles of reality.

But then I remembered I was 17 years old.

I wasn’t yearning for some tropical flavored ice crystals doused in sugar like the ones I’d

drooled over as a child.

My 13-yearold brother might be excited to swap 10 quarters for a mass of yellow mush resembling Sponge Bob, but not me.

Even as a child, it was never the ice cream that drove me to love the coming of the ice cream truck as much as I did. A simple popsicle didn’t seem to satisfy the question as to why I carried so much enthusiasm for something as insignificant and unyielding (except in ice cream) as the ice cream truck. It had nothing to offer me. The treats of my childhood did not hold excitement in themselves.

Yet the ice cream truck, the bulky, awkward van with its somewhat irritating music and scratched side doors, held a certain kind of rush. This rush brought with it the kind of happiness that can only be associated with a joy-

ful time – that of childhood.

The sound I heard floating through the present summer haze harnessed my mind to its metallic bounce and steered it back 10 years ago to Mulberry Court.

I stood under the scolding sun and tried not to let its ferociously art by Anna Sheals long rays penetrate my soft, seven-year-old skin to a burn. My sister and a large group of neighborhood cronies stood by my side, rooted on the concrete, waiting our turn in hushed exhilaration for the serious task of ordering at the ice cream truck window.

The effortless happiness and utter lack of clutter of the summer between first and second grade shines through in this single moment. We were children surrounded by people to laugh with and discover with. Surrounded by people who haven’t yet learned how to judge or worry or think of the future. We stood united as a common crowd of ice cream lovers.

We gathered together on a square of pavement, becoming happier people through this

Failures help Game face challenges, teach lessons S Adam Schoelz

Alex Burnam

I

had grown up hearing from my father that “fortune favors the brave.” He attributed all of his success in life to it. But prior to May of my junior year, I had never been outgoing. I kept to myself. I lived in my personal safe zone where nobody could embarrass me and I couldn’t embarrass myself.

I was the type who had more fun playing Halo on a Friday night than spending time with people. It really took a lot of strength from inside me to put my name on the ballot for student body president.

I had never heeded my father’s words, so I figured I would be brave and run for office.

Timidly, I asked my teachers and peers to sign my petition. I swiftly returned to activities, completed petition in hand. Right as I was about to turn it in, I hesitated. “You can still back out” I thought to myself. Somewhere inside of me, my gut was telling me to back out. A battle ensued between my mind and my instincts. Finally, in a rush of adrenaline, I turned in my form and sealed my fate.

Campaigning took a lot of courage. I had to talk to people I had never met. I printed out clever stickers with embarrassing and somewhat stupid phrases on them. The signs I put up were continuously vandalized or torn down. My self-confidence was very low as I dealt with the constant pressure that comes with a popularity contest of such magnitude.

However, none of these things compared to the fear I had about giving a speech in front of the entire school. It would have been more appealing to swim in a tank full of sharks.

Writing a speech was next to impossible. Every word had to be chosen perfectly or else I would come off as stupid. To say I was stressed would be an understatement.

I didn’t sleep the night before my speech. I was too nervous to even attempt to calm myself down. In my mind I was attacking myself: What have you done? How could you get yourself into a situation like this?

Even “Lose Yourself” by Eminem couldn’t get me pumped for what I was about to do as I drove to school on the big day, so I opted to arrive in silence. As I sat on the stage, listening to my opponents give their speeches, I told myself it was time to man-up: sometimes, you’ve just got to do something and not think about it.

Upon taking the podium, the butterflies finally left my stomach.

I knew I had gotten into a situation I couldn’t back out of, so I decided to just suck it up; I made an ultimatum with myself. An overwhelming calm came over me. I was ready to be brave. I gave my speech, and to my delight the crowd did laugh at my jokes. They applauded loudly throughout, and I received many compliments afterwards. The great response I received gave me complete confidence that I would win the election.

On election day a different story was told. I lost badly. There wasn’t even a run-off between the top two candidates. Shocked, any confidence I had temporarily faded. Blinded by the positive feedback from my speech, I thought I had the school in the palm of my hand, only to be told I definitely did not. It was humbling. I had been brave, yet fortune did not favor me.

After this crushing defeat, I soon found I was no longer fazed about speaking to strangers. Talking in front of large groups was easy. In the back of my head I just kept thinking: It can never be worse than talking in front of 2,000 people. It’s not like I’m losing a school-wide election. Even though I lost, I still delivered a great speech.

Failure is an amazing tool. The lessons learned from getting rejected, hurt or downtrodden define who you are and are extremely beneficial to your well-being. Even though I lost my election, I discovered something new: that I had it in me to face my fears.

It is important for everybody to get out of their comfort zone every once and a while and challenge themselves; do something that they would have never dreamed would be possible for them, even if they end up failing miserably at it. It is astonishing how much can be learned about yourself by failing at a task.

Be it trying out for a sports team, confronting somebody who has wronged you, or even running for an elected position, even if you fail, you will learn valuable lessons and discover things about yourself you never knew.

I was told fortune favored the brave, and at first I thought this statement was a lie because of my loss, but I have realized fortune had favored me in other ways. My pain was only temporary, but the lessons I learned lasted forever. Failure was necessary for my eventual success. If I had never tried and failed, I would have never discovered my true potential.

o, to get this out of the way, I’m a nerd. And not just a school nerd, either. I’m a programmingloving, Dungeons and Dragons playing, card-carrying, geek-nerd. And if you kept reading past that sentence, there’s a fairly high chance you’re one, too.

But times have been tough for me lately. Winter is coming, and with it comes history projects, which, while undeniably enjoyable to a nerd like myself, are still pretty stressful and time consuming. They put me into a drone sort of mindset, where work waxes as interest wanes until I’m basically just doing the minimum to stay in touch with my grade. It’s hard to care about learning when there is so much of it to do.

It’s like eating too much candy and getting sick.

Last winter, just before the start of Arab Spring, I found myself drifting into this drone mindset. What was the point, I wondered, of all the work? What was the point of such-and-such battle at whatever date? It’s a question every student asks at some point. However, either the cold of February or the pres-

one anticipated moment – through shoving our faces with popsicles.

The ice cream truck not only brought me back, but was currently bringing the same memories together for those whose childhoods were in the present. As they congregated on the sidewalk, I realized that one day this moment was going to be theirs to look back on.

They’ll remember this gathering of playmates, how they wilted in the smoldering sunshine and waited, perfectly content. They’ll remember how they stood there in smiles, like they knew the secret to life.

They’ll remember completely being there, encompassed in a glorious moment, as if they knew what made them happy and where to find it, and that was all that mattered. And they’ll remember bouncing on the pavement, bubbling with delight, like there was nothing more important or delicious in the world than a colorful, cold treat, straight from the ice cream truck itself.

I feel a rush of all these thoughts the second the ice cream truck makes its grand entrance onto our street. That feeling of ease, of knowing joy at something so small, was what made my summers as a child as simple and as happy as they were.

And if there is one vehicle with the ability to remind me of the simple happiness life has the potential to bring, to remind a stressing senior that it’s useless to live life unhappily when so many good things surround us, the ice cream truck is it.

That’s what life is for: to live for the good

brings creativity

sures of schoolwork forced me into answering: I don’t know. This triggered a sort of existential crisis, where it seemed to me then that there was little point in believing in anything at all; history wasn’t important, there was no physical benefit to me.

But then I found this little video g a m e c a l l e d Minecraft.

Being a nerd, I have a natural affinity for video games, and Minecraft fits the bill q u i t e nicely.

Minecraft is a game w h e r e the entire world is made of blocks.

Survival is the player’s goal, alone on an infinite planet.

It’s a the Robinson Crusoe of games, where the player has to build everything, on his or her own. Building is quite easy. You take a block from the world

— or mine it, rather—and place it somewhere else in the world. But it is one of those great things that is far more than the sum of its parts.

Upon realizing the world is infinite and that one can rearrange anything into anything, my mind exploded.

The first time I played Minecraft was s p e n t building, mining, and then dying from gravityrelated causes, d u r ing the course of nine hours.

There is just so much that can be done.

On the more basic end of things, I could build a palace that would make Marie Antoinette jealous. On the other hand, I could build a computer — from scratch.

It’s simply a matter of selecting something, then applying

“

Minecraft is a world entirely without structure; it begs for amazing things to rise out of the dirt.”

n i g t S s y t i l a r o M ed to rethink choic e n es corralled ens z i t i protestors onto a bridge with C

Maria Kalaitzandonakes

A

t my computer, I sat stunned. On Oct. 5, I watched the New York Police Department spray searing liquid into the eyes of peaceful protesters in Occupy Wall Street.

These mostly young men and women say they will stay on Wall Street until the government puts a stop to corrupt bailing out of big banks and “selling out” of citizens.

My heart pitched at the pictures of the young people filling their eyes with milk to cool the burning. The violence by the officers just felt unexplainably wrong, and I didn’t understand why the policemen would perpetrate it. Even though the head of the department ordered some movements, police continued it to an inhumane level.

Occupy Wall Street is a series of protests where people spend all day and night on the sidewalk or in the park, hoping to end corporate greed and economic inequality. Their catch phrase, especially as violence ensued, has become “The whole world is watching,” and, at least for me, it was true.

I couldn’t get the graphic images out of my head: kids my age, lying on the ground, rolling in pain as their eyes became enflamed and red from the hateful spray. Act after act occurred. Policemen

the sole purpose of arresting them in masses; they used public busses to transport these new prisoners to jail. Officers also arrested a group protesting in anonymous masks – think V for Vendetta – by citing some old New York law, which forbids two or more people in a public area from wearing masks unless in an outdoor masquerade party; one woman reportedly got arrested for wearing a mask on the back of her head. Police used tasers and mace as crowd control.

Video after video show policemen using orange nets to move the protesters.

On the screen I saw them pushing both scooters and police cars into the crowds and even using some very direct methods of physical violence as crowd control.

Now, I think the group Occupy Wall Street has some things right and some things wrong; I’m not here to justify their political movement.

But the thing that troubles me is not their views. It’s the manner in which the people sworn to protect American citizens dealt with the protesters.

The police used excessive force rather than apologizing and explaining the wrongness of its decision, citing age-old laws, covering up videos and unexplainably having the New York press not cover the event.

I thought of my own dodging skill, how I metaphorically put burning liquid

brainpower. In other words, it’s the dream game of nerds.

Here, at last, was the world I wanted — one where dreams were more than achievable; they were encouraged. The only remaining limiting factor was my imagination. Minecraft is a world entirely without structure; it begs for amazing things to rise out of the dirt. So that’s what I did. After a time, though, the same nihilistic tendencies that had plagued me before returned once more.

It flaunts the laws of physics and besides, it’s a video game, long considered the lowest form of entertainment.

I could gain no physical benefit from it, so what was the point of even playing?

But then it hit me: it doesn’t matter that Minecraft isn’t real. It doesn’t matter that I could never reach that world, that beautiful land of blocks and monsters. It doesn’t matter for me, because as cheesy as it sounds, the emotions it created were real. And like a fog lifting from my brain, I remembered why I love history. The emotions of history are real; it’s a painting in pastel colors.

And as long as the feeling is real, nothing else matters all that much.

in other people’s e y e s with my thoughtless actions.

Namely, I shop too much.

I pay incredibly cheap prices because someone else, with most likely no minimum wage or prospect for the future, is making all my clothing for me.

Thinking about the policemen’s disregard of the consequences forced this habit art by Joanne Lee into a harsh and violent light.

To stop my shopping habit, I’ve challenged myself to buy only used clothes and revamp my old ones.

I challenge that we see our choices in a new way. That we put down our metaphorical mace and take responsibly.

20 ∙ Ads

The ROCK

ch r u h C n a i r yte b s e r P t s r i F

October 27, 2011

Athletic Profiles ∙ 21

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Football kicker stays strong after injuries Caraline Trecha

G

oing from kicking a soccer ball to kicking field goals was a minor change for senior Ian Patterson. Having played soccer with his older brother since kindergarten, he had to decide which sport to play at RBHS. Limited to one fall sport, Patterson ended his soccer career his sophomore year to fully commit to football.

“I always loved football,” Patterson said. “It was difficult to give up soccer, but I like to look at it in a positive way because by playing football and being the kicker, I haven’t had to give up soccer completely.”

The choice was difficult, but Patterson’s love for football helped sway his decision.

“I knew that I couldn’t get in trouble for pushing people around in football,” Patterson said. “I have always liked kicking because it came easy to me because of my soccer background.”

Going into his junior year’s season, Patterson looked forward not only to kicking, but also to playing linebacker. Unfortunately, a tear in the labrum tissue in his shoulder cut his time as a linebacker short.

“We were all worried when we found out Ian got hurt,” senior Corey Reuter said. “Even though we were looking forward to having him on the defensive end, we were glad he was able to still kick.”

Surgery and a period of rehabilitation forced Patterson to wear a shoulder restraint for the duration of the season and limited him to only kicking. When Patterson started playing football in sixth grade, his parents wanted him to play kicker to avoid injury. It wasn’t until he got bigger that his parents let him play linebacker.

“I was really bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to continue to play linebacker for that season,” Patterson said, “but I was extremely

thankful that I could continue to kick, and once I finished rehab, I could start preparing to play linebacker the next year.”

His junior year of kicking ended happily, in a commendation with first team all-district and all area honors.

Going into his senior year Patterson again looked forward to playing both linebacker and kicker, but another labrum tear in the same shoulder as his last injury forced another surgery, shooting his hopes back down.

“I was really bummed when I found out that I needed another surgery,” Patterson said. “I was really ready to have a strong season at linebacker and to end my high school career with a bang. But you have to deal with what is given to you. I am just thankful that I got to kick for my senior year.”

Patterson’s senior year started shakier than planned. Stress over college plans affected his focus. After some words of wisdom from his older brother, Dolan, Patterson changed his views and his thinking about his senior season.

“I was really wrapped up in college and my plans for next year and wasn’t really focused on the job at hand,” Patterson said. “Dolan helped me get my mind straight and helped me to realize that everything will work out just as long as I rely on my fundamentals, focus on every kick, keep my head down and do what I did in camps all summer.”

Patterson’s season picked up after speaking with Dolan, and he soon found his groove. With six for six on field goals and kicks from 21, 24, 31, 41 and a long of 46 yards, he hopes to help the Bruins have a strong end to the season.

Despite the sacrifice, Patterson doesn’t regret his decision to give up soccer. Depending on this season’s end, Patterson will look to continue his career at the next level.

“I definitely don’t regret giving up soccer,” Patterson said. “I miss it, but I’ve found my niche in football.”

Pushing through: Patterson practices a kick-off, a daily afterschool routine after a surgery prevented him from linebacking. photo by Halley Hollis

Pitcher pushes beyond high school softball experience

Senior tries to make it big in college after playing 4 years for Bruin team Caraline Trecha

S

tepping onto the mound for her last year of high school softball, senior Lauren Fuller decided this year had to be special.

“Entering this season I had a drive to make it the best,” Fuller said, “not only because it is my last year playing with these girls and for Rock Bridge but also because I wanted to end my year with a bang.”

Verbally committing to a Division I school, University of North Carolina— Chapel Hill, her junior year lifted a lot of pressure from Fuller’s shoulders.

The commitment “takes a lot of stress off of applying to other schools, the recruiting process, sending out e-mails to coaches and all of that stuff,” Fuller said. “I am very fortunate to have already verbally committed to my dream school. It makes my senior year a lot more enjoyable.”

As a result, Fuller has put a lot of work into her softball career, something her teammates have also noticed.

“I think Lauren did a great job this year,” senior Kelsey Harrington said. “Although she already decided where she is playing in college, she still had the motivation to

do her best and to make the most of every practice.”

Along with holding her head up in softball, Fuller has had to continue to keep up her grades. When not on the softball field, Fuller spends her time studying and preparing for her two Advanced Placement classes.

“I want to do well [in school] so that I can have some credit going into school,” Fuller said, “so it makes [college] less challenging.”

Fuller knows her workload in college will be more challenging than it is now.

And with potentially unlimited hours on the softball field, Fuller has already started to prepare mentally by accepting that she will have a busy freshman year.

“I have played with some girls from Kansas City that graduated last year and are now playing at Division I schools, and all they talk about is how busy it is and how much work” they have, Fuller said.

“I am not sure what to expect, but I just know that I am going to be very busy.”

“

I am very fortunate to have already verbally committed to my dream school.”

Lauren Fuller, senior

Although she knows next year will be tough, she looks forward to attending her “dream school.” After playing softball with her traveling team and hearing her teammates talk about playing in college, Fuller is confident of her commitment.

“I have always wanted to go to UNC,” Fuller said. “I really like North Carolina because a lot of my family lives in North Carolina, and it’s really pretty there. It has always been a dream of mine.”

Her dream came true when she became one of the four athletes invited to attend a UNC camp after her sophomore year to watch its softball team play. There, UNC recruited her to play for its team, and Fuller verbally committed.

At the camp the coaches “asked if I would be interested in playing [for UNC], and they laid out scholarships and stuff like that,” Fuller said. “I was really excited, but I didn’t necessarily think they were going to actually offer a chance for me to play at UNC when we were down there.”

Although she is thrilled to play as a collegiate athlete, Fuller will miss the relationships she built with her Bruin team.

“I am most excited for the opportunity to go to UNC and to play a sport that I love,” Fuller said, “although, I am going to miss my teammates and my coaches from my four years playing for Rock Bridge.

It has been a great experience, but I can’t wait to see where my softball career will take me.”

photo by: djfhdf photo illustration by Muhammad Al-Rawi

Pitching like a pro: Senior Lauren Fuller, who set three season records, pitches for her last few times on the RBHS field.

22 ∙ Sports

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Just for fun Rec soccer teams avoid pressure Kirsten Buchanan

M

inutes before the first half ended, junior Chris Scott’s recreational soccer team was losing yet

again.

It was the team’s second to last game, and they had yet to bring home a victory — or even a goal.

Suddenly, a forward on his team managed to dribble past a defender.

To everyone’s amazement Scott’s team scored its first goal of the season — an arcing, slippery ball that just grazed the goalkeeper’s fingertips.

Even though they were still losing, Scott’s teammates cheered, jubilant at their first goal. “Finally,” two girls beamed, high-fiving each other as they ran back to their side of the field.

Scott could only grin widely; it was these moments of rec soccer that made the game worthwhile for him.

“When we scored the first goal this season, it was awesome. I felt a rush of adrenaline. It was just pure enjoyment,” Scott said. “We made some mistakes, but we had some great plays. We lost this game, but we scored — finally. It feels like a victory for us.”

While competitive soccer players live for the trophies and titles they can win, rec soccer players celebrate the smaller victories. For Scott it was the one goal his team managed to put in the net; junior Theo Choma’s triumphs were more individual.

“It feels pretty awesome to be a defender or a goalkeep[er] and to hold the opposition scoreless,” Choma said. “To sprint back for that epic slide-kicking stop, to make the dive that tips the perfect shot out of the goal … those moments, the ones that give you an almost-high on adrenaline, are my best moments.”

Soccer players who crave victory try out for high school soccer, but athletic director Jennifer Mast said soccer also cuts the highest number of students during tryouts each year. Both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams at RBHS — varsity, junior varsity and C-team — add up to around 55 kids.

Senior Rachel Clark participated in RBHS soccer her sophomore year because she wanted to play at a higher level.

Although it was a good way for her to learn more about the sport she loves, she decided to go back to rec the next year.

Competitive soccer “was much more focused on skills [than rec], and I didn’t really know anybody, compared to my rec soccer team where I had a bunch of friends. I only knew two people on the C-

team and the rest were, like, cliquey freshmen,” Clark said. “High school soccer was OK, but I only played it for one year; I ended up going back to recreational. It’s much more focused on having fun than being the best at soccer. It’s better for me because I like playing sports for fun rather than just for winning.”

Choma said rec soccer players still strive to win, but that’s not as big of a focus as it is for competitive players.

Choma’s team Mexico is evenly matched with the other teams in his league — most of his team’s games have been close or ended in a tie.

While he considers winning to be a great part of soccer, he enjoys other, more relaxed aspects of the game as well.

“I talk to my fellow defenders or opposing forwards when the ball’s on the other side of the field.

[The game’s] partly a social event because most of us know each other by now,” Choma said. “Some people invite friends to come and watch, and that helps add to the social atmosphere.”

Senior Drake Tevis’ team Spain consists of a core group of players who have been together for three years. This time together has allowed a strong bond to form between them.

“It’s interesting at [the first] practice when we all get to know each other and eventually become a big family,” Tevis said. “We work off each other’s strengths and weaknesses; we look out for each other.

Like [in one game] when I went to throw up, [junior] Jack [Vornholt] played both my position and his position when I was walking across the field to go tell Coach I was going to throw up. Families watch each other’s backs like that.”

The family atmosphere and not the fact that the team is undefeated — and therefore the best — in its league makes rec soccer the greatest for Tevis.

“It’s fun to win, but it’s about the love of the game. In competitive they’re all about winning and don’t do anything [fun] simply because they love the game,” Tevis said.

“Rec soccer doesn’t have to be your whole life. Yes, we are undefeated.

We practice hard, we play hard and then we leave it on the field.”

Likewise, Clark said it doesn’t matter what type of soccer program a player participates in. The important thing is for a person who has a passion for a sport to get an opportunity to play it.

Playing “rec is a better decision for me personally, but it can go either way,” Clark said. “Basically, it doesn’t really matter whether you play rec soccer or high school soccer. In the end it’s all soccer, just concentrated on different things.”

photos by Asa Lory

Friendly competition: Students compete on soccer teams created by Columbia Parks and Recreation.

After the game players line up with their respective teams to high-five and congratulate their opponents.

Bow hunters use stealth, feel adrenaline rush Shannon Freese

A

fter spending hours practicing with his brother, senior Drew Wulff set out on his first bow hunt at age 15. He walked a mile to his tree stand, and after a patient day of waiting, the sky began to grow dark.

Wulff hadn’t seen a deer all evening, but when the leaves rustled be-

hind him, he knew he had found his opportunity. He shot the doe from his stand, and after the rush of adrenaline, he knew his first bow kill would not be his last.

“I hit the doe I was aiming for, and she fell only a little way from where I shot her,” Wulff said. “I was excited, and I called my dad to come help me clean the deer and drag it back home.”

Senior Jessica Burry is also an avid

bow hunter. She wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to hunt and puts on layers of traditional camouflage before driving through a patch of woods. After disguising her smell with Scent-A-Way, she climbs into her hunting stand.

From there, Burry said it’s all about patience.

“With bow hunting the key is stealth. Not only will a deer or turkey see you, they can hear and smell you also,” Burry said. “Bow hunting

photo by Halley Hollis

Aim and fire: Senior Sam Chapin practices using his bow and arrow. He enjoys shooting recurve, compound and crossbows to give him more of a challenge while hunting deer.

is more difficult because [of] the effective range of a bow. Most hunters won’t shoot over 40 yards with a bow, but with a rifle you can fire over 100 yards.”

Burry began her bow hunting on Sept. 15, the beginning of archery’s deer and turkey season. That day also marked the first use of techniques specific to bow hunting, like scent prevention.

“I don’t do it the way a lot of people do it. Well, because [deer] can smell so good, there’s some guys [who] wake up and have, like, a bajillion dollar way of doing things,” senior Sam Chapin said. “I set my clothes outside [at night], so they smell like outside [and] not like the inside, and I get up, put my clothes on and go.”

Chapin, a bow hunter of four years, uses a deer’s seasonal patterns to help set up a hunt during both bow and rifle seasons. However, since a bow has a more limited range than a gun, he has to take that into account while setting up a hunt.

“With bow hunting you have to get way, way closer [to the target] because most guys’ effective bow range is like 45 or 50 yards. With a gun most guys I know can shoot a deer at like 250 yards. So with a bow the whole strategy is different,” Chapin said.

“With a gun you can set up wherever you see a deer because if you see a deer, the chances are you can shoot it.

With a bow you have to set up where the deer are ... and you have to be way more camouflaged.”

The type of bow a person uses to hunt is dependent on that person’s preference. Compound bows utilize pulleys and operate like slingshots.

Recurve bows are simpler, more traditional bow and arrows. Hunters can also use crossbows during this season, but only if the hunter has been registered as having an official handicap.

“Crossbows are more of an archery and gun mix,” Burry said. “You aim and shoulder the bow like you would a rifle, but you shoot bolts instead of bullets. Bolts are just special arrows made for the crossbow.”

Chapin said the hardest type of bow to use is the recurve bow. Because it does not let off any pressure, it causes strain on the string which makes it harder for the hunter to keep the string back for a long period of time.

“Recurve and long bows just look like the ones the Indians use,” Chapin said. “They are just a stick and a string. There’s no let off and they shoot slower, and that’s the only difference.”

Whether shooting with a recurve bow, compound bow or crossbow, bow-hunting season allows for hunters to challenge themselves. But for Burry the season isn’t only about the challenge of “the hunt.”

Instead, she chooses to enjoy her surroundings and the peacefulness of the world around her while hunting. And even though the bow hunting season will come to a close Nov. 11, Burry will continue to admire the world, no matter what season she’s in.

“Killing it isn’t the first thing that pops in your head,” Burry said. “As a hunter, I have respect for animals. It’s not about killing them. It’s about how beautiful the woods are and how beautiful the animals are.”

Sports ∙ 23

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

photo by Halley Hollis

Warm Spirit: The JV cheerleaders encourage the crowd during the varsity soccer game against Jefferson City. Despite the freezing temperatures, and the few fans to watch, the team pulled out a 2-0 victory to maintain their No. 1 state ranking.

Cheerleaders help community Maddie Magruder

A

t the state cheerleading competition, the RBHS team waited in anticipation as the announcer called the names of the winners.

When the cheerleaders heard RBHS had placed first in the Superlarge division, emotion overcame the team.

Senior Dessie Sprouse found the victory especially emotional. Her pride in the Superlarge squad overcame her body when RBHS won.

“This year, we kind of bonded together as a whole squad,” Sprouse said. “It was really exciting because we had a kind of rough season, a couple injuries, and girls just stepped up in the last couple weeks before we competed. When they announced us as first, there were several girls in tears of joy, I being one of them.”

Coach Jessica Kendrick attributed their win partially to small changes made from the team’s setup last year. The size of both the varsity and JV squads increased and a new Superlarge squad was made up of 27 girls as opposed to 14 from last year.

“The increase in JV cheerleaders has allowed them to master a higher level of difficulty in their stunts and gave them some great competition experience,” Kendrick said. “With the larger numbers, there seemed to be an increase in team morale and camaraderie as well. Varsity was able to have more practice time without having to split it between two squads like we had to last year and the proof is in the pudding – we won!”

Even with many hours a week devoted to cheerleading practice, the squad still finds time to give back to the community through volunteering. Their community spirit earned them the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association Community Service Award last year, an honor given only to one cheerleading squad in Missouri each year.

The Challenger Baseball League, a program that allows developmentally disabled children play baseball, is one of several charity events the squad participated in this year. The girls developed an emotional connection with the kids they helped to play baseball.

“They just get so excited to play with someone and to have someone there to talk to and encourage them, and it’s just so fun,” junior Natalie Hiem said.

Junior Abby Hake also found the greatest reward volunteering with the Challenger Baseball League.

“You go and help them play baseball,” Hake said. “It’s just fun to help them throw and catch and bat.”

Staying true to their reputation, the squad has three activities planned for this month alone: the Southwest Playschool Fall Festival, Alzheimer’s Walk and the American Heart Association Walk.

The team handles all kinds of activities at the Southwest Playschool Fall Festival.

For the third year in a row, they will help with face painting, selling concessions and running various games.

In November the squad is looking forward to giving out Thanksgiving dinners for the program Everybody Eats, whose mission is to feed Columbia’s hungry. This is the second year the girls will help out with the organization.

The squads look forward to the future based on their great success this year.

“We have progressed and have gotten better and better each year,” Kendrick said.

“The sky is the limit for our program.”

photo by Asa Lory

Finding her stride: Sophomore Lauren Wallace battles to the finish line at the Border Wars Invitational at McNair Park in St. Charles Oct. 7. During her 5k race, Wallace’s ponytail holder fell out, forcing her to race with her hair down. The girls team placed first on the 80 degree afternoon with 30 points at the competitive 18 team invitational.

Setting a high standard JV cross country attempts to inspire, create tone for varsity Isaac Pasley

T

he JV cross country runners have a way of instilling a spark in their varsity peers.

Whenever the crosscountry team competes, the JV team always races before the varsity team. As a result, the JV team sets the tone for the meet. The varsity runners watch the JV runners closely, and if they do well, it motivates the varsity runners to emulate the JV’s tactics.

“One of the most important roles [of the JV] is to be there and cheer on our varsity,” senior Emily Smith, a JV runner, said. “We can give them pointers about whether their footing’s good or bad and so on.”

The JV’s contribution in supporting the varsity runners creates a way of bonding that brings the

two different teams together.

“The cross country team is sort of unique because, unlike most other sports, we all practice together.

We all do the same things, [and] participate in the same workouts,” Smith said. “There’s sort of a special bond.”

And so far this season, this bond has translated to success. The boys’ and girls’ varsity teams swept their first two meets, the Liberty Invitational Sept. 3 and the Forest Park Invitational in St. Louis on Sept. 10.

In the Palatine Invitational, held near Chicago Sept. 24, the boys finished second, just three points behind the winners.

Even as the calendar changed, the team’s successes continued.

Oct. 1 the runners swept the Parkway West Invitational, and most recently, Oct. 7 at the Border Wars meet in St. Charles, the teams swept once again.

Throughout this period, the JV teams have been equally successful.

At the Forest Park Invitational, both the boys’ and girls’ teams won second place. At Palatine, the JV boys finished eighth and the girls placed tenth; finally, at Parkway West, the boys placed first, and the girls finished third.

As the joint success of both teams has repeatedly shown, the JV runners know that their attendance is important and can make the difference between winning and losing a meet.

“I think our presence makes a big difference,” Smith said. “If we’re not there, [the varsity runners] feel like something’s missing.

They just don’t do as well.”

Smith said, the JV runners have proven valuable to the varsity’s successes throughout the fall. At every meet and practice, the JV serves double duty: not only do they push

themselves to do well, but also to set a good example for their varsity teammates to follow.

“We try to get varsity to do well,” JV sophomore runner Drew Floyd said. “We motivate them to do well as best we can.”

Coach Neal Blackburn wishes the JV team just as well as the varsity. In his opinion, both teams serve important roles in developing a strong team.

“I want them all to each get their own shot,” Blackburn said. “It’s their opportunity to grow in the program.”

While they may receive less publicity when compared to the varsity team, Blackburn still acknowledges the role the JV runners fill on behalf of the whole cross country program.

“I think the junior varsity team is important,” Blackburn said.

“They have the ability to inspire.”

VARSITY Spotlight Sophomore Mercedes Henderson, cheerleading

Junior Makayla Baker, golf “So, the highlight I would say was coming in to hole 18 and realizing that everyone was coming up to me and saying ‘we have a chance to win, we have a chance to win!’.

And, I was just really psyched out because that was my ultimate goal for golf, to win state as a team.”

“So, the highlight is I get to fly, and also winning state.

Flying on top of the stunt group.”

Junior Ryan Stanowski, soccer “I’d have to say it’s being ranked number one because its not too often a public school gets ranked over the big catholic schools in Saint Louis and Kansas City.”

Junior Megan Schulte, cross country “Probably so far, winning districts as a team because it’s never been done before, it shows how hard we’ve been working as a team and all our accomplishments.”

Senior Nate Egharevba, football “We were going to have to see where we really were in the state by playing Hazelwood Central, and we played real well and we beat them pretty handily. That allowed me to think that we were a good team and we had a shot at doing something special this year.”

Sophomore Allison Baker, tennis “The highlight of out post-season was winning state and just getting to go and spend a weekend with the team and having it end up well, having us win.”

Senior Nici Thaler, volleyball “I guess I can just say one of the highlights in our season is that we got seeded number one in districts, so, that’s a pretty big accomplishment to give us a boost for districts today.”

What was your greatest accomplishment this season? photos by Asa Lory, Halley Hollis and Muhammad Al-Rawi art by Anna Sheals

24 ∙ Sports Diving duo competes as one

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Mike Presberg

F

or the first month of the 2011 season, junior Blake Ward was the only member of the RBHS diving team. Ward, also a swimmer, was so eager to find a teammate that he asked nearly every member of the swim team to try diving, too.

“Whenever I had a conversation with another swimmer I would tell them how they should do diving,” Ward said.

“But they [all] said no.”

That is, until he asked fellow junior Drew Rodgers. Ward approached Rodgers at swim practice in early September and convinced him to give diving a try.

“I never dived before so I gave it a shot,” Rodgers said.

“I left swim practice early and went to diving practice and it was really fun. [I] really liked it.”

He liked it so much, in fact, he decided to become the team’s second member. However, since joining the team, it hasn’t been all fun and games for Rodgers.

He says starting from scratch can be frustrating.

“Being the new diver has been really difficult,” Rodgers said. “Since I’m the new kid, I don’t really know anything about diving, so it’s kind of hard when Blake is doing all these tricks, and I’m still at the basics.”

Ward appreciates Rodgers’ daring spirit and is grateful to have a teammate.

“It was awesome that he was adventurous enough to try it,” Ward said. “The team has gotten a lot more fun since Drew arrived. It’s always fun at practice [now]. I look forward to it every day.”

Despite their positive spirit, the Bruins still have only two members. But their attitude toward the size of the team is decidedly optimistic. Ward believes the small roster makes the experience more enjoyable.

“It’s just Drew, Coach and I, and that’s always fun. We get to see each other every day,” he said. “A [smaller team also] means we get more attention from the coach and more dives

off the board.”

Coach Lara Christie is in her first year coaching the diving team. She also focuses on the positive side concerning the size of the team.

“Because the swim coaches and I are all new this year, we are growing the program as much as we can,” Christie said “We all knew the team would be small this year … We try to work hard learning new dives and have some fun, too.”

But Ward and Rodgers admit having a smaller team has its disadvantages when it comes to competition.

Every diver on a given team must perform two to three dives from five separate categories.

A group of judges grades each dive and gives it a score. Therefore, the fewer divers a team has, the fewer opportunities for a high score.

“There are only two of us so we have less of a chance to score points for our team,” Ward said.

“The other teams [usually] have about two to five divers.”

Rodgers’ and Ward’s first diving meet together was the Cape Girardeau Invitational in early October. Each diver in the competition had to perform at least eight dives. After the first eight dives were complete, divers either moved on to the second round or the judges eliminated them based on their total score. Neither Rodgers nor Ward passed this first cut.

But Ward and Rodgers remain positive despite their initial disappointment in early elimination.

“I failed my front flip double twist, my hardest dive,” Ward said. But in the end “it’s not about winning. It’s about competing and trying your hardest.”

Rodgers summarizes the team’s attitude toward adversity well. He says that although there are multiple difficulties, the experience of a dive well done keeps him fully invested in the sport.

“When you smack the water you have to get back up and do it again and again until you look like you have sunburns all over,” Rodgers said. “But when you finally do the dive, you feel like you can do anything.”

photo by Rena Rong

Jumping into the deep end: Flipping in mid-air, junior Drew Rodgers dives off the one-meter springboard into the Mizzou Aquatic Center pool at practice on Oct. 25. Rodgers is one of two divers on the team this season. He joined the team this year after his junior Blake Ward convinced him. The team of two has worked this season to improve their skill and keep a positive attitude.

JV football enjoys more personal game Jackie Nichols

I

t’s not the Friday night lights that pump up the guys on the JV football team. Unlike the varsity squad the JV players do not get to stand in the spotlight in front of their entire student body; they don’t even get to play on a weekend night.

For them football is more than the cheering Bru Crew, the lights casting their shadows on the turf and the glory of being on varsity. It is the love for the game of football.

“I show up every day because I love football. I would consider the

team like a second family to me. I love those guys,” junior Nick Godas said.

“Being able to interact with them every day makes my life a lot better.

Looking forward to seeing them and playing the game I love is what keeps calling me back.”

Although the players love the game, their motivation does not come easily. Learning what it means to play at another level, or “play like a Bruin” makes getting the flow of the game difficult. But team chemistry and an overall determination to win allows the JV to succeed at an early stage.

“I would say we are doing really well. With having a young back-

field and a freshman running back and a freshman quarterback, there is some confusion. But since our offensive line is doing an outstanding job holding their blocks and keeping us protected, they make it easy on us,” freshman Matt Troyer said. “Of course everyone would like to be undefeated, but I’m really happy with where we are.”

Coach Fuad Khaleel and his staff know this is only the beginning for their young team. During each practice they work on perfecting each player’s skills with a long term goal of someday watching them succeed under the stadium lights.

“Letting [the players] know that [the JV program] is the beginning and varsity is kind of the end, if there’s a beginning and end in high school football,” Khaleel said. “But the beginning is this right here, as far as technique wise, getting their eyes right, just playing and getting comfortable with the game on the field.”

Even though the players on the JV team know there are not as many fans in their section on those weekday nights they know they cannot let it affect their performance on the field.

“When you’re in the game, you don’t really focus on the fans. You focus on your own responsibilities,”

Troyer said. “If you don’t stay motivated to achieve them or work hard, then you won’t.”

Even though the team wishes its fans would be more supportive, they push themselves to be improve because of their individual passion.

Playing with a crowd is only one of the perks the boys look forward to from improving their performance.

“We know that the seniors who have been working here for a long time, they are playing varsity and we come to get better,” sophomore Pen Terry said. “Most of us love it a lot.

We come to get better, so in a couple years we can play under those lights.”

Competition just for kicks

Soccer C-team plays varsity teams for challenge Brett Stover

W

photo by Muhammad Al-Rawi

Moving Forward: Dodging an opposing defender, freshman Nathaniel Acton advances the soccer ball towards the midfield line during RBHS’s C-team game against Jefferson City on Oct. 19. RBHS won the match 4-1.

ith many of their opponents being varsity teams, the members of the Bruin soccer C-team could simply give up and forgo a full effort to the season. Their 4-71 record could be enough to suck the players’ enthusiasm away.

However, the Bruins not only try to win, but also take these difficult games as a chance to polish their skills.

“We’ve been playing a lot of older teams so it’s been a challenge for us, but it’s allowed us to become a better team,” C-team soccer coach Ron Schmidt said. “It’s a huge challenge, and every bit of success we achieve is something to be proud of.”

Despite their losing record, the players say they have improved their overall performance since the be-

ginning of the year by playing advanced opponents.

“We’ve been doing really good because we have played a lot of varsity teams and JV teams, so that builds up our experience and how we play,” freshman Harsh Singh said. “Our record shows we haven’t played that well, but we’ve played in a varsity tournament and a JV tournament. We did really well versus varsity teams, so it shows that we have done really well.”

The young Bruin squad has even won a few games against JV teams, such as its 7-1 victory over the Fatima High School JV team.

Schmidt said the struggle to put points on the board weighs on the team, but he believes the young Bruin soccer players’ experiences have helped shape their outlook and facilitated growth as a group. Off the field, the players bond to

keep a positive attitude toward each other despite the difficult competition schedule.

“There’s a time when we ran around the lake and people tried throwing each other into the lake around Bethel,” freshman Ryan Plastridge said. “It was the freshmen throwing each other in.”

The Bruins’ camaraderie was more necessary than ever when they faced the Mexico High School varsity team.

The Bulldog varsity team had more experience and had more upper classmen than the C-team. Not even the Bruins’ team spirit, developed off the field, was enough to overcome the challenge of a more advanced team.

Even though they lost to the Mexico High School varsity team 0-1 in overtime, the C-team looks at

their performance with optimism. The game improved their skills and will assist them in the coming years as they prepare to play for RBHS JV and varsity programs.

The players on the varsity teams “were usually faster, bigger and stronger, but it was still kind of fun because it gave us a challenge,” Plastridge said. “I think our team plays better when we have a challleng.”

With the 2011 season coming to a close, the team looks forward to the 2012 season while remembering the efforts put forth this year.

“I think they’d like to have a better winning percentage,” Schimdt said “It’s a huge challenge and that every bit of success we achieve is something to be proud of, [but] I think they’re having a fun season overall.”

Sports ∙ 25

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

JV tennis motivates varsity Girls’ tennis thrives on competition

Thomas Jamieson-Lucy

Emily Wright

A

W

hen the JV tennis team members reminisced their season, they said they have come a long way.

Through competing against varsity teams such as Park Hill and Helias and winning all their meets, junior Kristen Sandvos believes she was a part of one of the best JV teams and overall tennis programs in the state.

“We have played a lot of challenging matches because our JV has been playing varsity, so we have been able to get out there and play better players than we’re used to,” Sandvos said. “It feels good, and it prepares us as a team for next season and as individuals because we are progressing towards varsity.”

The JV team ended its competition season Sept. 28, beating Helias 9-0. However, their practice season was not finished until varsity played its final match at the state championships on Oct. 20.

“We keep on practicing until state,” Sandvos said. “Whatever the varsity does we do, too.”

Coach Ben Loeb believes this extended season was beneficial in motivating varsity to win another state championship this season.

“The top level JV players are helpful in our varsity getting ready for sectionals and beyond,” Loeb said. “They offer different players and different styles of play for our varsity to practice against.

Their role is to simply be good teammates and promote an atmosphere of camaraderie.”

The weeks without competition allowed the JV players to improve their game while maintaining some degree of normalcy at practice to keep the varsity team relaxed. Although they were not motivated by the prospect of winning a meet during these weeks, the JV players directed their focus at varsity’s postseason goals.

“We really focus on what they need to accomplish instead of what the entire team needs to,” Sandvos said. “Our practice is al-

Volleyball girls work for spots

photo by Muhammad Al-Rawi

Working hard: Practicing on a chilly October afternoon, junior Maddy Kayser practices with both her varsity and JV teammates before the varsity team semifinal tournament Oct. 20. The girls won the semifinal against Lafayette 5-4.

They then competed in the state finals later that day, beating Parkway Central 5-1.

The varsity players believe their JV teammates helped push them in postseason practice, helping them to win another state title. ways a lot more relaxed than the varsity so we work, but we still have fun doing it.”

Senior varsity member Savannah Everett said the JV team helped to keep the pressure off in the weeks leading up to state. Besides maintaining a typical practice routine, she said the JV girls provide stress-relieving humor.

“They make us laugh a lot.

They’re all really goofy,” Everett

said. “We have this one freshman, and she is absolutely hilarious. We bring a boom-box out to Bethel and plug it in so we can listen to music during practice, and this girl is always busting a dance move. Coach Loeb just stands there and shakes his head.

It makes practice fun.”

Both teams achieved their goal of attaining another state title.

Even though the top six were the

only ones to compete in districts, sectionals and state, they believe that a state title speaks for the whole team, illustrating that everyone had a crucial role in earning it.

“We try to make the post-season more fun so we just give them that extra push,” Sandvos said.

“We work harder during those weeks because we have to work harder for them.”

fter losing its matches aginst Ozark and Jefferson City, the JV volleyball team hit its stride going 10-2-1.

The Bruins focused on maintaining their perfect record at home and finished out the season 12-4.

“We’re making a lot of improvement from the first game; we have come a long way,” junior Erica Beck said mid-October. “As a team goal we decided we wanted to win all our home games, which we have done so far.”

The Bruins’ success grew as the season progressed. Head coach Tatum Anderson said this continuous progress helped them achieve their perfect record at home.

“It was a great season for both teams,” Anderson said. “We have a very young team but also very talented. We are going to have a very promising and bright future.”

Each individual’s drive for varsity playing time contributed to the team’s excellent season.

Beck said several of the players played in some varsity matches despite being on JV. This created competition between the JV players to earn one of the six varsity sports during a match.

“There’s always competition,” sophomore Jessica Lambert said. “Competition brings us together. We want to fight to win and fight for spots, and so it bonds us.”

Anderson believes having a strong group of players right below the varsity pushed the varsity players to perform at a higher level. The JV players played a vital role in the continued improvement of the varsity team and the program as a whole.

JV is “definitely very important. Many of them are contending for varsity spots and you’re only as good as what each other make each team,” Anderson said. “We have very tough and strong JV and varsity programs.”

But the contention for varsity spots throughout the season did not affect the team chemistry. Instead, Anderson said, it made the team stronger since they competed with each other in a positive way and encouraged each other on the court.

Competition “makes us stronger. These girls are very close outside of Rock Bridge so when they get on the court they are very supportive and encouraging of each other, and that’s the thing we really push with the girls,” Anderson said. “The JV help the varsity to preform well and helped them prepare for their matches while also buliding their foundations for the future.”

Underclassmen unify dance team Increase in younger Bruin Girls creates new squad mentality Nadav Gov-Ari

I

n 2010 the Bruin Girls’ nationally acclaimed dancing season featured a team consisting of six seniors. This year, however, the Bruin Girls are in a transition to youth — only one senior, captain Kathleen Oglesby, remains on the squad.

However, Oglesby believes having only one senior on the team doesn’t mean it is inexperienced.

“I kind of forget that I’m the only senior on the team,” Oglesby said. “I’ve known all the girls since we were really little since we did [Columbia Performing Arts Center] together.”

Their years of dancing together make the team a more unified squad. Even with the range of ages and abilities, the girls have formed a cohesive group. Coach Shannon McDaniel said the girls’ familiarity with each

other and with dancing removed many of the obstacles that typify an underclassmen-dominated team.

“A lot of these girls have known each other for a long time,” McDaniel said. “They’ve all grown up dancing together in studio, so I guess that initial bond is already there. They’ve kind of just formed different friendships.”

Sophomore Kylie Smith has danced since she was in elementary school. She said the ‘youth’ of an underclassmen-led team was a bit exaggerated, as the girls on the squad are at comparative levels skill-wise.

“Having only one senior doesn’t really [adversely affect] the team,” Smith said. “Kathleen just adds to the team greatly by having experience with [the] Bruin Girls.”

In addition, McDaniel said since the girls are no more than a year or two apart, there is little difference in ability. But the transition still has been a change from that of years past.

“It’s definitely a different transition from last year,” McDaniel said. “Last year was my first year, and we had six seniors, so it’s interesting going from them being the main leaders of the team to just one [senior]. It’s been a little bit difficult adjusting, but we’ve had great leadership step up from the juniors to fill that void, and Kathleen has done a great job leading and instructing the team so far.”

Team chemistry, however, is the squad’s strength. The girls have known and danced with each other since their elementary school days. After years of classes at the CPAC the girls have grown more comfortable with each other.

“I am good friends with all the Bruin Girls, and a lot of us have been dancing together for quite a while at CPAC,” Smith said. “The girls on the team are fun and easy to get along with, which makes being on the team that much better.”

photo by Halley Hollis

Jumping with joy: Sophomore Jessica Lambert intensely reacts to the team’s victory over Blair Oaks.

The JV girls finished their season against HHS at a tournament Oct. 22.

Visit us at: http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/rbhs/bearingnews/ or click the link on the RB homepage! Fo

r and the la te sto ries st ne to Y rele ws van OU t !

26 ∙ Arts & Entertainment

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Exotic food appetizes Kui

Halley Hollis

Osaka

K

O

saka, a Japanese restaurant, is known for sushi as well as affordable prices. My trip to Osaka definitely confirmed this. My waiter’s witty sense of humor made the experience fantastic, and the fresh fish unbeatable. Although Osaka is more of a dinner restaurant, I would go for lunch any day given the diverse menu and atmosphere. With the hibachi next door, Osaka caters to a variety of taste buds.

The atmosphere is a bit outdated, but the authentic feel is unavoidable. Other than being extremely fresh, the chef prepared the octopus and presented it perfectly.

It was just the right amount of chewy, and the rice tamed the strong fish taste. Not only is it a treat to look at, but the flavor was exotic and refreshing. The octopus roll is raw fish; therefore it is sashimi, not sushi. If you have an open mind to unusual foods and you like fish, I would highly recommend ordering the octopus.

Kui photo by Maddie Davis

ui was the only restaurant I had not heard of before this experience, and I was pleasantly surprised with this discovery. The atmosphere was clean and inviting. I was quickly seated by a friendly hostess because I was the only customer. My waiter was happy to help me pick something off the menu, which is a bit hard to understand, especially if you’ve never had Korean food.

Korean is actually a lot of barbecued meat. For example, my dish was thinly sliced, but very flavorful marinated tender beef. The beef came out steaming hot on a wooden plank, served with a spicy hot sauce, rice and cooked vegetables. The second I bit into the rich taste, I was surprised by the flavorful juices and the thick barbeque sauce. The bulgogi was flavorful and plentiful. The whole meal was satisfying overall.

Nothing on the menu is over $15, making it affordable for everyone, but Kui is definitely more of a dinner place, especially given the bar area.

Jazz

Cafe Olive

217 N Stadium Blvd Ordered: Frog Legs

I

had high hopes for Jazz, since I had never had Louisiana-style cooking. The Mardi Gras theme definitely set up an exciting atmosphere. The quiet jazz made me feel even more like I was about to go in for a treat.

But the first bite of the bread set the tone for the entire meal— bland and all wrong. Not only was the bread cold, but it was chewy, flavorless and firm— everything bread should not be. I decided to ignore it, and hoped the rest of my meal could make up for the bad first impression.

I didn’t have much luck. Jazz was out of alligator, a famous Cajun specialty, so I unwillingly ordered frog legs. A mistake. When I put the legs into my mouth, it was hard to find anything good about them. Though drowned in grease, they were still flavorless. For $5.99, I can’t say it was worthwhile.

Osaka

Taj Mahal

photo by Halley Hollis

19 N. 5th Street Ordered: Karma Mator

T

he immediate, intense smell of Taj Mahal can be unappetizing, but the cuisine makes up for everything. The strong sense of herbs and curry engulfs ones senses, but after a while grows unnoticeable.

An obnoxious doorbell rings every time someone enters, and the mood is a bit awkward. The dim lighting and lack of people made me nervous, but the waitress was quick to help me understand the menu, and the service was great. The traditional Indian music in the background made the atmosphere a bit more approachable.

I was a little uneasy to see no one else having dinner at 8 p.m. but I saw the buffet tables and realized that most people typically come here for lunch.

For the portion sizes, this was a great deal. The lamb was plentiful and also came with a huge bed of rice.

I also ordered some bread, naan, for $2.50. Although the bread looked more like pita, it helped balance the strong, spicy taste of the lamb.

The only downside of the dish was the addition of peas, which was overwhelming. Every bite contained too many peas. When I would occasionally get a bite of lamb without peas though, the taste was remarkable.

Jazz

photo by Halley Hollis

Cafe Olive

Lauren Puckett

L

22 N 9th Street Ordered: Bulgogi

120 E. Nifong Blvd # A Ordered: Octopus

Escape to enchantment

photo by Halley Hollis

21 N. Providence Road Ordered: Falafel Plate

U

pon entering Cafe Olive, I wasn’t sure if I was in a small Mediterranean grocery store or a restaurant. The set-up was almost that of a gas station. I walked to the counter, where I had to quickly decide based off the menu on the wall, then pay. The cashier spoke so softly I couldn’t understand her. It didn’t help my confusion or my first impression.

The restaurant felt casual, somewhere for a laid back lunch, if even that. Even though Cafe Olive supposedly has the best falafel in town at a low price, it was not at all worth it. Made up of ground chickpeas and a heavy seasoning of parsley, it had too strong of a taste. The crunchy exterior leading to the soft, squishy interior was unexpected, though typical of falafel, and a confused palate.

If you’re looking for a quiet, affordable restaurant, this café barely makes the cut.

Taj Mahal photo by Halley Hollis

ondon in the late 1800s is a world of curtained rooms and perfumed airs. Magicians pop up left and right, all proclaiming the power of mystique, waving their faux tarot cards before the eyes of unknowing children.

They thrive for putting on a show, for enthralling the audience with lies of “magic.”

But, in The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, they are simply fakers in a game bigger than themselves.

In Morgenstern’s imaginative world, magic is as real as gravity.

There are a select few who are actually aware of these powers, and even fewer who have the ability to control them. Those who do are stunning in their prowess, a spectacle for the magic-less human.

The story showcases a relatively simple setting: an enchanted circus, created by flamboyant and naïve Europeans. They go about recruiting acts that seem thrilling, having no idea these very acts are not illusion but pure and practiced sorcery.

When the circus is built, it becomes far more than just a playful menagerie of acrobats and contortionists. It is an adventure that opens at night and then closes at dawn, alive with many sounds and sights. Decorated in no color other than pure ivory and deep ebony, it shines within the shadows.

Retaining the classic circus feel—the smells of popcorn and caramel, the twinkling strings of lights—it also takes on a charming and mystical quality that suits its name: Le Cirque des Rêves, the Circus of Dreams.

The plot puts an impressive twist on a typical star-crossed romance. The story follows the lives of two young magicians, Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair, chosen from a young age to be a part of a “challenge” which neither truly understands.

They spend their lives training, doing everything from slicing their fingers open and healing them through magic to filling books with charmed symbols and looping script. Celia joins the circus, while Marco becomes its assistant manager.

Every night the news reaches further, and the circus draws in more and more attention, as people believe its magic is just a fantastic illusion. Of course, through a series of interconnected events, Marco and Celia tumble headfirst into love. Little do they know, however, they are “opponents” in the challenge they are training for, forced into a battle for the finish. Throughout the book, they must find a way to make the decision of what matters more: living or loving.

With powerful themes, The Night Circus is a perfect dip into a world separate from reality. Its characters are entertaining, and the plot above average. The setting itself was enough to sail the reader away to London or Massachusetts, wherever the circus happened to be, waving its black and white flags in the wind.

T

een angst. Miniskirts. Red boots.

Those seemed to be the main components of the reverberated classic Footloose. And although they may sound like a racy, superficial bunch, they managed to unite in a common, enjoyable film — one with lots of heart, lots of rebellion and lots of music.

The storyline of Footloose has always been and will always be flawless entertainment. After the small, Christian town of Bomont, Georgia gets hit in the face by tragedy, it goes to unconstitutional measures to keep its remaining teenage populace safe and innocent.

When Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald, backup dancer for Justin Timberlake) arrives in Bomont, he befriends the rambunctious preacher’s daughter, Ariel Moore (Julianne Hough, Dancing With the Stars, Burlesque). With Ren’s help, the whole town ends up liberated — freed from past weights, anxiety and the hindrances of the present.

Director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, The Poor and Hungry) had quite

the challenge in recreating this ‘80s classic. The old version of Footloose, starring Kevin Bacon, was a generational phenomenon, in an age where anti-tradition were finally settling down and becoming tradition themselves, one film shot a feisty spirit into the air once more.

In a movie about defying old standards and living the modern life with no rules to hinder or hold back, a strong sense of spirit and passion is inevitable. That is where the new kid makes his comeback. The old does its best to enlighten an audience, but the new achieves this lightheartedness in a more enjoyable, cleaner cut way, which makes its message of purposeful retaliation even stronger to take in.

Wormald pulls off the character of Ren perfectly — vulnerable and slightly sensitive, enough to melt a girl’s heart, but tough enough to create an air of calculated danger and mystery.

To be honest, he was just downright attractive. Who doesn’t love a studly dark horse, hair in an upward fountain of tousled tresses, tough, Boston accent flowing from that charming grin?

Hough wears the perfect amount of clothing to make any teenage boy in the audience fall in love and does a good job at retaliating in balance — her rebellion does not reach the point of stupidity or annoyance.

However, watching her flaunt it all in front of Ren, who was incredibly sweet in comparison, made her lack of modesty slightly irritating.

Both characters act with a truth that brings with it likability and conveys a sense of emotion — if Ren hated the pretentious man in the vest, then so did I. The combination of these actors’ sincere performances and a realistic message of misunderstood youth lets teenagers easily relate to the film’s main personalities.

Characters that were a joy to watch filled the movie, along with pleasing footage and dialogue.

Much of the script in the new movie was identical to that of the old. Dean Pitchford, writer of the original screenplay, has even shared writing credits with Brewer. The changes helped transmit its message even clearer than before.

The film’s cinematography was creative and visually pleasing — from the classic shot of dancing feet

during the intro slide of names, t o a much more romantic first kiss than the old film. The flow of movement, from an angry Ren, aggressively backing his car out of the parking lot, to Ariel’s swinging saunter, loudly making an entrance, was flawless. Cinematographer Amy Vincent filmed each action from an original, coordinated angle with an almost rhythmic, musical flow — a tribute to dancing.

It made me want to learn to country line dance for the first time in my life.

With two enjoyable leads and fresh cinematography, this movie has certainly made an invigorating dent on an everlasting classic. Add some catchy music, quality dancing, southern charm and characters with a purpose, this film shook out to be pure fun.

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“Footloose” remake creates even better Bacon for dance fanatics

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Arts & Entertainment ∙ 27

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

n t e m t r a p e d usical m c i e s s r t la c a s e Th rform pe A Daphne Yu

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Costume check (below): Ready to run through the Wa Tan Ye dance, junior Jaynell Lardizabal (right), sophmore Casey Levy (middle) and junior Rebecca Burke-Auguero (left), discuss the show’s Indian outfits after trying them on for the first time.

photos by Muhammad Al-Rawi

Getting into character (right): Playing Mayor Shinn, junior Ian Meyer practices expressions.

“Typically I’ve played an innocent type so being cast as this angry, uppity antagonist is a big shift for me,” Meyer said.

pinch of comedy, a dash of romance and a teaspoon of con man mixed together create a delicious treat in this year’s musical, The Music Man, showing Nov. 10-13.

Preparation for the production began more than a month ago with auditions and callbacks in early September. There were surprises and di disappointments with a few first-time performers, such as junior Sam Keller.

“I actually wasn’t going to audition,” Keller said. “But I read [the script] for [Troy Guthrie, the male lead] one day, and [the directors] said, ‘Oh, we really like you. Why don’t you come back and audition tomorrow?’”

Keller auditioned and made callbacks. However, he did not get the role he wanted, much to his initial dismay.

“At first I was a little disappointed because I wanted to get Marcellus, [a good friend of the main character], who had his own song,” Keller said. “Then … they told me I didn’t get it … because I wasn’t silly enough. Imagine that — I’m not silly enough.”

Junior Eryn Wanyonyi, one of the musical’s “adult” chorus members, said even though a person might feel insignificant, emoting the character is the hardest thing to do.

The cast works hard to portray their characters, meeting four days a week from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., as well as practicing dance moves and lines during AUTs. During this process the cast grows closer together.

“Troy does this sort of pep talk thing at the end of rehearsals like they would do at a football game,” Wanyonyi said. “That helps bring people together and gives encouragement to everybody.”

Even though not as many people know about The Music Man as last year’s musical, Beauty and the Beast, when it boils down to the performers’ execution, the audience will see little difference between the two.

“It’s a classic show,” musical director Mike Pierson said. “It plays well to the strengths of the students we have that I thought would audition for the show.”

Pierson worked with chorus members and soloists to get lyrics, notes and tone quality in sterling shape before he considered the visual aspect of the production.

“Before we do any dancing or even talk about any acting, we just learn the song,” Pierson said. “And then from there we can apply the choreography and put the songs in context of the scenes.”

In addition to facial expressions and physical motions of the students, stage props are extremely important for a realistic setting.

“One [prop] I saw that really sticks out ... is a train … from the opening scene,” Wanyonyi said. “It looks like an actual train car.”

While the theater tech students creating the props chug along on time, the costume designers work hard towards perfection.

“The hardest thing about this show is the time period because it’s really specific. It’s not that true Victorian period, and it’s not the 1920s so it’s not flapper,” said assistant costume manager, senior Colleen Roetemeyer. “We like to stay accurate, and it’s hard to find stuff that looks right without being really expensive.”

Although most of the the cast do not have costumes yet, they are off-book, practicing acts separately and preparing for opening night in two weeks. The actors look forward to enticing the audience with their show.

“Unlike all of the other musicals, this one has a lot of masculine songs so it’s appealing to not just females,” Keller said. “It’s amazing ... I guarantee you’ll get your $6 worth.”

Marching band attends super regional Emerald Regiment competes first time for educational purpose Daphne Yu

W

ith all the awards RBHS received this fall, the band adds another to the list. On Friday, Oct. 14, the marching band attended the annual Bands of America competition for the first time.

More than 50 bands from across the Midwest congregated in St. Louis, Mo. to attend the competition. RBHS band members did not aspire to place in the top but instead focused on the educational experience.

“For one thing, it was a different mindset than all the other competitions,” sophomore Daniel Shapiro said. “With all the other competition[s], we’re just, like, ‘All right ... we can win this thing.’ With Bands of America, we were mainly there to compare ourselves with the other bands and see how we would match up to some of the best bands in the region.”

The Emerald Regiment, RBHS’s marching band, began with color guard rehearsal last February followed by drumline practices in April. Preparation persisted through scorching heat the first two weeks of August at band camp with daily rehearsals beginning at 7 a.m.

Even with all the practices, students felt there was room for errors at the competition because the band was not used to attending such a high-level competition.

“I was most nervous when the band was entering the field,” drum major senior Tina Wang said. “There is a strict time limit for entering, performing and exiting, so it was really important that the band warm[ed] up and set up efficiently.”

Wang was also aware the difference in the venue of performance would affect the band. The physical layout had a slight change that could throw off the entire show — the field for the competition had different markings than the football field the marching band practices on. The shape of the building, the Edward Jones Dome, was another obstacle.

“We were pretty prepared and the only thing lacking was the acoustics,” junior Clarke DeLisle said. “When you hit a note it echo[ed] back at you from all directions. So pretty much when you tr[ied] to hear ... [everything was] amplified. It’s just weird playing on that field. You can hardly prepare for it.”

The band performed and earned 33rd place out of 56 bands.

A conglomeration of points from sections such as the individual music aspect, ensemble music aspect, visual aspect, percussion and color guard decided the place.

“Although [the score] looks low on paper — a 68 out of 90 isn’t exactly something to brag about — I think it was a decent score considering the level of competition,” Shapiro said. “On the first day, there was a show … [that was] like a drama. The [Irondale Marching Band] eventually turned … into zombies It made for great effect, and everybody was like, ‘Oh, man, we should do that show.’”

Assistant band director Bob Thalhuber agreed the focus was not to score high.

“The expectation I have from my students is they ... do the best they can,” Thalhuber said. “I knew the chances of us making finals ... for both days were remote.”

Instead, Thalhuber wanted students in the band to see some exceptional bands perform at the national level. He hoped to inspire students to push the limits.

“We’re sort of like the expansion team in football and baseball,” Thalhuber said. “We’re just starting out in that league, and it takes a while before … students know what to expect.”

B.O.A. is the new step for the marching band in expanding its horizon from being not only one of the best in Missouri to one of the best in the Midwest region.

“Now that we have seen some bands of incredibly high caliber, we are motivated,” Wang said. “We still have [one] competition, and we really want to finish strong, especially since we had so much success at the first two competitions.”

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In formation (left): Senior A.J. Roebuck stands tall, lining up with his fellow trumpets to play.

We were mainly there to compare ourselves with the other bands.”

Daniel Shapiro sophomore

photos by Asa Lory

Blowing the crowd away (below): The Emerald Regiment brings not only music but also an array of moves to this year’s theme, Bridge to Terabithia.

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28 ∙ Backpage

October 27, 2011

The ROCK

Leaving their mark RBHS fall sports compete in postseason, contend for titles 1) Practice makes perfect: With only days left until the MSHSAA team semifinals, senior Kay Fischer practiced to ensure a solid victory. RBHS went on to win the team championships 5-1 to continue their undefeated season.

2) One for the team: Sophomore Ali Kreklow dives for the ball to help her teammates beat Hickman on senior night.

3) Eye on the prize: Senior midfielder Kory McDonald takes the ball against Moberly. The soccer team is ranked first in the state and has a 5 p.m. game to start the district play at RBHS on Monday.

4) Cleared for landing: Senior quarterback Bo Bell dives into the end zone in the district game against Blue Springs South last Friday. RBHS lost the contest 35-20.

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photo by Sonya Francis

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photo by Muhammed Al-Rawi

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5) Guarding her territory: Senior Kelsey Harrington stands in the outfield Oct. 6 during district play.

The Bruins lost to Jeff City 4-2, ending their post-season early.

8) Prepare to launch: Senior Caleb Wilfong and the varsity cross country team meets before the district race Saturday in Lebanon.

RBHS won the meet by 42 points.

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To see postseason coverage go to www.columbia.k12.mo.us/rbhs/bearingnews

6) Easy sailing: Senior Sam Garrett and freshman Kayla Funkenbusch cruise near the front of the pack at the district meet in Lebanon on Saturday. Funkenbusch and Garrett finished third and fourth, respectively, leading the Lady Bruins to a district title.

7) On the blocks: Freshman Cooper John prepares to enter the water in the 200-yard individual medley at Hickman pool Oct. 22. The Bruins will swim in the state meet Nov. 11-12 at St. Peters Rec-plex.

9) Hole in one: Junior Megan Goree lines up the putt at L. A. Nickell golf course. The Bruins won RBHS’ first state championship in girls golf, Oct. 18, edging West Plains by nine strokes.